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Strategies to equip females for managerial positions

  • Authors: Smailes, Chanél
  • Date: 2009
  • Subjects: Women executives -- South Africa
  • Language: English
  • Type: Thesis , Masters , MBA
  • Identifier: vital:8696 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/1095 , Women executives -- South Africa
  • Description: The study was concerned with identifying both organisational and personal strategies utilised by females in managerial positions within South Africa. From an analysis of both primary and secondary data, it was concluded that executive women in South Africa are utilising personal strategies more extensively than relying solely on organisational strategies to facilitate them to managerial positions and the respondents therefore deemed these personal strategies to have a greater impact than that of the organisational strategies. Both organisations and individuals would benefit from this study as the study brings to the fore the lack of organisational strategies utilised by organisations within South Africa, as well as highlighting those strategies found most beneficial by executive women as having the greatest impact on their careers. This indication would allow for organisations to efficiently invest in those strategies having the most impact on female executives’ careers. Individual women at non-management or junior management levels could integrate the personal strategies highlighted in this study as being most effective into their career development plans. By ensuring both organisations and women together are working to equip females for managerial positions, both organisational and personal performance of South African female managers will be maximized.
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  • Date Issued: 2009

Student-athletes' attitude formation towards sport or other psychology services

  • Authors: Wilmot, Gregory Thomas Charlton
  • Date: 2009
  • Subjects: Sports -- Psychological aspects Attitude (Psychology) Stereotypes (Social psychology) Clinical psychology Athletes -- Counseling of Athletes -- Attitudes
  • Language: English
  • Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
  • Identifier: vital:3086 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002595
  • Description: This qualitative study aims to explore attitude formation within a small sample of Tertiary level student-athletes in relation to their antecedent experiences, individual knowledge about psychology and the social factors impacting on their attitude formation. The study is intended to allow for the development of themes related to the participants’ personal responses to the questions posed to them. The participants’ answers from the interviews will allow for an in-depth analysis and interpretation of the constituents influencing attitude formation towards sport psychology consultation. Primarily, the study aims to explore how attitudes towards clinical and sport psychology practitioners are constructed in this sample. Clinical psychology is used as a contrasting reference point to explore attitude formation in sport psychology. The participants’ beliefs, knowledge sources and attitude toward clinical psychology are examined to understand the fundamental constituents of their attitudes and to understand how this might be related to attitude formation towards sport psychology. It is intended that exploration of the participants’ knowledge sources (e.g. parents, peers, media and coaches) and additional influences on attitudes towards clinical psychology are used to provide insight into how they might shape attitude formation toward sport psychology. This is viewed as particularly important as sport psychology is an increasingly important tool in assisting the enhancement of sporting performance output. This qualitative study uses four elite student-athletes from the same sporting discipline and contextual background to allow for close linkages between the participants’ responses about attitude formation to be made. The study further aims to explore and understand how similarities and differences occur between the participants’ responses which will be completed through analysing and drawing parallels within themes relating to the literature or emerging separately. The Literature Review is intended to help guide the research through providing a reference source for contextualizing individual, public and socially generated beliefs and knowledge (literacy) about mental health / psychology, the constituents of attitude formation and the student-athlete’s context. These factors were identified in the literature as crucial components in attitude formation and also assisted in the development of initial themes, thus guiding the research. Unfortunately, there was limited literature pertaining to attitude formation in relation to sport psychology services and thus provide justification for using clinical psychology to explore attitude formation in sport psychology. This initial exploration of attitude formation in clinical psychology was used as a ‘template’ for contrasting attitude formation in the sample student-athletes as an indication of attitude formation in sport psychology. The Literature Review is viewed as an integral and active component of the study that is used as a body of reference guiding the exploration and interpretation of the emergent themes. This is done through the iterative reference to past research relating to attitude formation, health beliefs, and the numerous sources of information influencing attitude formation within clinical psychology and the student-athlete context. Most importantly, the Literature Review provides a significant base of information that guides the Research Question and the particular factors that have been noted as the most significant to the research. The Literature Review is intended to guide the Research Question and highlight the significant components that need to be taken into consideration in exploring attitude formation. This study, having taken the numerous individual, social, contextual and other factors into consideration, seeks to understand how such factors combine to shape attitudes and influence attitude formation. The collection of literature on social, knowledge and antecedent factors are significant in their role of shaping attitude formation and thus have been included within the Research Question. Furthermore, the Research Question and Literature Review had an impact on the Methodology and why Thematic Analysis was selected. Given the similarities in the participants’ sporting and contextual backgrounds (e.g., being in the same crew, university and social context), it was felt that the primary determinants of attitude formation, within antecedent experiences, knowledge and social influences, would emerge in related themes and thus provide greater insight into attitude formation within the student-athlete context. A limiting factor however, does lie in the small number of participants from a limited diversity of backgrounds, experiences or factors that could assist in allowing broader generalisations of the findings. However, this study aims to understand how the particular factors influence or shape attitudes towards sport and other psychology services and aims to understand the more specific or ‘fundamental’ components of attitude formation that are experienced within the student-athlete’s context and environment.
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  • Date Issued: 2009

