Creating a new declaration of rights : a critical reconstruction of earth jurisprudence's global legislative framework
- Authors: Lenferna, Georges Alexandre
- Date: 2013
- Subjects: Universal Declaration , Rights , Earth , Environment , Ethics , Environmental law, International -- Research , Environmental law, International -- Philosophy , Environmental ethics -- Research , Nature conservation -- Law and legislation -- Research , Jurisprudence -- Research , Law -- Philosophy
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:2704 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1001979
- Description: This thesis aims to critique the Universal Declaration of the Rights of Mother Earth and its underlying moral justification in order to provide a stronger and improved version of both. In Chapter 1 I explore what sort of moral justification is necessary to establish the Universal Declaration on firm grounds and explore its relation to environmental ethics and rights discourse. I argue that a non-anthropocentric perspective is necessary to justify the Universal Declaration’s rights. In Chapter 2 I explore the underlying justification of the Universal Declaration as discovered in the works of Cormac Cullinan and Father Thomas Berry. I argue that their ethical framework is indeterminate, has many ambiguities and uncertainties, and, among other problems, it does not provide a clear action-guiding framework. In Chapter 3 I develop an alternative justification for the Universal Declaration. I argue against many predominant moral theories, that in light of our best scientific and moral understanding we should expand the realm of moral concern to include all living beings, a moral theory I call Life’s Imperative. In Chapter 4 I illustrate that Life’s Imperative is a much stronger, more coherent justification for the Universal Declaration, one that coheres with both our best understanding of the natural world and our relation to it, and to an environmental ethic reflective of that relationship. Unfortunately many of the weaknesses in the current implicit justification of the Universal Declaration have also led to it enshrining rights that are themselves problematic. In order to address these issues, I revise its rights to accord with the stronger justification that I established in Chapter 3. The end result of doing so is a revised version of the Universal Declaration
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2013
- Authors: Lenferna, Georges Alexandre
- Date: 2013
- Subjects: Universal Declaration , Rights , Earth , Environment , Ethics , Environmental law, International -- Research , Environmental law, International -- Philosophy , Environmental ethics -- Research , Nature conservation -- Law and legislation -- Research , Jurisprudence -- Research , Law -- Philosophy
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:2704 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1001979
- Description: This thesis aims to critique the Universal Declaration of the Rights of Mother Earth and its underlying moral justification in order to provide a stronger and improved version of both. In Chapter 1 I explore what sort of moral justification is necessary to establish the Universal Declaration on firm grounds and explore its relation to environmental ethics and rights discourse. I argue that a non-anthropocentric perspective is necessary to justify the Universal Declaration’s rights. In Chapter 2 I explore the underlying justification of the Universal Declaration as discovered in the works of Cormac Cullinan and Father Thomas Berry. I argue that their ethical framework is indeterminate, has many ambiguities and uncertainties, and, among other problems, it does not provide a clear action-guiding framework. In Chapter 3 I develop an alternative justification for the Universal Declaration. I argue against many predominant moral theories, that in light of our best scientific and moral understanding we should expand the realm of moral concern to include all living beings, a moral theory I call Life’s Imperative. In Chapter 4 I illustrate that Life’s Imperative is a much stronger, more coherent justification for the Universal Declaration, one that coheres with both our best understanding of the natural world and our relation to it, and to an environmental ethic reflective of that relationship. Unfortunately many of the weaknesses in the current implicit justification of the Universal Declaration have also led to it enshrining rights that are themselves problematic. In order to address these issues, I revise its rights to accord with the stronger justification that I established in Chapter 3. The end result of doing so is a revised version of the Universal Declaration
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2013
Environmental water quality management of glyphosate-based herbicides in South Africa
- Authors: Mensah, Paul Kojo
- Date: 2013
- Subjects: Water quality management -- South Africa Water quality management -- Environmental Aspects -- South Africa Herbicides -- Environmental aspects -- South Africa Herbicides -- Toxicology -- South Africa Water -- Glyphosate content -- South Africa Water -- Pollution -- South Africa Water quality -- Measurement -- South Africa Water -- Analysis -- South Africa Freshwater ecology -- South Africa Integrated water development -- South Africa Caridina -- Effect of pollution on -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: vital:6023 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1001987
- Description: Although the use of pesticides is necessary to meet the socio-economic needs of many developing countries, especially in Africa, side effects of these bio-active chemicals have contributed to contaminating aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems. Environmental water quality degradation by pesticides interferes with ecosystem health and poses numerous risks to aquatic life. In South Africa, glyphosate-based herbicides are frequently used to control weeds and invading alien plants, but ultimately end up in freshwater ecosystems. However, there are no South African-based environmental water quality management strategies to regulate these bio-active chemicals. Therefore, this study sought to provide a sound scientific background for the environmental water quality management of glyphosate-based herbicides in South Africa, by conducting both laboratory and field investigations. In the laboratory investigations, aquatic ecotoxicological methods were used to evaluate responses of the freshwater aquatic shrimp Caridina nilotica exposed to Roundup® at different biological system scales, and the responses of multiple South African aquatic species exposed to Roundup® through species sensitivity distribution (SSD). In the field investigations, the effect of Kilo Max WSG on the physicochemical and biological conditions of three selected sites in the Swartkops River before and after a spray episode by Working for Water were evaluated through biomonitoring, using the South African Scoring System version 5 (SASS5) as a sampling protocol. Both Roundup® and Kilo Max WSG are glyphosate-based herbicides. All the data were subjected to relevant statistical analyses. Findings of this study revealed that Roundup® elicited responses at different biological system scales in C. nilotica, while SSD estimates were used to derive proposed water quality guidelines for glyphosate-based herbicides in South Africa. The biomonitoring revealed that using glyphosate-based herbicides to control water hyacinth within the Swartkops River had a negligible impact on the physicochemical and biological conditions. Based on these findings, a conceptual framework that can be used for the integrated environmental water quality management of glyphosate-based herbicides in South Africa was developed as part of integrated water resource management (IWRM). The combined data sets contribute to a sound scientific basis for the environmental water quality management of glyphosate-based herbicides in South Africa.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2013
- Authors: Mensah, Paul Kojo
- Date: 2013
- Subjects: Water quality management -- South Africa Water quality management -- Environmental Aspects -- South Africa Herbicides -- Environmental aspects -- South Africa Herbicides -- Toxicology -- South Africa Water -- Glyphosate content -- South Africa Water -- Pollution -- South Africa Water quality -- Measurement -- South Africa Water -- Analysis -- South Africa Freshwater ecology -- South Africa Integrated water development -- South Africa Caridina -- Effect of pollution on -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: vital:6023 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1001987
- Description: Although the use of pesticides is necessary to meet the socio-economic needs of many developing countries, especially in Africa, side effects of these bio-active chemicals have contributed to contaminating aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems. Environmental water quality degradation by pesticides interferes with ecosystem health and poses numerous risks to aquatic life. In South Africa, glyphosate-based herbicides are frequently used to control weeds and invading alien plants, but ultimately end up in freshwater ecosystems. However, there are no South African-based environmental water quality management strategies to regulate these bio-active chemicals. Therefore, this study sought to provide a sound scientific background for the environmental water quality management of glyphosate-based herbicides in South Africa, by conducting both laboratory and field investigations. In the laboratory investigations, aquatic ecotoxicological methods were used to evaluate responses of the freshwater aquatic shrimp Caridina nilotica exposed to Roundup® at different biological system scales, and the responses of multiple South African aquatic species exposed to Roundup® through species sensitivity distribution (SSD). In the field investigations, the effect of Kilo Max WSG on the physicochemical and biological conditions of three selected sites in the Swartkops River before and after a spray episode by Working for Water were evaluated through biomonitoring, using the South African Scoring System version 5 (SASS5) as a sampling protocol. Both Roundup® and Kilo Max WSG are glyphosate-based herbicides. All the data were subjected to relevant statistical analyses. Findings of this study revealed that Roundup® elicited responses at different biological system scales in C. nilotica, while SSD estimates were used to derive proposed water quality guidelines for glyphosate-based herbicides in South Africa. The biomonitoring revealed that using glyphosate-based herbicides to control water hyacinth within the Swartkops River had a negligible impact on the physicochemical and biological conditions. Based on these findings, a conceptual framework that can be used for the integrated environmental water quality management of glyphosate-based herbicides in South Africa was developed as part of integrated water resource management (IWRM). The combined data sets contribute to a sound scientific basis for the environmental water quality management of glyphosate-based herbicides in South Africa.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2013
Afro-communitarianism and the nature of reconciliation
- Authors: Oelofsen, Rianna
- Date: 2013
- Subjects: Ubuntu (Philosophy) Reconciliation -- South Africa Communitarianism -- Africa Philosophy, African
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: vital:2736 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1006809
- Description: In this dissertation I sketch a conception of personhood as understood from within an Afrocommunitarian worldview, and argue that this understanding of personhood has implications for understanding the concept of reconciliation. Understanding ‘being human’ as a collective, communal enterprise has implications for how responsibility, justice, forgiveness and humanization (all cognate concepts of reconciliation) are conceptualized. In line with this understanding of reconciliation and its cognate concepts, I argue that the humanization of self and other (according to the Afrocommunitarian understanding of personhood) is required for addressing the ‘inferiority’ and concurrent ‘superiority’ racial complexes as diagnosed by Franz Fanon and Steve Biko. These complexes reach deeply within individual and collective psyches and political identities, and I argue that political solutions to protracted conflict (in South Africa and other racially charged contexts) which do not address these deeply entrenched pathologies will be inadequate according to an Afrocommunitarian framework.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2013
- Authors: Oelofsen, Rianna
- Date: 2013
- Subjects: Ubuntu (Philosophy) Reconciliation -- South Africa Communitarianism -- Africa Philosophy, African
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: vital:2736 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1006809
- Description: In this dissertation I sketch a conception of personhood as understood from within an Afrocommunitarian worldview, and argue that this understanding of personhood has implications for understanding the concept of reconciliation. Understanding ‘being human’ as a collective, communal enterprise has implications for how responsibility, justice, forgiveness and humanization (all cognate concepts of reconciliation) are conceptualized. In line with this understanding of reconciliation and its cognate concepts, I argue that the humanization of self and other (according to the Afrocommunitarian understanding of personhood) is required for addressing the ‘inferiority’ and concurrent ‘superiority’ racial complexes as diagnosed by Franz Fanon and Steve Biko. These complexes reach deeply within individual and collective psyches and political identities, and I argue that political solutions to protracted conflict (in South Africa and other racially charged contexts) which do not address these deeply entrenched pathologies will be inadequate according to an Afrocommunitarian framework.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2013
An exploration of strategies to enhance grade 8 learners' reading comprehension skills
- Authors: Matakane, Euphimia Nobuzwe
- Date: 2013
- Subjects: Reading (Secondary) -- Research Reading comprehension
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: vital:1834 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1004330
- Description: This thesis reports on an Action Research case study into the teaching of comprehension strategies to Grade 8 learners in a rural high school in the Eastern Cape, South Africa. The learners in this study, who were studying English as an additional language, experienced difficulties in comprehending English text. A series of six lessons were designed to teach comprehension strategies to improve the learners' performance in reading comprehension. The purpose of the intervention was to equip the learners with skills that would enable them to improve their reading comprehension and evaluate their effectiveness as readers. The intervention was also intended to assess my teaching, which was challenged by the need to deal with learners' poor levels of reading comprehension. The data was collected using the following research techniques: interviews, questionnaires, non-participant observation, learners' and researcher's journals, document analysis The data analysis revealed that a lack of resources to learn English; limited English language due to lack of exposure; and learners' lack of foundational knowledge from their primary schools were barriers to the successful teaching of comprehension strategies. Despite such barriers, however, this research provides evidence that teaching comprehension strategies can be effective if it is taught systematically, and applied continuously. Personally, I learnt that I had to modify my methods of teaching due to the response of learners to the lessons taught.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2013
- Authors: Matakane, Euphimia Nobuzwe
- Date: 2013
- Subjects: Reading (Secondary) -- Research Reading comprehension
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: vital:1834 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1004330