Studies towards the synthesis of novel tridentate ligands for use in ruthenium metathesis catalysts

  • Authors: Millward, Tanya
  • Date: 2009
  • Subjects: Ligands , Catalysis , Metathesis (Chemistry) , Ruthenium , Complex compounds
  • Language: English
  • Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc
  • Identifier: vital:4360 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1005025 , Ligands , Catalysis , Metathesis (Chemistry) , Ruthenium , Complex compounds
  • Description: This work has focussed on the preparation of a variety of tridentate ligands, designed to form ruthenium complexes as potential metathesis catalysts. Various approaches to the tridentate, malonate-tethered imidazolidine system have been investigated, and a promising route to accessing ligands of this type is discussed. A tridentate malonate-tethered pyridine ligand has been successfully prepared and its dithallium salt has been accessed by hydrolysis with thallium carbonate; approaches to a longer-chain analogue have also been investigated. A thallium pyridine-2,6- dicarboxylate ligand has been has been successfully prepared, as have a range of pyridine diamine ligands, with various alkyl and aromatic substituents on the amine donor atoms. Preliminary investigations into the potential of these compounds as ligands for alkylidene ruthenium complexes are reported using molecular modelling techniques. The geometries and steric energies of the ligands and their corresponding complexes have been analysed, and results obtained from two different software packages are compared. Finally, some preliminary complexation studies have been undertaken.
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  • Date Issued: 2009

Substantive equality and proof of employment discrimination

  • Authors: Loyson, Madeleine
  • Date: 2009
  • Subjects: Discrimination in employment -- South Africa , Labor laws and legislation -- South Africa , Affirmative action programs -- Law and legislation -- South Africa
  • Language: English
  • Type: Thesis , Masters , LLM
  • Identifier: vital:10208 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/1059 , Discrimination in employment -- South Africa , Labor laws and legislation -- South Africa , Affirmative action programs -- Law and legislation -- South Africa
  • Description: This dissertation is a journey through the legislative changes and case law in order to analyse and evaluate the changing nature of South African jurisprudence in respect of the notions of equality, discrimination and affirmative action and the manner in which these issues are proved and dealt with in our courts. It focuses firstly on the emergence of the post-Wiehahn labour laws and the developing jurisprudence concerning discrimination in South Africa towards the end of a long period of isolation from the international world. It witnesses the growing cognizance which was taken of international guidelines and their slow and gradual incorporation into our jurisprudence before the institution of the new democratic government, in the days when the country was still firmly in the grip of a regime which prided itself on its discriminatory laws. It also deals in some depth with the new laws enacted after the first democratic government was installed, especially in so far as the Constitution was concerned. The first clutch of cases dealing with discrimination which were delivered by the Constitutional Court and their effects on decisions of the labour courts thereafter, are dealt with in great detail, indicating how important those judgments were and still are ten years later. A special chapter is devoted to the Harksen case, still a leading authority on how to deal with allegations of unfair discrimination. Having traversed several of the judgments of the labour courts after Harksen, several observations are made in the conclusion of the study which, it is hoped, summarize the major areas of concern in respect of the task of testing claims of unfair discrimination arising in our Courts.
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  • Date Issued: 2009

Synthesis and characterization of novel platinum complexes : their anticancer behaviour