- Description: This thesis reports on an Action Research case study into the teaching of comprehension strategies to Grade 8 learners in a rural high school in the Eastern Cape, South Africa. The learners in this study, who were studying English as an additional language, experienced difficulties in comprehending English text. A series of six lessons were designed to teach comprehension strategies to improve the learners' performance in reading comprehension. The purpose of the intervention was to equip the learners with skills that would enable them to improve their reading comprehension and evaluate their effectiveness as readers. The intervention was also intended to assess my teaching, which was challenged by the need to deal with learners' poor levels of reading comprehension. The data was collected using the following research techniques: interviews, questionnaires, non-participant observation, learners' and researcher's journals, document analysis The data analysis revealed that a lack of resources to learn English; limited English language due to lack of exposure; and learners' lack of foundational knowledge from their primary schools were barriers to the successful teaching of comprehension strategies. Despite such barriers, however, this research provides evidence that teaching comprehension strategies can be effective if it is taught systematically, and applied continuously. Personally, I learnt that I had to modify my methods of teaching due to the response of learners to the lessons taught.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2013
Spatial and temporal patterns in the population and the feeding of Palaemon peringueyi (MacPherson 1990) (Decapoda, Palaemonidae) in the Kariega estuary, South Africa
- Nyalungu, Nonhlanhla Precotia Dudu
- Authors: Nyalungu, Nonhlanhla Precotia Dudu
- Date: 2013
- Subjects: Palaemonidae -- Food -- South Africa , Palaemonidae -- Behavior -- South Africa , Palaemonidae -- Habitat -- South Africa , Estuarine biology -- South Africa , Shrimp populations -- South Africa , Shrimps -- South Africa , Decapoda (Crustacea) -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: vital:5584 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1001576 , Palaemonidae -- Food -- South Africa , Palaemonidae -- Behavior -- South Africa , Palaemonidae -- Habitat -- South Africa , Estuarine biology -- South Africa , Shrimp populations -- South Africa , Shrimps -- South Africa , Decapoda (Crustacea) -- South Africa
- Description: The spatial and temporal patterns in the population demographs and feeding ecology of the caridean shrimp, Palaemon peringueyi, was investigated over a 12 month period in the permanently open Kariega Estuary situated on the south-east coastline of South Africa. Shrimps were sampled monthly from three stations corresponding to the lower, middle and upper reaches of the Kariega Estuary. The shrimps were collected at the different stations using a pull net. Temperature, salinity, dissolved oxygen and % cover of submerged vegetation were measured at each sampling station. Finally, the feeding ecology of the shrimp was investigated employing stable carbon (δ¹³C) and nitrogen (δ¹⁵N) isotopes analysis. Temperature, salinity, dissolved oxygen and vegetation cover showed distinct seasonal patterns. The shrimps attained total abundances and biomass of between 0 and 245.6 individuals per m² (ind.m⁻²) and between 0 and 13.6 grams wet weight per m² (g wwt.m⁻²), respectively. Mean abundance ranged between 2.3 (± 3.0) and 88 (± 27.3) ind.m⁻² in the lower reach, between 0.9 (± 0.4) to 21.5 (± 4.5) ind.m⁻² in the middle reach and 0 to 1.6 (± 0.5) ind.m⁻² in the upper reach. Mean biomass ranged between 0.4 (± 0.5) and 4.4 (± 1.4) g wwt.m⁻² in the lower reach, between 0.1 (± 0) to 4.3 (± 0.9) g wwt.m⁻² in the middle reach and between 0 to 1.6 (± 0.5) g wwt.m⁻² in the upper reach. Greatest abundances and biomasses were recorded in winter following heavy rainfall within the catchment area. Freshwater inflow which is due to rainfall is thought to provide a cue for the recruitment of marine breeding organisms. The spatial patterns in the distribution of the shrimps showed that juveniles occupied the lower and middle reaches and adults the entire length of the estuary. There were no significant relationships between the abundance and biomass of the shrimps and the selected physico-chemical variables (p > 0.05 in all cases). Results of the stable isotope study indicated that the mean δ¹³C of the shrimps in the lower, middle and upper reaches were -12.4 (± 1.3) ‰, -15.6 (± 0.5) ‰ and -17.5 (± 0.5) ‰, respectively. The δ¹⁵N isotopes of the shrimps in the lower reach was 11.6 (± 0.5) ‰ with middle and upper reaches having similar δ¹⁵N values, 13.5 (± 0.4) ‰ and 13.4 (± 0.4) ‰, respectively. There was no significant difference in the δ¹³C and δ¹⁵N isotope (p > 0.05) between the sexes of the shrimps. Two-way ANOVA indicated a significant difference in the δ¹³C isotope of the shrimps between the sites (p < 0.05). The difference in the δ¹³C and δ¹⁵N ratios of the shrimps suggests spatial variability in the diet of P. peringueyi within the Kariega Estuary. The diet of the shrimps in the lower reach is primarily composed of Nanozostera capensis epibionts. In the middle reach the diet of the shrimps is likely comprised of the detritus of benthic algae. In the upper reach of the estuary, P. peringueyi likely derives its carbon from a combination of epibionts, benthic algae and detritus derived from Codium.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2013
- Authors: Nyalungu, Nonhlanhla Precotia Dudu
- Date: 2013
- Subjects: Palaemonidae -- Food -- South Africa , Palaemonidae -- Behavior -- South Africa , Palaemonidae -- Habitat -- South Africa , Estuarine biology -- South Africa , Shrimp populations -- South Africa , Shrimps -- South Africa , Decapoda (Crustacea) -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: vital:5584 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1001576 , Palaemonidae -- Food -- South Africa , Palaemonidae -- Behavior -- South Africa , Palaemonidae -- Habitat -- South Africa , Estuarine biology -- South Africa , Shrimp populations -- South Africa , Shrimps -- South Africa , Decapoda (Crustacea) -- South Africa
- Description: The spatial and temporal patterns in the population demographs and feeding ecology of the caridean shrimp, Palaemon peringueyi, was investigated over a 12 month period in the permanently open Kariega Estuary situated on the south-east coastline of South Africa. Shrimps were sampled monthly from three stations corresponding to the lower, middle and upper reaches of the Kariega Estuary. The shrimps were collected at the different stations using a pull net. Temperature, salinity, dissolved oxygen and % cover of submerged vegetation were measured at each sampling station. Finally, the feeding ecology of the shrimp was investigated employing stable carbon (δ¹³C) and nitrogen (δ¹⁵N) isotopes analysis. Temperature, salinity, dissolved oxygen and vegetation cover showed distinct seasonal patterns. The shrimps attained total abundances and biomass of between 0 and 245.6 individuals per m² (ind.m⁻²) and between 0 and 13.6 grams wet weight per m² (g wwt.m⁻²), respectively. Mean abundance ranged between 2.3 (± 3.0) and 88 (± 27.3) ind.m⁻² in the lower reach, between 0.9 (± 0.4) to 21.5 (± 4.5) ind.m⁻² in the middle reach and 0 to 1.6 (± 0.5) ind.m⁻² in the upper reach. Mean biomass ranged between 0.4 (± 0.5) and 4.4 (± 1.4) g wwt.m⁻² in the lower reach, between 0.1 (± 0) to 4.3 (± 0.9) g wwt.m⁻² in the middle reach and between 0 to 1.6 (± 0.5) g wwt.m⁻² in the upper reach. Greatest abundances and biomasses were recorded in winter following heavy rainfall within the catchment area. Freshwater inflow which is due to rainfall is thought to provide a cue for the recruitment of marine breeding organisms. The spatial patterns in the distribution of the shrimps showed that juveniles occupied the lower and middle reaches and adults the entire length of the estuary. There were no significant relationships between the abundance and biomass of the shrimps and the selected physico-chemical variables (p > 0.05 in all cases). Results of the stable isotope study indicated that the mean δ¹³C of the shrimps in the lower, middle and upper reaches were -12.4 (± 1.3) ‰, -15.6 (± 0.5) ‰ and -17.5 (± 0.5) ‰, respectively. The δ¹⁵N isotopes of the shrimps in the lower reach was 11.6 (± 0.5) ‰ with middle and upper reaches having similar δ¹⁵N values, 13.5 (± 0.4) ‰ and 13.4 (± 0.4) ‰, respectively. There was no significant difference in the δ¹³C and δ¹⁵N isotope (p > 0.05) between the sexes of the shrimps. Two-way ANOVA indicated a significant difference in the δ¹³C isotope of the shrimps between the sites (p < 0.05). The difference in the δ¹³C and δ¹⁵N ratios of the shrimps suggests spatial variability in the diet of P. peringueyi within the Kariega Estuary. The diet of the shrimps in the lower reach is primarily composed of Nanozostera capensis epibionts. In the middle reach the diet of the shrimps is likely comprised of the detritus of benthic algae. In the upper reach of the estuary, P. peringueyi likely derives its carbon from a combination of epibionts, benthic algae and detritus derived from Codium.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2013
Movement patterns and genetic stock delineation of an endemic South African sparid, the Poenskop, Cymatoceps nasutus (Castelnau, 1861)
- Authors: Murray, Taryn Sara
- Date: 2013
- Subjects: Fish stock assessment -- South Africa , Sparidae -- South Africa , Fishes -- Reproduction -- South Africa , Fishing -- South Africa , Fish populations -- South Africa , Fishes -- Behavior -- South Africa , Marine fishes -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: vital:5178 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1001514 , Fish stock assessment -- South Africa , Sparidae -- South Africa , Fishes -- Reproduction -- South Africa , Fishing -- South Africa , Fish populations -- South Africa , Fishes -- Behavior -- South Africa , Marine fishes -- South Africa
- Description: Poenskop Cymatoceps nasutus (Pisces: Sparidae), an endemic South African sparid, is an important angling species being predominantly targeted by the recreational shore and skiboat sector. This species is slow-growing, long-lived, late-maturing and sex-changing, making poenskop acutely sensitive to over-exploitation. Despite interventions, such as the imposition of size and bag limits (currently 50 cm TL and one per licensed fisher per day) by authorities, catch-per-unit-effort trends reflect a severe and consistent stock decline over the last two decades. Poenskop has been identified as a priority species for research and conservation. Although the biology and population dynamics of this species have been well-documented, little is known about the movement behaviour of poenskop. Furthermore, there is a complete lack of information on its genetic stock structure. This thesis aimed to address the current knowledge gaps concerning movement behaviour and genetic stock structure of poenskop, making use of a range of methods and drawing on available information, including available fishery records as well as published and unpublished survey and research data, and data from long-term monitoring programmes. Analysis of available catch data (published and unpublished) revealed a decline in the number of poenskop caught as well as size of fish taken over the last two decades, ultimately reflecting the collapse of the stock (estimated to be at 20% of their pristine level). Improved catch-per-unit-effort data from the Tsitsikamma National Park Marine Protected Area (MPA), and larger poenskop being caught in the no-take areas than adjacent exploited areas of the Pondoland MPA confirmed that MPAs can be effective for the protection and management of poenskop. The current MPA network in South Africa is already wellestablished, and encompasses considerable reef areas, being preferable for poenskop habitation. Conventional dart tagging and recapture information from three ongoing, long-term fishtagging projects, conducted throughout the poenskop’s distribution, indicated high levels of residency at all life-history stages. Coastal region, seasonality and time at recapture did not appear to have a significant effect on the level of movement or distance moved. However, on examining the relationship among coastal movements and fish size and ages, larger and older fish (adults) moved greater distances, with juveniles and sub-adults showing high degrees of residency. An estimation of home-range size indicated smaller poenskop to hold smaller home-ranges, while larger poenskop hold larger home-ranges. Large easterly displacements of a number of adult poenskop is in accordance with previous findings that this species may undertake a unidirectional migration up the coastline of South Africa where they possibly settle in Transkei waters for the remainder of their lives. This high level of residency makes poenskop vulnerable to localised depletion, although they can be effectively protected by suitable MPAs. Despite considerable tagging effort along the South African coastline (2 704 poenskop tagged with 189 recaptures, between 1984 and 2010), there remains limited information on the connectivity of different regions along the South African coastline. This was addressed using mitochondrial DNA sequencing. The mitochondrial DNA control region was used due to its high substitution rate, haploid nature, maternal inheritance and absence of recombination. The mtDNA sequencing showed no evidence of major geographic barriers to gene flow in this species. Samples collected throughout the core distribution of poenskop showed high genetic diversity (h = 0.88, π = 0.01), low genetic differentiation among regions, no spatial structure (ɸST = 0.012, p = 0.208) and no evidence of isolation by distance. The collapsed stock status of poenskop as well as the fact that it is being actively targeted by recreational and commercial fishers suggests that this species requires improved management, with consideration given to its life-history style, residency and poor conservation status. Management recommendations for poenskop, combined with increasing South Africa’s existing MPA network, include the possibility of setting up a closed season (during known spawning periods) as well as the decommercialisation of this species. The techniques used and developed in this study can also be adopted for other overexploited linefish species.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2013
- Authors: Murray, Taryn Sara
- Date: 2013
- Subjects: Fish stock assessment -- South Africa , Sparidae -- South Africa , Fishes -- Reproduction -- South Africa , Fishing -- South Africa , Fish populations -- South Africa , Fishes -- Behavior -- South Africa , Marine fishes -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: vital:5178 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1001514 , Fish stock assessment -- South Africa , Sparidae -- South Africa , Fishes -- Reproduction -- South Africa , Fishing -- South Africa , Fish populations -- South Africa , Fishes -- Behavior -- South Africa , Marine fishes -- South Africa
- Description: Poenskop Cymatoceps nasutus (Pisces: Sparidae), an endemic South African sparid, is an important angling species being predominantly targeted by the recreational shore and skiboat sector. This species is slow-growing, long-lived, late-maturing and sex-changing, making poenskop acutely sensitive to over-exploitation. Despite interventions, such as the imposition of size and bag limits (currently 50 cm TL and one per licensed fisher per day) by authorities, catch-per-unit-effort trends reflect a severe and consistent stock decline over the last two decades. Poenskop has been identified as a priority species for research and conservation. Although the biology and population dynamics of this species have been well-documented, little is known about the movement behaviour of poenskop. Furthermore, there is a complete lack of information on its genetic stock structure. This thesis aimed to address the current knowledge gaps concerning movement behaviour and genetic stock structure of poenskop, making use of a range of methods and drawing on available information, including available fishery records as well as published and unpublished survey and research data, and data from long-term monitoring programmes. Analysis of available catch data (published and unpublished) revealed a decline in the number of poenskop caught as well as size of fish taken over the last two decades, ultimately reflecting the collapse of the stock (estimated to be at 20% of their pristine level). Improved catch-per-unit-effort data from the Tsitsikamma National Park Marine Protected Area (MPA), and larger poenskop being caught in the no-take areas than adjacent exploited areas of the Pondoland MPA confirmed that MPAs can be effective for the protection and management of poenskop. The current MPA network in South Africa is already wellestablished, and encompasses considerable reef areas, being preferable for poenskop habitation. Conventional dart tagging and recapture information from three ongoing, long-term fishtagging projects, conducted throughout the poenskop’s distribution, indicated high levels of residency at all life-history stages. Coastal region, seasonality and time at recapture did not appear to have a significant effect on the level of movement or distance moved. However, on examining the relationship among coastal movements and fish size and ages, larger and older fish (adults) moved greater distances, with juveniles and sub-adults showing high degrees of residency. An estimation of home-range size indicated smaller poenskop to hold smaller home-ranges, while larger poenskop hold larger home-ranges. Large easterly displacements of a number of adult poenskop is in accordance with previous findings that this species may undertake a unidirectional migration up the coastline of South Africa where they possibly settle in Transkei waters for the remainder of their lives. This high level of residency makes poenskop vulnerable to localised depletion, although they can be effectively protected by suitable MPAs. Despite considerable tagging effort along the South African coastline (2 704 poenskop tagged with 189 recaptures, between 1984 and 2010), there remains limited information on the connectivity of different regions along the South African coastline. This was addressed using mitochondrial DNA sequencing. The mitochondrial DNA control region was used due to its high substitution rate, haploid nature, maternal inheritance and absence of recombination. The mtDNA sequencing showed no evidence of major geographic barriers to gene flow in this species. Samples collected throughout the core distribution of poenskop showed high genetic diversity (h = 0.88, π = 0.01), low genetic differentiation among regions, no spatial structure (ɸST = 0.012, p = 0.208) and no evidence of isolation by distance. The collapsed stock status of poenskop as well as the fact that it is being actively targeted by recreational and commercial fishers suggests that this species requires improved management, with consideration given to its life-history style, residency and poor conservation status. Management recommendations for poenskop, combined with increasing South Africa’s existing MPA network, include the possibility of setting up a closed season (during known spawning periods) as well as the decommercialisation of this species. The techniques used and developed in this study can also be adopted for other overexploited linefish species.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2013
A social realist account of the tutorial system at the University of Johannesburg
- Authors: Layton, Delia Melanie
- Date: 2013
- Subjects: University of Johannesburg Education, Higher -- South Africa Tutors and tutoring -- South Africa College teaching -- South Africa Archer, Margaret Scotford College student development programs -- South Africa Social realism , Tutorial system
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: vital:1314 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1001621
- Description: Using Margaret Archer’s social realist methodology, this study critically examines the construction of the tutorial system in several departments and faculties at the Auckland Park campus of the University of Johannesburg. The purpose of the study is to investigate the extent to which tutorials support the acquisition of programme and disciplinary epistemologies. Social realism calls for analytical dualism of ‘the people’ (agents) from ‘the parts’ (structure and culture). This requires the separate consideration of structures (social systems, rules, roles, practices, policies, institutions, and organisational structures like committees, units, departments, faculties), culture (ideologies, theories, beliefs and values as evidenced in discourses), and agency (people and their ability to act within and upon their own world in terms of their social roles and positions dependent on their ability to activate their emergent properties and powers). Through this investigation, an understanding was gained into how the emergent properties and powers contained within the material, ideational and agential elements helped to generate certain events and practices in the tutorial system. These generative mechanisms were examined to explore whether they enabled or constrained the construction of the tutorial system to provide epistemological access. The study shows that while many official policy documents construct the tutorial system as being an intervention to support academic success, particularly for first-years, there are some tensions within the document discourses, where, on the one hand, student success is constructed in terms of throughput numbers, or, on the other hand, as being about becoming a particular kind of person who is able to access and add to powerful knowledge. Furthermore, the study found that policies are not being consistently implemented. While certain key agents and actors, in the form of management, academics and tutors, were found to be able to overcome constraints and introduce innovative ways of enhancing access to target epistemologies, there is a need for consideration of structural and cultural constraints. For example, structures in the form of funding, venues and timetabling were found to constrain the tutorial system as did some of the discourses in the cultural domain: for example, in the form of certain dominant discourses around teaching and learning, beliefs about the purpose of the tutorial and the relationship between academics and the tutorial system. The study also found that the ontological aspects of ‘learning to be’ were not fore-grounded to any great extent in the ways in which the tutorial system was constructed. There needs to be more consideration of the ontological as well as the epistemological aspects of first-year study so as to take cognisance of the different learning needs of an increasingly diverse student body and to encourage the development of the student agency necessary for a deep engagement with the disciplinary epistemologies.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2013
- Authors: Layton, Delia Melanie
- Date: 2013
- Subjects: University of Johannesburg Education, Higher -- South Africa Tutors and tutoring -- South Africa College teaching -- South Africa Archer, Margaret Scotford College student development programs -- South Africa Social realism , Tutorial system
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: vital:1314 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1001621
- Description: Using Margaret Archer’s social realist methodology, this study critically examines the construction of the tutorial system in several departments and faculties at the Auckland Park campus of the University of Johannesburg. The purpose of the study is to investigate the extent to which tutorials support the acquisition of programme and disciplinary epistemologies. Social realism calls for analytical dualism of ‘the people’ (agents) from ‘the parts’ (structure and culture). This requires the separate consideration of structures (social systems, rules, roles, practices, policies, institutions, and organisational structures like committees, units, departments, faculties), culture (ideologies, theories, beliefs and values as evidenced in discourses), and agency (people and their ability to act within and upon their own world in terms of their social roles and positions dependent on their ability to activate their emergent properties and powers). Through this investigation, an understanding was gained into how the emergent properties and powers contained within the material, ideational and agential elements helped to generate certain events and practices in the tutorial system. These generative mechanisms were examined to explore whether they enabled or constrained the construction of the tutorial system to provide epistemological access. The study shows that while many official policy documents construct the tutorial system as being an intervention to support academic success, particularly for first-years, there are some tensions within the document discourses, where, on the one hand, student success is constructed in terms of throughput numbers, or, on the other hand, as being about becoming a particular kind of person who is able to access and add to powerful knowledge. Furthermore, the study found that policies are not being consistently implemented. While certain key agents and actors, in the form of management, academics and tutors, were found to be able to overcome constraints and introduce innovative ways of enhancing access to target epistemologies, there is a need for consideration of structural and cultural constraints. For example, structures in the form of funding, venues and timetabling were found to constrain the tutorial system as did some of the discourses in the cultural domain: for example, in the form of certain dominant discourses around teaching and learning, beliefs about the purpose of the tutorial and the relationship between academics and the tutorial system. The study also found that the ontological aspects of ‘learning to be’ were not fore-grounded to any great extent in the ways in which the tutorial system was constructed. There needs to be more consideration of the ontological as well as the epistemological aspects of first-year study so as to take cognisance of the different learning needs of an increasingly diverse student body and to encourage the development of the student agency necessary for a deep engagement with the disciplinary epistemologies.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2013
Morphology, patterns and processes in the Oyster Bay headland bypass dunefield, South Africa
- Authors: McConnachie, Lauren Bernyse
- Date: 2013
- Subjects: Sand dune conservation -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape Sand dune ecology -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape Coastal ecology -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape Sedimentation and deposition -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape Beach erosion -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape Coastal zone management -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape Shore protection -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: vital:4804 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1001904
- Description: Studies of the dunefield systems crossing the Cape St. Francis headland in the Eastern Cape have focused on the role that wind plays in sediment transfer in coastal dunefield systems, with limited consideration of the role of water. The aim of this study was to improve understanding of the morphology, processes and patterns within the Oyster Bay HBD system, focussing particularly on surface water and groundwater interactions and the role of surface water in sediment transfer across the dunefield system. An extensive field survey was conducted, to collect related data, complimented by spatial and temporal analysis of the study area using GIS. The key findings from this research were the apparent differences between the western and eastern regions of the dunefield with regard to specific drivers and the respective processes and responses. Wind is the major driver of change up to and across the crest of the dunefield. In the eastern region water (ground water, surface water and the Sand River System) is the primary agent of sediment flux through processes of aggregation and slumping as well as episodic events including debris flows. This study has highlighted a need for further quantitative studies that investigate the movement of sediment through dunefield systems such as this (where water is at or near the land surface). The paradigm that sediment flux is entirely due to wind is almost certainly simplistic, and deeper understanding of these systems is needed , Maiden name: Elkington, Lauren
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2013
- Authors: McConnachie, Lauren Bernyse
- Date: 2013
- Subjects: Sand dune conservation -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape Sand dune ecology -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape Coastal ecology -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape Sedimentation and deposition -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape Beach erosion -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape Coastal zone management -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape Shore protection -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: vital:4804 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1001904
- Description: Studies of the dunefield systems crossing the Cape St. Francis headland in the Eastern Cape have focused on the role that wind plays in sediment transfer in coastal dunefield systems, with limited consideration of the role of water. The aim of this study was to improve understanding of the morphology, processes and patterns within the Oyster Bay HBD system, focussing particularly on surface water and groundwater interactions and the role of surface water in sediment transfer across the dunefield system. An extensive field survey was conducted, to collect related data, complimented by spatial and temporal analysis of the study area using GIS. The key findings from this research were the apparent differences between the western and eastern regions of the dunefield with regard to specific drivers and the respective processes and responses. Wind is the major driver of change up to and across the crest of the dunefield. In the eastern region water (ground water, surface water and the Sand River System) is the primary agent of sediment flux through processes of aggregation and slumping as well as episodic events including debris flows. This study has highlighted a need for further quantitative studies that investigate the movement of sediment through dunefield systems such as this (where water is at or near the land surface). The paradigm that sediment flux is entirely due to wind is almost certainly simplistic, and deeper understanding of these systems is needed , Maiden name: Elkington, Lauren
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2013
A marine chemical ecology study of the sea hare, Bursatella leachii in South Africa
- Authors: D'Souza, Nicole
- Date: 2013 , 2013-03-22
- Subjects: Sea hares (Mollusks) -- South Africa -- Kenton-on-Sea , Sea hares (Mollusks) -- Ecology -- South Africa -- Kenton-on-Sea , Sea hares (Mollusks) -- Behavior -- South Africa -- Kenton-on-Sea , Sea hares (Mollusks) -- Defenses -- Behavior -- South Africa -- Kenton-on-Sea
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: vital:4283 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002952 , Sea hares (Mollusks) -- South Africa -- Kenton-on-Sea , Sea hares (Mollusks) -- Ecology -- South Africa -- Kenton-on-Sea , Sea hares (Mollusks) -- Behavior -- South Africa -- Kenton-on-Sea , Sea hares (Mollusks) -- Defenses -- Behavior -- South Africa -- Kenton-on-Sea
- Description: The large cosmopolitan sea hare Bursatella leachii is a common resident in Eastern Cape river mouths during summer and late autumn where they congregate in beds of Zostera capensis to breed. In this thesis, the previously known toxic formamide marine secondary metabolite (-)-bursatellin (2.2), which may deter predators of South African specimens of the globally distributed sea hare Bursatella leachii, was isolated and identified (Chapter 2). There have been no previous chemical ecology studies of B. leachii and the latter half of this thesis is devoted to chemical ecology studies of this organism. Interestingly, the isolation of the (-)-diastereomer of 2.2 from specimens of B. leachii collected from the Kariega River mouth (near Kenton-on-Sea) suggests that the South African specimens of this species are similar to specimens collected from Puerto Rico and from the Mediterranean Sea. Two different chromatographic techniques for isolating 2.2 were compared in order to maximize the amount of 2.2 isolated from the Kariega River mouth sea hares. The doubling of selected resonances observed in both the ¹H and ¹³C NMR spectra of the bursatellin isolated in this study suggest one of three possibilities; either firstly, the presence of closely related compound(s), secondly, the presence of diastereomers or thirdly the presence of rotamers. Through NMR kinetic studies, we were able to establish that the presence of rotamers was very unlikely due to no change in the relative ratio (3:1) of the ¹H NMR signals with an increase in temperature. Although the attempted synthesis of the acetate derivative (2.28), as a means of separating a diastereomeric mixture was successful, the chromatographic separation of the proposed acetylated diastereomers was not successful. Preparation of the camphanate ester derivatives (e.g. 2.30) proved to be unsuccessful. Five B. leachii specimens were dissected, their organs separated and individually extracted with methanol. The methanol extracts were individually chromatographed on HP-20 media, and the distribution of bursatellin determined by isolation and NMR. It was evident from this investigation that the distribution of 2.2 within individual B. leachii specimens was found to be highest within the B. leachii ink gland. The lower amounts of 2.2 contained in the digestive system, relative to other organs, was hypothesized to occur because 2.2 is sequestered from the diet of the sea hare and efficiently moved from the gut to various organs around the body where it is stored. The absence of 2.2 from the skin was surprising and may be a result of a smaller mass of skin relative to other organs coupled with the limitations of the chromatographic separation techniques employed. Surprisingly, no bursatellin was found within juvenile sea hares. Chapter three discusses the isolation of ilimaquinone (3.1) and pelorol (3.19) from the sponge Hippospongia metachroma and the structure elucidation of each compound using computer modeling to illustrate the conformation. It was deemed necessary to isolate these well known and abundant bioactive marine natural products from a sponge as standard compounds in the bioassays given the paucity of 2.2 available for this study. Chapter four describes the assays used to test the biological activity of the bursatellin 2.2 compared to the generally bioactive ilimaquinone and the structurally related and commercially available broad spectrum antibiotic chloramphenicol. B. leachii, a shell-less marine mollusc inhabits a variety of intertidal habitats and, therefore, is exposed to several different predators, yet does not appear to have any specific predators. Potential predators of this sea hare in the Kariega Estuary could be fish and amphipods which are found in close proximity to these sea hares. Results of the assays showed that at roughly natural concentrations, (calculated from the isolated chromatographic yield) feeding was deterred by the fish and amphipods, which implied that 2.2 may confer a defensive role within the organism. The relatively high concentration present within the ink gland of B. leachii may support this hypothesis. Surprisingly, given its structural similarity to chloramphenicol, 2.3 did not show any antimicrobial action against five of the six bacterial strains against which it was screened [chloramphenicol inhibited the growth of all the bacterial strains at very low concentrations (0.25 mg/mL)]. Bursatellin was found to be only active against Staphylococus aureus at high concentrations ca. 2 mg/mL when compared to chloramphenicol. Neither bursatellin nor chloramphenicol showed anti-fungal activity. Although this study suggests that the sea hares may use chemical defences in addition to opaline ink to defend themselves, they also live within the seagrass Z. capensis, which possibly provides the sea hare with a cryptic form of physical defence against several predators that are unable to swim freely within the weed beds in the littoral zone of the estuary. , Adobe Acrobat 9.53 Paper Capture Plug-in
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2013
- Authors: D'Souza, Nicole
- Date: 2013 , 2013-03-22
- Subjects: Sea hares (Mollusks) -- South Africa -- Kenton-on-Sea , Sea hares (Mollusks) -- Ecology -- South Africa -- Kenton-on-Sea , Sea hares (Mollusks) -- Behavior -- South Africa -- Kenton-on-Sea , Sea hares (Mollusks) -- Defenses -- Behavior -- South Africa -- Kenton-on-Sea
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: vital:4283 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002952 , Sea hares (Mollusks) -- South Africa -- Kenton-on-Sea , Sea hares (Mollusks) -- Ecology -- South Africa -- Kenton-on-Sea , Sea hares (Mollusks) -- Behavior -- South Africa -- Kenton-on-Sea , Sea hares (Mollusks) -- Defenses -- Behavior -- South Africa -- Kenton-on-Sea
- Description: The large cosmopolitan sea hare Bursatella leachii is a common resident in Eastern Cape river mouths during summer and late autumn where they congregate in beds of Zostera capensis to breed. In this thesis, the previously known toxic formamide marine secondary metabolite (-)-bursatellin (2.2), which may deter predators of South African specimens of the globally distributed sea hare Bursatella leachii, was isolated and identified (Chapter 2). There have been no previous chemical ecology studies of B. leachii and the latter half of this thesis is devoted to chemical ecology studies of this organism. Interestingly, the isolation of the (-)-diastereomer of 2.2 from specimens of B. leachii collected from the Kariega River mouth (near Kenton-on-Sea) suggests that the South African specimens of this species are similar to specimens collected from Puerto Rico and from the Mediterranean Sea. Two different chromatographic techniques for isolating 2.2 were compared in order to maximize the amount of 2.2 isolated from the Kariega River mouth sea hares. The doubling of selected resonances observed in both the ¹H and ¹³C NMR spectra of the bursatellin isolated in this study suggest one of three possibilities; either firstly, the presence of closely related compound(s), secondly, the presence of diastereomers or thirdly the presence of rotamers. Through NMR kinetic studies, we were able to establish that the presence of rotamers was very unlikely due to no change in the relative ratio (3:1) of the ¹H NMR signals with an increase in temperature. Although the attempted synthesis of the acetate derivative (2.28), as a means of separating a diastereomeric mixture was successful, the chromatographic separation of the proposed acetylated diastereomers was not successful. Preparation of the camphanate ester derivatives (e.g. 2.30) proved to be unsuccessful. Five B. leachii specimens were dissected, their organs separated and individually extracted with methanol. The methanol extracts were individually chromatographed on HP-20 media, and the distribution of bursatellin determined by isolation and NMR. It was evident from this investigation that the distribution of 2.2 within individual B. leachii specimens was found to be highest within the B. leachii ink gland. The lower amounts of 2.2 contained in the digestive system, relative to other organs, was hypothesized to occur because 2.2 is sequestered from the diet of the sea hare and efficiently moved from the gut to various organs around the body where it is stored. The absence of 2.2 from the skin was surprising and may be a result of a smaller mass of skin relative to other organs coupled with the limitations of the chromatographic separation techniques employed. Surprisingly, no bursatellin was found within juvenile sea hares. Chapter three discusses the isolation of ilimaquinone (3.1) and pelorol (3.19) from the sponge Hippospongia metachroma and the structure elucidation of each compound using computer modeling to illustrate the conformation. It was deemed necessary to isolate these well known and abundant bioactive marine natural products from a sponge as standard compounds in the bioassays given the paucity of 2.2 available for this study. Chapter four describes the assays used to test the biological activity of the bursatellin 2.2 compared to the generally bioactive ilimaquinone and the structurally related and commercially available broad spectrum antibiotic chloramphenicol. B. leachii, a shell-less marine mollusc inhabits a variety of intertidal habitats and, therefore, is exposed to several different predators, yet does not appear to have any specific predators. Potential predators of this sea hare in the Kariega Estuary could be fish and amphipods which are found in close proximity to these sea hares. Results of the assays showed that at roughly natural concentrations, (calculated from the isolated chromatographic yield) feeding was deterred by the fish and amphipods, which implied that 2.2 may confer a defensive role within the organism. The relatively high concentration present within the ink gland of B. leachii may support this hypothesis. Surprisingly, given its structural similarity to chloramphenicol, 2.3 did not show any antimicrobial action against five of the six bacterial strains against which it was screened [chloramphenicol inhibited the growth of all the bacterial strains at very low concentrations (0.25 mg/mL)]. Bursatellin was found to be only active against Staphylococus aureus at high concentrations ca. 2 mg/mL when compared to chloramphenicol. Neither bursatellin nor chloramphenicol showed anti-fungal activity. Although this study suggests that the sea hares may use chemical defences in addition to opaline ink to defend themselves, they also live within the seagrass Z. capensis, which possibly provides the sea hare with a cryptic form of physical defence against several predators that are unable to swim freely within the weed beds in the littoral zone of the estuary. , Adobe Acrobat 9.53 Paper Capture Plug-in
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2013
Microsatellite and morphometric analysis of chokka squid (Loligo reynaudi) from different spawning aggregations around the South African coast
- Authors: Stonier, Terence Anthony
- Date: 2013
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: vital:5344 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1006779
- Description: Accurate information on stock structure is very important to the effective management of any commercially exploited species (Angel et al. 1994), particularly in annual species like Loligo reynaudi. Previous molecular work on a number of fish and cephalopod species has shown that stock structuring may be more complex than originally believed and while much scientific work has been conducted on Loligo reynaudi to date, molecular work has been lacking and this species’ fishery is currently managed as a single stock. The primary aim of this project was to examine the population genetics of Loligo reynaudi on a molecular level, by looking at the levels of genetic variation between different spawning aggregations along the inshore distribution of the chokka squid, with particular attention being paid to any variation between Eastern Cape and Agulhas Bank groups. The secondary aim was to conduct a morphological analysis on samples from the same major areas in order to see if any genetic variation observed would be complemented by phenotypic variation. Two separate sample sets were collected; Genetic samples were collected from 6 different spawning sites along the South African Coast between April and July, 2006 and whole individuals for morphometric analysis were collected from 4 spawning sites between April and July 2007. Samples were screened for genetic variation between different spawning aggregations along the inshore distribution of chokka squid, from Port Alfred in the Eastern Cape, to the western Agulhas Bank. After this a morphometric analysis on samples from the same major areas, Eastern Cape, Agulhas Bank and Angola, was carried out. Genetic results showed significant variation between some of the sample groups. As expected, the Angolan outgroup consistently showed significant variation from other samples, while there was evidence of differentiation between the South African samples themselves. These results could have implications for the previously documented life cycle model of Loligo reynaudi and provide a basis for further study at a finer resolution into where exactly the boundaries of these different groupings can be found. This stock structuring has implications for the management of the species and warrants further genetic research with microsatellites proving to be a powerful tool in the explanation of stock structuring. Unfortunately, due to possible errors in taking measurements, morphometric analysis did not yield useful results which can be described and interpreted in this study. It is felt that further genetic study conducted on a finer scale, should be accompanied by a repeat of the morphometric analysis.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2013
- Authors: Stonier, Terence Anthony
- Date: 2013
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: vital:5344 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1006779
- Description: Accurate information on stock structure is very important to the effective management of any commercially exploited species (Angel et al. 1994), particularly in annual species like Loligo reynaudi. Previous molecular work on a number of fish and cephalopod species has shown that stock structuring may be more complex than originally believed and while much scientific work has been conducted on Loligo reynaudi to date, molecular work has been lacking and this species’ fishery is currently managed as a single stock. The primary aim of this project was to examine the population genetics of Loligo reynaudi on a molecular level, by looking at the levels of genetic variation between different spawning aggregations along the inshore distribution of the chokka squid, with particular attention being paid to any variation between Eastern Cape and Agulhas Bank groups. The secondary aim was to conduct a morphological analysis on samples from the same major areas in order to see if any genetic variation observed would be complemented by phenotypic variation. Two separate sample sets were collected; Genetic samples were collected from 6 different spawning sites along the South African Coast between April and July, 2006 and whole individuals for morphometric analysis were collected from 4 spawning sites between April and July 2007. Samples were screened for genetic variation between different spawning aggregations along the inshore distribution of chokka squid, from Port Alfred in the Eastern Cape, to the western Agulhas Bank. After this a morphometric analysis on samples from the same major areas, Eastern Cape, Agulhas Bank and Angola, was carried out. Genetic results showed significant variation between some of the sample groups. As expected, the Angolan outgroup consistently showed significant variation from other samples, while there was evidence of differentiation between the South African samples themselves. These results could have implications for the previously documented life cycle model of Loligo reynaudi and provide a basis for further study at a finer resolution into where exactly the boundaries of these different groupings can be found. This stock structuring has implications for the management of the species and warrants further genetic research with microsatellites proving to be a powerful tool in the explanation of stock structuring. Unfortunately, due to possible errors in taking measurements, morphometric analysis did not yield useful results which can be described and interpreted in this study. It is felt that further genetic study conducted on a finer scale, should be accompanied by a repeat of the morphometric analysis.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2013
Profiling for volatile compounds in the Kgalagadi desert truffle
- Authors: Bogopa, Juda
- Date: 2013
- Subjects: Desert plants -- Botswana -- Kgalagadi District Supercritical fluid extraction Gas chromatography Mass spectrometry Tuberaceae -- Analysis -- Botswana -- Kgalagadi District Truffles -- Analysis -- Botswana -- Kgalagadi District
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: vital:4280 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002006
- Description: The thesis focuses on ‘green’ sample preparation techniques that utilise minimal or no organic solvents thereby producing negligible volumes of organic waste, to ensure safety both to user and the environment. Volatile compounds were extracted and pre-concentrated from Kgalagadi desert truffles (kalaharituber) by headspace solid phase microextraction (HSSPME) and supercritical fluid extraction (SFE). PHWE was employed for the extraction of amino acids and fatty acids. Subsequent analysis of volatile compounds was carried out by gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry. Four types of HS-SPME fibers (PDMS 100 μm, PDMS 7 μm, Polyacrylate 85 μm, CAR/DVB/PDMS 50/30 μm) were evaluated. A total of 24 volatile compounds with a molecular weight range from 110 to 354, the most prominent peak being 2-t-Butyl-2,3-dimethyl-3-buten-1-ol (C₁₀H₂₀O, MW 156) were detected after sampling with a PDMS 100 μm fiber. Less volatile compounds were detected after SFE with CO2. A total of 16 amino acids were identified while 17 fatty acids (MW from 132.12 to 367.49) were also identified. The characteristic profile of the Kgalagadi desert truffle was found to contain mainly fatty acid methyl esters and unsaturated aliphatic hydrocarbons. The most prominent compound peaks identified were; 2-t-butyl-2,3-dimethyl- 3-buten-1-ol, disulfide, ethyl benzoic acid 2-4-dhydroxy-3,6-dimethyl-methyl ester, 8,11- octadecanoic acid methyl ester, benzoic acid, 2,4-dihydroxy-3,6-dimethyl-methyl ester, isoquinoline, 1 butyl-3,4-dihydro and 3-heptanone, 6 methyl. Optimization results indicated that fresh slices from the heart of truffles were the best to use for HS-SPME-GCMS volatile compound analysis as they showed a higher sensitivity
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2013
- Authors: Bogopa, Juda
- Date: 2013
- Subjects: Desert plants -- Botswana -- Kgalagadi District Supercritical fluid extraction Gas chromatography Mass spectrometry Tuberaceae -- Analysis -- Botswana -- Kgalagadi District Truffles -- Analysis -- Botswana -- Kgalagadi District
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: vital:4280 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002006
- Description: The thesis focuses on ‘green’ sample preparation techniques that utilise minimal or no organic solvents thereby producing negligible volumes of organic waste, to ensure safety both to user and the environment. Volatile compounds were extracted and pre-concentrated from Kgalagadi desert truffles (kalaharituber) by headspace solid phase microextraction (HSSPME) and supercritical fluid extraction (SFE). PHWE was employed for the extraction of amino acids and fatty acids. Subsequent analysis of volatile compounds was carried out by gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry. Four types of HS-SPME fibers (PDMS 100 μm, PDMS 7 μm, Polyacrylate 85 μm, CAR/DVB/PDMS 50/30 μm) were evaluated. A total of 24 volatile compounds with a molecular weight range from 110 to 354, the most prominent peak being 2-t-Butyl-2,3-dimethyl-3-buten-1-ol (C₁₀H₂₀O, MW 156) were detected after sampling with a PDMS 100 μm fiber. Less volatile compounds were detected after SFE with CO2. A total of 16 amino acids were identified while 17 fatty acids (MW from 132.12 to 367.49) were also identified. The characteristic profile of the Kgalagadi desert truffle was found to contain mainly fatty acid methyl esters and unsaturated aliphatic hydrocarbons. The most prominent compound peaks identified were; 2-t-butyl-2,3-dimethyl- 3-buten-1-ol, disulfide, ethyl benzoic acid 2-4-dhydroxy-3,6-dimethyl-methyl ester, 8,11- octadecanoic acid methyl ester, benzoic acid, 2,4-dihydroxy-3,6-dimethyl-methyl ester, isoquinoline, 1 butyl-3,4-dihydro and 3-heptanone, 6 methyl. Optimization results indicated that fresh slices from the heart of truffles were the best to use for HS-SPME-GCMS volatile compound analysis as they showed a higher sensitivity
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2013
A descriptive analysis of statements taken by police officers from child complainants in sexual offence cases that examines the degree to which the form and content of the statements accord with best practice across a range of variables
- Authors: Johns, Alex
- Date: 2013
- Subjects: Child sexual abuse -- Law and legislation -- South Africa Police -- South Africa Child witnesses -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , LLM
- Identifier: vital:3664 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002611
- Description: With over twenty thousand complaints reported annually to police of child sexual abuse in South Africa, specialist police nvestigators are practised at taking statements from child complainants. This thesis analyses the fit between actualpolice practice and that recommended by international best practice. Children are a special class of witness because of their inherent social, emotional, and cognitive immaturity, and they are universally acknowledged to be very difficult witnesses to interview without the interviewer lending a bias to the process and thereby contaminating the outcome. The first half of the thesis therefore provides a detailed account of the research basis of current international best practice and of the hallmarks of that best practice which result in reliable interview outcomes. The second half of the thesis presents a descriptive analysis of 100 police statements taken from children in the Eastern Cape who had been raped in the period between 2010 and 2012. The findings of the analysis are presented in detail and then compared to the best practice summarised from the international research.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2013
- Authors: Johns, Alex
- Date: 2013
- Subjects: Child sexual abuse -- Law and legislation -- South Africa Police -- South Africa Child witnesses -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , LLM
- Identifier: vital:3664 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002611
- Description: With over twenty thousand complaints reported annually to police of child sexual abuse in South Africa, specialist police nvestigators are practised at taking statements from child complainants. This thesis analyses the fit between actualpolice practice and that recommended by international best practice. Children are a special class of witness because of their inherent social, emotional, and cognitive immaturity, and they are universally acknowledged to be very difficult witnesses to interview without the interviewer lending a bias to the process and thereby contaminating the outcome. The first half of the thesis therefore provides a detailed account of the research basis of current international best practice and of the hallmarks of that best practice which result in reliable interview outcomes. The second half of the thesis presents a descriptive analysis of 100 police statements taken from children in the Eastern Cape who had been raped in the period between 2010 and 2012. The findings of the analysis are presented in detail and then compared to the best practice summarised from the international research.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2013
The impact of low to moderate alcohol consumption on different types of human performance
- Authors: Goble, David
- Date: 2013
- Subjects: Alcohol -- Physiological effect Temperance Human information processing -- Effect of drugs on Visual perception -- Effect of drugs on Cognition -- Effect of drugs on Caffeine -- Physiological effect
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: vital:5136 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1006042
- Description: Despite extensive research into the effects of alcohol consumption, there is no clear understanding into the mechanisms underlying human information processing impairment. The acute consumption of alcohol was investigated to determine the implications for human information processing capabilities, and to identify the extent to which these implications were stage-specific. Further aims included the investigation and quantification of caffeine-induced antagonism of alcohol impairment. Moreover, the aforementioned relationships were investigated in morning versus evening conditions. A test battery of six resource-specific tasks was utilised to measure visual perceptual, cognitive and sensory-motor performance, fashioned to return both simple and complex measures of each task. The tasks implemented were: visual perceptual performance (accommodation, visual detection, visual pattern recognition); cognition (memory recall- digit span); and motor output (modified Fitts‟ and a driving simulated line-tracking). Performance measures were recorded by the respective computer based tasks. Physiological variables measured included heart rate frequency, heart rate variability (RMSSD, High and Low Frequency Power) and body temperature. Saccade speed, saccade amplitude, pupil size and fixation duration were the oculomotor parameters measured. Three groups of participants (alcohol, caffeine+alcohol and control) n=36 were studied, split evenly between sexes in a mixed repeated/non-repeated measures design. The control group performed all test batteries under no influence. The alcohol group performed test batteries one and two sober, and three and four under the influence of a 0.4 g/kg dose of alcohol. Group caffeine+alcohol conducted test battery one sober, two under the effect of caffeine only (4 mg/kg), and three and four under the influence of both caffeine and alcohol (0.4 g/kg). The third test battery demonstrated the effects of alcohol during the inclining phase of the blood alcohol curve, and the fourth represented the declining phase. Morning experimentation occurred between 10:00 - 12: 45 and 10:30 -13:15 with evening experimentation between 19:00 - 21:30 and 19:30 - 22:00. Acute alcohol consumption at a dose of approximately 0.4 g/kg body weight effected an average peak breath alcohol concentration of 0.062 % and 0.059 % for the alcohol and caffeine+alcohol groups respectively. Task-related visual perceptual performance demonstrated significant decrements for simple reaction time, choice reaction time and error rate. Cognitive performance demonstrated no significant performance decrements, while motor performance indicated significant decrements in target accuracy only. Physiological parameters in response to alcohol consumption showed significantly decreased heart rate variability (RMSSD) in the modified Fitts‟ task only. A significant decrease in saccade amplitude in the memory task was the only change in oculomotor parameters. Prior caffeine consumption demonstrated limited antagonism to task-related alcohol impairment, significantly improving performance only in reduced error rate while reading. Caffeine consumption showed stimulating effects on physiological parameters, significantly increasing heart rate and heart rate variability when compared to alcohol alone. The design of the tasks allows for comparison between complex and simple task performance, indicating resource utilisation and depletion. Complex tasks demonstrated higher resource utilisation, however with no statistical performance differences to simple tasks. Physiological parameters showed greater change in response to alcohol consumption, than did the performance measures. Alcohol consumption imposed significant changes in physiological and oculomotor parameters for cognitive tasks only, significantly increasing heart rate frequency and decreasing heart rate variability, skin temperature and saccade amplitude. Caffeine consumption showed no antagonism of alcohol-induced performance measures. Physiological measures showed that caffeine consumption imposed stimulating effects in only the neural reflex and memory tasks, significantly increasing heart rate frequency and heart rate variability. Prior caffeine consumption significantly decreased fixation duration in the memory task only. The time of day at which alcohol was consumed demonstrated significant performance and physiological implications. Results indicated that morning consumption of alcohol imposes greater decrements in performance and larger fluctuations in physiological parameters than the decrements in evening experimental sessions. It can be concluded that alcohol consumption at a dose of 0.4 g/kg affects all stages in the information processing chain. Task performance indicates that alcohol has a greater severity on the early stages of information processing. Conversely, under the influence of alcohol an increased task complexity induces greater effects on central stage information processing. In addition, caffeine consumption at a dose of 4 mg/kg prior to alcohol does not antagonise the alcohol-induced performance decrements.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2013
- Authors: Goble, David
- Date: 2013
- Subjects: Alcohol -- Physiological effect Temperance Human information processing -- Effect of drugs on Visual perception -- Effect of drugs on Cognition -- Effect of drugs on Caffeine -- Physiological effect
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: vital:5136 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1006042
- Description: Despite extensive research into the effects of alcohol consumption, there is no clear understanding into the mechanisms underlying human information processing impairment. The acute consumption of alcohol was investigated to determine the implications for human information processing capabilities, and to identify the extent to which these implications were stage-specific. Further aims included the investigation and quantification of caffeine-induced antagonism of alcohol impairment. Moreover, the aforementioned relationships were investigated in morning versus evening conditions. A test battery of six resource-specific tasks was utilised to measure visual perceptual, cognitive and sensory-motor performance, fashioned to return both simple and complex measures of each task. The tasks implemented were: visual perceptual performance (accommodation, visual detection, visual pattern recognition); cognition (memory recall- digit span); and motor output (modified Fitts‟ and a driving simulated line-tracking). Performance measures were recorded by the respective computer based tasks. Physiological variables measured included heart rate frequency, heart rate variability (RMSSD, High and Low Frequency Power) and body temperature. Saccade speed, saccade amplitude, pupil size and fixation duration were the oculomotor parameters measured. Three groups of participants (alcohol, caffeine+alcohol and control) n=36 were studied, split evenly between sexes in a mixed repeated/non-repeated measures design. The control group performed all test batteries under no influence. The alcohol group performed test batteries one and two sober, and three and four under the influence of a 0.4 g/kg dose of alcohol. Group caffeine+alcohol conducted test battery one sober, two under the effect of caffeine only (4 mg/kg), and three and four under the influence of both caffeine and alcohol (0.4 g/kg). The third test battery demonstrated the effects of alcohol during the inclining phase of the blood alcohol curve, and the fourth represented the declining phase. Morning experimentation occurred between 10:00 - 12: 45 and 10:30 -13:15 with evening experimentation between 19:00 - 21:30 and 19:30 - 22:00. Acute alcohol consumption at a dose of approximately 0.4 g/kg body weight effected an average peak breath alcohol concentration of 0.062 % and 0.059 % for the alcohol and caffeine+alcohol groups respectively. Task-related visual perceptual performance demonstrated significant decrements for simple reaction time, choice reaction time and error rate. Cognitive performance demonstrated no significant performance decrements, while motor performance indicated significant decrements in target accuracy only. Physiological parameters in response to alcohol consumption showed significantly decreased heart rate variability (RMSSD) in the modified Fitts‟ task only. A significant decrease in saccade amplitude in the memory task was the only change in oculomotor parameters. Prior caffeine consumption demonstrated limited antagonism to task-related alcohol impairment, significantly improving performance only in reduced error rate while reading. Caffeine consumption showed stimulating effects on physiological parameters, significantly increasing heart rate and heart rate variability when compared to alcohol alone. The design of the tasks allows for comparison between complex and simple task performance, indicating resource utilisation and depletion. Complex tasks demonstrated higher resource utilisation, however with no statistical performance differences to simple tasks. Physiological parameters showed greater change in response to alcohol consumption, than did the performance measures. Alcohol consumption imposed significant changes in physiological and oculomotor parameters for cognitive tasks only, significantly increasing heart rate frequency and decreasing heart rate variability, skin temperature and saccade amplitude. Caffeine consumption showed no antagonism of alcohol-induced performance measures. Physiological measures showed that caffeine consumption imposed stimulating effects in only the neural reflex and memory tasks, significantly increasing heart rate frequency and heart rate variability. Prior caffeine consumption significantly decreased fixation duration in the memory task only. The time of day at which alcohol was consumed demonstrated significant performance and physiological implications. Results indicated that morning consumption of alcohol imposes greater decrements in performance and larger fluctuations in physiological parameters than the decrements in evening experimental sessions. It can be concluded that alcohol consumption at a dose of 0.4 g/kg affects all stages in the information processing chain. Task performance indicates that alcohol has a greater severity on the early stages of information processing. Conversely, under the influence of alcohol an increased task complexity induces greater effects on central stage information processing. In addition, caffeine consumption at a dose of 4 mg/kg prior to alcohol does not antagonise the alcohol-induced performance decrements.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2013
A critical analysis of the grammar of isiXhosa as used in the Revised Union version of the Bible
- Oosthuysen, Jacobus Christiaan
- Authors: Oosthuysen, Jacobus Christiaan
- Date: 2013
- Subjects: Bible -- Xhosa -- Revised Union -- 1942 Xhosa language -- Grammar -- Research Xhosa language -- Texts
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: vital:3555 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1001625
- Description: This study provides a description and critical analysis of the grammatical structure of isiXhosa as used in the Revised Union Version of the Bible, published in 1942 and republished in 1975. This translation records what was regarded as proper isiXhosa at the beginning of the 20th century, reflecting the consensus inter alia of prominent isiXhosa writers, such as W.B. Rubusana, J.H. Soga, C. Koti, Y. Mbali and D. D. T. Jabavu, who served on the committee that produced the revision. In this study isiXhosa is described in its own right, without approaching it with preconceived ideas derived from other languages. That is to say this is a phenomenological analysis describing the grammatical structures of isiXhosa as they present themselves to the analyst. It is comprehensive, with no structure being overlooked or being described in such a manner that it complicates an understanding of other structures. In the first chapter the context of the research and a brief outline of the historical growth in understanding the structure of isiXhosa are set out and the goals and the method followed in this study are described. In the following chapters the findings of this study are presented. The initial focus is on isiXhosa phonology and the orthography used to put it to writing. Then isiXhosa morphology and syntax is set out. Initially the substantives, i.e. the nouns and pronouns in their distinctive classes and forms, and how they are qualified, receive attention. Then the predicates are explored, i.e. the verbs and copulatives, as linked to the substantives with concords, and reflecting various moods, tenses, actualities and aspects. Finally attention is given to ideophones and interjections and words that can be grouped together as adverbs, conjunctions, avoidance words and numerals. In the concluding chapter consideration is given to the question of whether this study has in fact achieved the aim of setting out a description of the structure of isiXhosa based solely on the language itself, free of preconceived ideas, and attention is drawn to insights gained in respect of the true nature of the isiXhosa grammatical structures, such as, for example, the variable prefix qualificative nouns, traditionally referred to as adjectives. This study is therefore a revisionist study in the sense that it reinvents isiXhosa as a language in its own right, free from Western influenced perspectives.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2013
- Authors: Oosthuysen, Jacobus Christiaan
- Date: 2013
- Subjects: Bible -- Xhosa -- Revised Union -- 1942 Xhosa language -- Grammar -- Research Xhosa language -- Texts
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: vital:3555 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1001625
- Description: This study provides a description and critical analysis of the grammatical structure of isiXhosa as used in the Revised Union Version of the Bible, published in 1942 and republished in 1975. This translation records what was regarded as proper isiXhosa at the beginning of the 20th century, reflecting the consensus inter alia of prominent isiXhosa writers, such as W.B. Rubusana, J.H. Soga, C. Koti, Y. Mbali and D. D. T. Jabavu, who served on the committee that produced the revision. In this study isiXhosa is described in its own right, without approaching it with preconceived ideas derived from other languages. That is to say this is a phenomenological analysis describing the grammatical structures of isiXhosa as they present themselves to the analyst. It is comprehensive, with no structure being overlooked or being described in such a manner that it complicates an understanding of other structures. In the first chapter the context of the research and a brief outline of the historical growth in understanding the structure of isiXhosa are set out and the goals and the method followed in this study are described. In the following chapters the findings of this study are presented. The initial focus is on isiXhosa phonology and the orthography used to put it to writing. Then isiXhosa morphology and syntax is set out. Initially the substantives, i.e. the nouns and pronouns in their distinctive classes and forms, and how they are qualified, receive attention. Then the predicates are explored, i.e. the verbs and copulatives, as linked to the substantives with concords, and reflecting various moods, tenses, actualities and aspects. Finally attention is given to ideophones and interjections and words that can be grouped together as adverbs, conjunctions, avoidance words and numerals. In the concluding chapter consideration is given to the question of whether this study has in fact achieved the aim of setting out a description of the structure of isiXhosa based solely on the language itself, free of preconceived ideas, and attention is drawn to insights gained in respect of the true nature of the isiXhosa grammatical structures, such as, for example, the variable prefix qualificative nouns, traditionally referred to as adjectives. This study is therefore a revisionist study in the sense that it reinvents isiXhosa as a language in its own right, free from Western influenced perspectives.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2013
The family in Shakespeare's plays: a study of South African revisions
- Authors: Hjul, Lauren Martha
- Date: 2013
- Subjects: Parents , Parental bonds , Family , Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616 -- In literature -- Research , Coetzee, J M, 1940-. Disgrace , Gordimer, Nadine. My son's story , Peteni, R L, 1915-. Hill of fools , English drama -- 17th century -- History and criticism , Families in literature , English literature -- History and criticism
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:2181 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1001832
- Description: This thesis provides a detailed consideration of the family in Shakespeare’s canon and the engagement therewith in three South African novels: Hill of Fools (1976) by R. L. Peteni, My Son’s Story (1990) by Nadine Gordimer, and Disgrace (1999) by J. M. Coetzee. The study is divided into an introduction, three chapters each addressing one of the South African novels and its relationship with a Shakespeare text or texts, and a conclusion. The introductory chapter provides an analysis of the two strands of criticism in which the thesis is situated – studies of the family in Shakespeare and studies of appropriations of Shakespeare – and discusses the ways in which these two strands may be combined through a detailed discussion of the presence of power dynamics in the relationship between parent and child in all of the texts considered. The three chapters each contextualise the South African text and provide detailed discussions of the family dynamics within the relevant texts, with particular reference to questions of authority and autonomy. The focus in each chapter is determined by the nature of the intertextual relationship between the South African novel and the Shakespearean text being discussed. Thus, the first chapter, “The Dissolution of Familial Structures in Hill of Fools” considers power dynamics in the family as an inherent part of the Romeo and Juliet genre, of which William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet is but a part. Similarly, the impact of a socio-political identity, and the secrecy it necessitates, is the focus of the second chapter, “Fathers, Sons and Legacy in My Son’s Story” as is the role of Shakespeare and literature within South Africa. These concerns are connected to the novel’s use of Shakespeare’s Sonnets, King Lear, and Hamlet. In the third chapter, “Reclaiming Agency through the Daughter in Disgrace and The Tempest”, I expand on Laurence Wright’s argument that Disgrace is an engagement with The Tempest and consider ways in which the altered power dynamic between father and daughter results in the reconciliation of the father figure with society. The thesis thus addresses the tension between parental bonds and parental bondage
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2013
- Authors: Hjul, Lauren Martha
- Date: 2013
- Subjects: Parents , Parental bonds , Family , Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616 -- In literature -- Research , Coetzee, J M, 1940-. Disgrace , Gordimer, Nadine. My son's story , Peteni, R L, 1915-. Hill of fools , English drama -- 17th century -- History and criticism , Families in literature , English literature -- History and criticism
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:2181 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1001832
- Description: This thesis provides a detailed consideration of the family in Shakespeare’s canon and the engagement therewith in three South African novels: Hill of Fools (1976) by R. L. Peteni, My Son’s Story (1990) by Nadine Gordimer, and Disgrace (1999) by J. M. Coetzee. The study is divided into an introduction, three chapters each addressing one of the South African novels and its relationship with a Shakespeare text or texts, and a conclusion. The introductory chapter provides an analysis of the two strands of criticism in which the thesis is situated – studies of the family in Shakespeare and studies of appropriations of Shakespeare – and discusses the ways in which these two strands may be combined through a detailed discussion of the presence of power dynamics in the relationship between parent and child in all of the texts considered. The three chapters each contextualise the South African text and provide detailed discussions of the family dynamics within the relevant texts, with particular reference to questions of authority and autonomy. The focus in each chapter is determined by the nature of the intertextual relationship between the South African novel and the Shakespearean text being discussed. Thus, the first chapter, “The Dissolution of Familial Structures in Hill of Fools” considers power dynamics in the family as an inherent part of the Romeo and Juliet genre, of which William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet is but a part. Similarly, the impact of a socio-political identity, and the secrecy it necessitates, is the focus of the second chapter, “Fathers, Sons and Legacy in My Son’s Story” as is the role of Shakespeare and literature within South Africa. These concerns are connected to the novel’s use of Shakespeare’s Sonnets, King Lear, and Hamlet. In the third chapter, “Reclaiming Agency through the Daughter in Disgrace and The Tempest”, I expand on Laurence Wright’s argument that Disgrace is an engagement with The Tempest and consider ways in which the altered power dynamic between father and daughter results in the reconciliation of the father figure with society. The thesis thus addresses the tension between parental bonds and parental bondage
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2013
A critical analysis of online Sesotho ICT terminology
- Authors: Nteso, Thato Natasha
- Date: 2013
- Subjects: Information technology -- Study and teaching -- South Africa Sotho language -- Terms and phrases Sotho language -- Orthography and spelling
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:3556 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1001654
- Description: Information and Communication Technology (ICT) has taken over every aspect of our daily lives, from commerce to leisure and even culture. Today, mobile phones, desktop computers, hand-held devices, emails and the use of the internet have become a central part of our culture and society. ICT has made us a global society, where people can interact and communicate efficiently. In order for South Africa to be competitive in the global economy, it will need to develop a workforce with appropriate Information Technology skills. Of necessity, these skills will extend to using a computers and developing appropriate software and technical support skills (DOE, 2008). This thesis represents a critical analytical study in that it explores the online Sesotho Information and Communication Technology (ICT). It aims at analysing terminology development in this area. The study aims to determine how Sesotho and ICT correlate and how the linguistic aspect plays a role in online ICT terminology. The focus is not on creating new terms but to analyze the already existing ICT terms available, with regards to linguistic rules and principles and to critique if they are of quality. Furthermore, the thesis explores whether there are other strategies that can be used in the development of this terminology. It also seeks to determine if the terms are easily accessible to students and if they are used at all. Terms will be sourced from the Department of Arts and Culture ICT term list, and the focus will be on extracting only terms that have to do with computer literacy. Other online sources that list Sesotho equivalents will also be considered. The study also assesses the quality of the terms created by the Department of Arts and Culture (DAC) together with the Department of Communications (DOC) for a multilingual ICT terminology list. Furthermore, the thesis explores whether the Sesotho equivalents adhere to the linguistic rules and principles of the language. The other question asked is whether the terms are used by the intended users and if they are easily accessible to the speakers of the language. This entire aspect of the thesis speaks to the notion of the intellectualization of African languages and in this case Sesotho in particular. Not only does the thesis engage with computer literacy terminology, it also presents a detailed literature review of studies and work that has been done in this field. The thesis engagement is also done by linking the backdrop of the history of Sesotho and the Basotho peoples.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2013
- Authors: Nteso, Thato Natasha
- Date: 2013
- Subjects: Information technology -- Study and teaching -- South Africa Sotho language -- Terms and phrases Sotho language -- Orthography and spelling
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:3556 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1001654
- Description: Information and Communication Technology (ICT) has taken over every aspect of our daily lives, from commerce to leisure and even culture. Today, mobile phones, desktop computers, hand-held devices, emails and the use of the internet have become a central part of our culture and society. ICT has made us a global society, where people can interact and communicate efficiently. In order for South Africa to be competitive in the global economy, it will need to develop a workforce with appropriate Information Technology skills. Of necessity, these skills will extend to using a computers and developing appropriate software and technical support skills (DOE, 2008). This thesis represents a critical analytical study in that it explores the online Sesotho Information and Communication Technology (ICT). It aims at analysing terminology development in this area. The study aims to determine how Sesotho and ICT correlate and how the linguistic aspect plays a role in online ICT terminology. The focus is not on creating new terms but to analyze the already existing ICT terms available, with regards to linguistic rules and principles and to critique if they are of quality. Furthermore, the thesis explores whether there are other strategies that can be used in the development of this terminology. It also seeks to determine if the terms are easily accessible to students and if they are used at all. Terms will be sourced from the Department of Arts and Culture ICT term list, and the focus will be on extracting only terms that have to do with computer literacy. Other online sources that list Sesotho equivalents will also be considered. The study also assesses the quality of the terms created by the Department of Arts and Culture (DAC) together with the Department of Communications (DOC) for a multilingual ICT terminology list. Furthermore, the thesis explores whether the Sesotho equivalents adhere to the linguistic rules and principles of the language. The other question asked is whether the terms are used by the intended users and if they are easily accessible to the speakers of the language. This entire aspect of the thesis speaks to the notion of the intellectualization of African languages and in this case Sesotho in particular. Not only does the thesis engage with computer literacy terminology, it also presents a detailed literature review of studies and work that has been done in this field. The thesis engagement is also done by linking the backdrop of the history of Sesotho and the Basotho peoples.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2013
Supporting environment and sustainability knowledge in the grade 10 life sciences curriculum and assessment policy context : a case study of the Fundisa for Change teacher education and development programme pilot project
- Authors: Songqwaru, Nonyameko Zintle
- Date: 2013
- Subjects: Fundisa for Change Teachers -- Training of -- South Africa Life sciences -- Study and teaching (Secondary) -- South Africa -- Case studies Environmental education -- South Africa -- Case studies Curriculum planning -- South Africa Curriculum-based assessment -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: vital:1907 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1006842
- Description: In the context of yet another curriculum revision in South Africa, this study investigates how teachers can be supported to meet the environmental discourse requirements as outlined in the revised curriculum in the Life Sciences. The study takes place in the context of a National Case Study which has resulted in a development of a national network, curriculum framework and resources for teacher education, with specific focus on the integration of environment and sustainability in the South African teacher education system. The study intends to provide insights into what constitutes adequate professional support and assistance to teachers that enables them to understand and work with the environment and sustainability content knowledge requirements of the Life Sciences Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement (CAPS). The study seeks to inform future curriculum implementation decisions and teacher education programmes. The study is designed as a qualitative case study inquiry that has used open-ended, individual and focus group interviews, direct field observation and document analysis to generate data. The study revealed that: * Teachers developed confidence from an in-depth analysis of the CAPS curriculum. * Teachers have content gaps in environment and sustainability knowledge and these can be addressed through professional development that emphasises rich subject knowledge. * Teachers are not familiar with teaching methods that can be used to teach environmental and sustainability content knowledge. * Teachers struggle to see the relationship between teaching and assessing. * Teachers do not have enough and adequate resources for teaching and learning. * Training given to teachers should be interactive to enable them to recontextualise training received in their work places. * Teacher training should go beyond content knowledge that teachers have to teach, but should also consider how teachers can teach and assess that knowledge. * It is important to have a strong framing for selection and sequencing of content knowledge and a relatively weak framing for pacing and hierarchical rules in teacher training workshops. * Professional development has the potential to lead to whole school development. The study recommends that: ** Recontextualisation should be grounded on interpreting the policy requirements ** Teacher pre- and in-service training should focus on developing teachers’ understanding of the foundational knowledge in the Life Sciences ** The links between Life Sciences pedagogy and environmental pedagogy should be made explicit. ** Good quality resources should be provided for teachers and they should be supported to use these appropriately. ** Teachers’ academic literacy needs to be developed. Further recommendations: * Further studies should be conducted that would look at how teachers can be supported to work with environment and sustainability content knowledge within other subjects or other content areas of Life Sciences. This could provide some insights in terms of looking at the patterns, similarities or differences between different cases. It would be valuable to trace the teachers who participated in this pilot to observe how they recontextualise the training in their classroom practices. There is no point in attending a course or training if it will not impact one’s practice. Some insights into classroom practices were gained through reflective interviews from the teachers who had taught the biodiversity content, but this was not observed in practice.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2013
- Authors: Songqwaru, Nonyameko Zintle
- Date: 2013
- Subjects: Fundisa for Change Teachers -- Training of -- South Africa Life sciences -- Study and teaching (Secondary) -- South Africa -- Case studies Environmental education -- South Africa -- Case studies Curriculum planning -- South Africa Curriculum-based assessment -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: vital:1907 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1006842
- Description: In the context of yet another curriculum revision in South Africa, this study investigates how teachers can be supported to meet the environmental discourse requirements as outlined in the revised curriculum in the Life Sciences. The study takes place in the context of a National Case Study which has resulted in a development of a national network, curriculum framework and resources for teacher education, with specific focus on the integration of environment and sustainability in the South African teacher education system. The study intends to provide insights into what constitutes adequate professional support and assistance to teachers that enables them to understand and work with the environment and sustainability content knowledge requirements of the Life Sciences Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement (CAPS). The study seeks to inform future curriculum implementation decisions and teacher education programmes. The study is designed as a qualitative case study inquiry that has used open-ended, individual and focus group interviews, direct field observation and document analysis to generate data. The study revealed that: * Teachers developed confidence from an in-depth analysis of the CAPS curriculum. * Teachers have content gaps in environment and sustainability knowledge and these can be addressed through professional development that emphasises rich subject knowledge. * Teachers are not familiar with teaching methods that can be used to teach environmental and sustainability content knowledge. * Teachers struggle to see the relationship between teaching and assessing. * Teachers do not have enough and adequate resources for teaching and learning. * Training given to teachers should be interactive to enable them to recontextualise training received in their work places. * Teacher training should go beyond content knowledge that teachers have to teach, but should also consider how teachers can teach and assess that knowledge. * It is important to have a strong framing for selection and sequencing of content knowledge and a relatively weak framing for pacing and hierarchical rules in teacher training workshops. * Professional development has the potential to lead to whole school development. The study recommends that: ** Recontextualisation should be grounded on interpreting the policy requirements ** Teacher pre- and in-service training should focus on developing teachers’ understanding of the foundational knowledge in the Life Sciences ** The links between Life Sciences pedagogy and environmental pedagogy should be made explicit. ** Good quality resources should be provided for teachers and they should be supported to use these appropriately. ** Teachers’ academic literacy needs to be developed. Further recommendations: * Further studies should be conducted that would look at how teachers can be supported to work with environment and sustainability content knowledge within other subjects or other content areas of Life Sciences. This could provide some insights in terms of looking at the patterns, similarities or differences between different cases. It would be valuable to trace the teachers who participated in this pilot to observe how they recontextualise the training in their classroom practices. There is no point in attending a course or training if it will not impact one’s practice. Some insights into classroom practices were gained through reflective interviews from the teachers who had taught the biodiversity content, but this was not observed in practice.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2013
Falcipains as malarial drug targets
- Authors: Kanzi, Aquillah Mumo
- Date: 2013
- Subjects: Malaria Malaria -- Chemotherapy Plasmodium falciparum Antimalarials -- Development Cysteine proteinases Cysteine proteinases -- Inhibitors Papain Drug development Bioinformatics
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: vital:3897 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1003842
- Description: Malaria is an infectious disease caused by parasites of the Plasmodium genus with mortality rates of more than a million annually, hence a major global public health concern. Plasmodium falciparum (P. falciparum) accounts for over 90% of malaria incidence. Increased resistance to antimalarial drugs by the Plasmodium parasite, coupled with the lack of an effective malaria vaccine necessitates the urgent need for new research avenues to develop novel and more potent antimalarial drugs. This study focused on falcipains, a group of P. falciparum cysteine proteases that belong to the clan CA and papain family C1, that have emerged as potential drug targets due to their involvement in a range of crucial functions in the P. falciparum life cycle. Recently, falcipain-2 has been validated as a drug target but little is known of its Plasmodium orthologs. Currently, there are several falcipain inhibitors that have been identified, most of which are peptide based but none has proceeded to drug development due to associated poor pharmacological profiles and susceptibility to degradation by host cysteine proteases. Non-peptides inhibitors have been shown to be more stable in vivo but limited information exists. In vivo studies on falcipain-2 and falcipain-3 inhibitors have also been complicated by varying outcomes, thus a good understanding of the structural variations of falcipain Plasmodium orthologs at the active site could go a long way to ease in vivo results interpretation and effective inhibitor design. In this study, we use bioinformatics approaches to perform comparative sequence and structural analysis and molecular docking to characterize protein-inhibitor interactions of falcipain homologs at the active site. Known FP-2 and FP-3 small molecule nonpeptide inhibitors were used to identify residue variations and their effect on inhibitor binding. This was done with the aim of screening a collection of selected non-peptide compounds of South African natural origin to identify possible new inhibitor leads. Natural compounds with high binding affinities across all Plasmodium orthologs were identified. These compounds were then used to search the ZINC database for similar compounds which could have better binding affinities across all selected falcipain homologs. Compounds with high binding affinities across all Plasmodium orthologs were found.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2013
- Authors: Kanzi, Aquillah Mumo
- Date: 2013
- Subjects: Malaria Malaria -- Chemotherapy Plasmodium falciparum Antimalarials -- Development Cysteine proteinases Cysteine proteinases -- Inhibitors Papain Drug development Bioinformatics
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: vital:3897 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1003842
- Description: Malaria is an infectious disease caused by parasites of the Plasmodium genus with mortality rates of more than a million annually, hence a major global public health concern. Plasmodium falciparum (P. falciparum) accounts for over 90% of malaria incidence. Increased resistance to antimalarial drugs by the Plasmodium parasite, coupled with the lack of an effective malaria vaccine necessitates the urgent need for new research avenues to develop novel and more potent antimalarial drugs. This study focused on falcipains, a group of P. falciparum cysteine proteases that belong to the clan CA and papain family C1, that have emerged as potential drug targets due to their involvement in a range of crucial functions in the P. falciparum life cycle. Recently, falcipain-2 has been validated as a drug target but little is known of its Plasmodium orthologs. Currently, there are several falcipain inhibitors that have been identified, most of which are peptide based but none has proceeded to drug development due to associated poor pharmacological profiles and susceptibility to degradation by host cysteine proteases. Non-peptides inhibitors have been shown to be more stable in vivo but limited information exists. In vivo studies on falcipain-2 and falcipain-3 inhibitors have also been complicated by varying outcomes, thus a good understanding of the structural variations of falcipain Plasmodium orthologs at the active site could go a long way to ease in vivo results interpretation and effective inhibitor design. In this study, we use bioinformatics approaches to perform comparative sequence and structural analysis and molecular docking to characterize protein-inhibitor interactions of falcipain homologs at the active site. Known FP-2 and FP-3 small molecule nonpeptide inhibitors were used to identify residue variations and their effect on inhibitor binding. This was done with the aim of screening a collection of selected non-peptide compounds of South African natural origin to identify possible new inhibitor leads. Natural compounds with high binding affinities across all Plasmodium orthologs were identified. These compounds were then used to search the ZINC database for similar compounds which could have better binding affinities across all selected falcipain homologs. Compounds with high binding affinities across all Plasmodium orthologs were found.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2013
The impact of estate planning on the effectiveness of estate duty as a wealth tax in South Africa
- Authors: Ostler, Luise Marie
- Date: 2013
- Subjects: Wealth tax -- Law and legislation -- South Africa Estates (Law) -- South Africa Inheritance and transfer tax -- Law and legislation -- South Africa Estate planning -- South Africa Tax planning -- South Africa Capital gains tax -- Law and legislation -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MCom
- Identifier: vital:894 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1003741
- Description: The thesis examined the current system of the taxation of wealth in South Africa with an emphasis on the taxes that apply upon the death of the taxpayer. The focus of the research was on the problems associated with estate duty, namely the issue of double taxation; the alleged cumbersome administration of the tax and the limited revenue that it brings in; it’s questionable efficacy due to extensive estate planning on the part of taxpayers while they are still alive and its lack of uniformity with other wealth taxes. An interpretative research approach was followed which involved analysing documentary data. The conclusions that were reached were that estate duty as a wealth tax in South Africa has been rendered ineffective due to the inherent problems associated with its application, namely the fact that double taxation exists, not only in the context of capital gains tax, but also in that taxpayers resent being taxed upon death after having paid income tax during their lives. The perceived unfairness that is associated with estate duty has caused the creation of a secondary industry of estate planning, with the aim of minimising estate duty, which industry has resulted in the ineffectiveness of estate duty and its limited revenue. No evidence could be found regarding the Treasury’s assertion that estate duty is a cumbersome tax to administer. The final conclusion reached was that the current estate duty regime needs to be overhauled preferably by extending the current system of capital gains tax and abolishing estate duty, with due consideration being given to the consequences associated therewith.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2013
- Authors: Ostler, Luise Marie
- Date: 2013
- Subjects: Wealth tax -- Law and legislation -- South Africa Estates (Law) -- South Africa Inheritance and transfer tax -- Law and legislation -- South Africa Estate planning -- South Africa Tax planning -- South Africa Capital gains tax -- Law and legislation -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MCom
- Identifier: vital:894 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1003741
- Description: The thesis examined the current system of the taxation of wealth in South Africa with an emphasis on the taxes that apply upon the death of the taxpayer. The focus of the research was on the problems associated with estate duty, namely the issue of double taxation; the alleged cumbersome administration of the tax and the limited revenue that it brings in; it’s questionable efficacy due to extensive estate planning on the part of taxpayers while they are still alive and its lack of uniformity with other wealth taxes. An interpretative research approach was followed which involved analysing documentary data. The conclusions that were reached were that estate duty as a wealth tax in South Africa has been rendered ineffective due to the inherent problems associated with its application, namely the fact that double taxation exists, not only in the context of capital gains tax, but also in that taxpayers resent being taxed upon death after having paid income tax during their lives. The perceived unfairness that is associated with estate duty has caused the creation of a secondary industry of estate planning, with the aim of minimising estate duty, which industry has resulted in the ineffectiveness of estate duty and its limited revenue. No evidence could be found regarding the Treasury’s assertion that estate duty is a cumbersome tax to administer. The final conclusion reached was that the current estate duty regime needs to be overhauled preferably by extending the current system of capital gains tax and abolishing estate duty, with due consideration being given to the consequences associated therewith.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2013
Evaluation of the applicability of Lewin's force field analysis in the implementation of the Financial Sector Charter at Standard Bank
- Authors: Skepe, Siphelo
- Date: 2013
- Subjects: Standard Bank of South Africa Limited (1962- ) Banks and banking -- South Africa Financial services industry -- Law and legislation -- South Africa Black people -- South Africa -- Economic conditions Business enterprises, Black -- South Africa Organizational change -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MBA
- Identifier: vital:804 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1006775
- Description: According to the Financial Sector (FS) Charter, in August 2002, at the NEDLAC Financial Sector Summit, "the financial sector committed itself to the development of a Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) charter. It made this commitment, noting that: "Despite significant progress since the establishment of a democratic government in 1994, South African society remains characterised by racially based income and social services inequalities. This is not only unjust, but inhibits the country's ability to achieve its full economic potential. BEE is a mechanism aimed at addressing inequalities and mobilising the energies of all South Africans. It will contribute towards sustained economic growth, development and social transformation in South Africa. Inequalities also manifest themselves in the country's financial sector. A positive and proactive response from the sector through the implementation of BEE will further unlock the sector's potential, promote its global competitiveness, and enhance its world class status". Parties of the Financial Sector Charter agreed on the seven pillars below: 1) Human resource management - provide resources to develop skills of black people with the aim of increasing black participation in all levels of management in the sector. 2) Procurement policies - implement a targeted procurement strategy to enhance BEE. 3) Enterprise development - improve the level of support provided to BEE companies in all sectors of the economy. This would be achieved through skills transfer, administration and technical support. 4) Access to financial services - provide affordable financial services to the previously disadvantaged groups and making sure financial services are accessible to these groups. 5) Empowerment financing - work closely with government and government financial institutions to increase resources for empowerment financing. 6) Ownership in the financial sector - 25% of shares in each party of the FS Charter should be owned by black people by 2010. 7) Corporate social investrnent (CSI) - Each financial institution will have to spend 0.5% of their after-tax profit on corporate social investment projects. The projects should be targeted at black groups with a strong focus on transformation. The research evaluates the applicability of Lewin's Force Field Analysis (a change management model) in the implementation of the Financial Sector Charter at Standard Bank of South Africa. It attempts to achieve this by looking at how the Financial Sector Charter is being implemented at Standard Bank. The research looks at three main areas: 1) The "context" of the research problem, by seeking to understand Standard Bank's understanding of the FS Charter, the importance of implementing the FS Charter by the bank, the progress made thus far in the FS Charter implementation and comparison to the BEE scorecards of the other three main bank. 2) The "process", i.e. how the FS Charter is implemented in the bank, the driving and restraining forces of successful implementation of the FS Charter and the lessons learnt. 3) The "outcome" , i.e. benefits of implementing the FS Charter and what could be done to ensure that change management processes are successfully implemented. Personal interviews were used to discover other valuable information which was not available on the bank's published documents, and other related sources such as the Financial Sector Charter document. The sample size for the study was ten Standard Bank employees from different areas of the bank who are either senior managers or directors, in the bank. Internal publications available on the Standard Bank intranet such as the bank's employment equity plans, and the bank's sustainability reports from 2004 to 2011 (Standard Bank, 2004-2011) were analysed for the purpose of the study. The researcher also analysed public documents such as the bank's annual financial reports, bank's equity reports and internal publications on related topics of the research question. Lewin's Forces Field Analysis (FFA) points out that in any environment where change is required; there are both driving and restraining forces that influence the implementation of a change programme. The FFA is a valuable change management tool at trying to transform the behaviour of an individual, and this will lead to transformation of groups and, ultimately the organisation. It also helps to establish the balance between the driving and restraining forces of the change programme. Lewin's (1951) theory put forward the idea that change occurs in three stages: the first stage of change is unfreezing; the second stage is moving and lastly, the third stage is refreezing. In the unfreezing stage, the bank's change management initiatives would need to be directed at giving the individuals a desire and motivation to be ready and open about a planned change initiative. This could be achieved by clearly communicating why change is important, benefits of change and the compelling reasons for change. In moving, the bank would need to give support and confidence to the people affected by change in order to start accepting and buying-in to new perspectives, which enable them to realise that change will improve the current situation. In the refreezing stage, the bank would need to ensure that new patterns of behaviour are reinforced. This will ensure that the changes are applied in everyday business, and this helps create a sense of stability, where those affected by change feel comfortable and confident with the new approach of doing things. The research concludes that managers should recognise the sensitivity around transformation, and should always try to ensure that change management initiatives directed at transformation are unifying, fair and transparent. This should be done to avoid a situation where an employee (or prospective employees) and other stakeholders feel under-appreciated or overlooked because of their gender or race. This demands a carefully crafted and implemented change management programme, whose results will not only unify the bank's employees, but also create a competitive edge for the bank. Lewin's Force Field Analysis (FFA) model is a change management tool that could be used to produce such results.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2013
- Authors: Skepe, Siphelo
- Date: 2013
- Subjects: Standard Bank of South Africa Limited (1962- ) Banks and banking -- South Africa Financial services industry -- Law and legislation -- South Africa Black people -- South Africa -- Economic conditions Business enterprises, Black -- South Africa Organizational change -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MBA
- Identifier: vital:804 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1006775
- Description: According to the Financial Sector (FS) Charter, in August 2002, at the NEDLAC Financial Sector Summit, "the financial sector committed itself to the development of a Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) charter. It made this commitment, noting that: "Despite significant progress since the establishment of a democratic government in 1994, South African society remains characterised by racially based income and social services inequalities. This is not only unjust, but inhibits the country's ability to achieve its full economic potential. BEE is a mechanism aimed at addressing inequalities and mobilising the energies of all South Africans. It will contribute towards sustained economic growth, development and social transformation in South Africa. Inequalities also manifest themselves in the country's financial sector. A positive and proactive response from the sector through the implementation of BEE will further unlock the sector's potential, promote its global competitiveness, and enhance its world class status". Parties of the Financial Sector Charter agreed on the seven pillars below: 1) Human resource management - provide resources to develop skills of black people with the aim of increasing black participation in all levels of management in the sector. 2) Procurement policies - implement a targeted procurement strategy to enhance BEE. 3) Enterprise development - improve the level of support provided to BEE companies in all sectors of the economy. This would be achieved through skills transfer, administration and technical support. 4) Access to financial services - provide affordable financial services to the previously disadvantaged groups and making sure financial services are accessible to these groups. 5) Empowerment financing - work closely with government and government financial institutions to increase resources for empowerment financing. 6) Ownership in the financial sector - 25% of shares in each party of the FS Charter should be owned by black people by 2010. 7) Corporate social investrnent (CSI) - Each financial institution will have to spend 0.5% of their after-tax profit on corporate social investment projects. The projects should be targeted at black groups with a strong focus on transformation. The research evaluates the applicability of Lewin's Force Field Analysis (a change management model) in the implementation of the Financial Sector Charter at Standard Bank of South Africa. It attempts to achieve this by looking at how the Financial Sector Charter is being implemented at Standard Bank. The research looks at three main areas: 1) The "context" of the research problem, by seeking to understand Standard Bank's understanding of the FS Charter, the importance of implementing the FS Charter by the bank, the progress made thus far in the FS Charter implementation and comparison to the BEE scorecards of the other three main bank. 2) The "process", i.e. how the FS Charter is implemented in the bank, the driving and restraining forces of successful implementation of the FS Charter and the lessons learnt. 3) The "outcome" , i.e. benefits of implementing the FS Charter and what could be done to ensure that change management processes are successfully implemented. Personal interviews were used to discover other valuable information which was not available on the bank's published documents, and other related sources such as the Financial Sector Charter document. The sample size for the study was ten Standard Bank employees from different areas of the bank who are either senior managers or directors, in the bank. Internal publications available on the Standard Bank intranet such as the bank's employment equity plans, and the bank's sustainability reports from 2004 to 2011 (Standard Bank, 2004-2011) were analysed for the purpose of the study. The researcher also analysed public documents such as the bank's annual financial reports, bank's equity reports and internal publications on related topics of the research question. Lewin's Forces Field Analysis (FFA) points out that in any environment where change is required; there are both driving and restraining forces that influence the implementation of a change programme. The FFA is a valuable change management tool at trying to transform the behaviour of an individual, and this will lead to transformation of groups and, ultimately the organisation. It also helps to establish the balance between the driving and restraining forces of the change programme. Lewin's (1951) theory put forward the idea that change occurs in three stages: the first stage of change is unfreezing; the second stage is moving and lastly, the third stage is refreezing. In the unfreezing stage, the bank's change management initiatives would need to be directed at giving the individuals a desire and motivation to be ready and open about a planned change initiative. This could be achieved by clearly communicating why change is important, benefits of change and the compelling reasons for change. In moving, the bank would need to give support and confidence to the people affected by change in order to start accepting and buying-in to new perspectives, which enable them to realise that change will improve the current situation. In the refreezing stage, the bank would need to ensure that new patterns of behaviour are reinforced. This will ensure that the changes are applied in everyday business, and this helps create a sense of stability, where those affected by change feel comfortable and confident with the new approach of doing things. The research concludes that managers should recognise the sensitivity around transformation, and should always try to ensure that change management initiatives directed at transformation are unifying, fair and transparent. This should be done to avoid a situation where an employee (or prospective employees) and other stakeholders feel under-appreciated or overlooked because of their gender or race. This demands a carefully crafted and implemented change management programme, whose results will not only unify the bank's employees, but also create a competitive edge for the bank. Lewin's Force Field Analysis (FFA) model is a change management tool that could be used to produce such results.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2013