  • Authors: Myburgh, Jolanda
  • Date: 2009
  • Subjects: Complex compounds -- Synthesis , Platinum compounds , Antineoplastic agents
  • Language: English
  • Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc
  • Identifier: vital:10429 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/d1018621
  • Description: In this dissertation novel non-leaving groups were employed to synthesize platinum complexes which can contribute to the understanding or improvement of anticancer action. These complexes basically consist of (NS)-chelate and amineplatinum complexes. Bidentate (NS)-donor ligands were used as non-leaving ligands in the syntheses of platinum(II) complexes with iodide, chloride, bromide and oxalate anions as leaving groups. These complexes were synthesized and studied since many questions regarding the interaction of sulfur donors and platinum still exists. These relate to thermodynamic and kinetic factors and their influence on anticancer action. In this dissertation the properties of novel platinum(II) complexes of a bidentate ligand having an aromatic nitrogen-donor atom in combination with a thioethereal sulfur atom capable of forming a five membered ring with platinum(II) were studied. The general structure of the (NS) -ligands used were N-alkyl-2-methylthioalkyl imidazole. Alkyl groups used were methyl, ethyl and propyl. Although amine complexes of platinum have been extensively studied there are some new aspects of these that are worthwhile investigating. In this dissertation amines having planar attachments which will be at an angle with the coordination plane viz. benzylamine and amines having cyclic aliphatic groups namely cyclopropyl and cyclohexyl were investigated. Some of the (NS) - and amineplatinum(II) complexes were oxidised to their mononitroplatinum(IV) analogues . The motivation for the synthesis of these complexes was the greater kinetic stability of platinum(IV) and recent research has shown that a specific type of platinum(IV) compound shows suitable properties as an anticancer agent. These complexes were characterised by a variety of spectral means (IR, NMR, mass spectroscopy) as well as elemental analysis, solubility determinations, thermal analysis (TGA), ionization studies and finally their anticancer behaviour towards three different cell lines(Hela, MCF 7, Ht29) and in this process they were compared to the behaviour of cisplatin as a reference. A few have shown promising anticancer behaviour.
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  • Date Issued: 2009

Synthesis and electrochemistry of octapentylthio phthalocyanine complexes of manganese, titanium and vanadium

  • Authors: Mbambisa, Gcineka
  • Date: 2009
  • Subjects: Electrochemistry , Phthalocyanines -- Synthesis , Manganese , Titanium , Vanadium
  • Language: English
  • Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc
  • Identifier: vital:4368 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1005033 , Electrochemistry , Phthalocyanines -- Synthesis , Manganese , Titanium , Vanadium
  • Description: Synthesis of new thio derivatised Pcs with manganese, titanium and vanadium as a central metal is reported. The complexes synthesised were characterised using spectroscopic and electrochemical means. The complexes displayed interesting spectroscopic properties with absorption of the Q band being observed in the near infrared region. These complexes have unusual colours for MPc complexes, with purple or red colour being observed in solution. Interesting electrochemical properties were observed, with rare observation of the MnIV/MnIII redox couple. There was observation of oxidation peaks for the pentylthio derivatised Pc with titanium as the central metal; this is unusual since for reported thio derivatives based on TiPc, no oxidation was observed. The vanadium based Pc showed an interesting spectrum for the first ring based reduction. The absorption spectrum obtained for the 1st reduction of the vanadium complex using spectroelectrochemistry would normally indicate a metal based process but comparing with literature it was concluded that it is a ring based reduction process. Generally all the MPc complexes formed a well ordered stable monolayer on the gold electrode. Electrocatalytic studies using L-cysteine revealed that the SAM based on manganese (III) octapentylthio phthalocyanine (AcOMnOPTPc) was the most effective since it catalyses L-cysteine at much lower oxidation potentials and it is also much more stable.
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  • Date Issued: 2009

Synthesis and photophysical properties of antimony and lead phthalocyanines

  • Authors: Modibane, Kwena Desmond , Guest
  • Date: 2009 , 2009-02-27
  • Subjects: Phthalocyanines , Photochemistry , Antimony compounds , Lead compounds
  • Language: English
  • Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc
  • Identifier: vital:4370 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1005035 , Phthalocyanines , Photochemistry , Antimony compounds , Lead compounds
  • Description: This work hereby presents the synthesis, spectroscopic and photophysical properties of newly synthesized lead (PbPc) and antimony (SbPc) phthalocyanines. The complexes are either unsubstituted or substituted at the peripheral and non-peripheral positions with phenoxy, 4-t-butylphenoxy and 4-benzyloxyphenoxy groups. The photophysical properties of these complexes were studied in dimethylsulfoxide, dimethylformamide, toluene, tetrahydrofuran and chloroform as solvents. The fluorescence spectra for PbPc complexes were different to that of the excitation spectra due to demetallation upon excitation. On the other hand, the excitation spectra of oxidized antimony (Sb(V)Pc) derivatives were found to be similar to absorption spectra. High triplet quantum yields for PbPc and SbPc complexes ranging from 0.70 to 0.86, low triplet lifetimes (20–60 μs in DMSO, while they were <10 μs in the rest of the solvents) and low fluorescence quantum yields were observed and is attributed to the presence of heavy atoms (Pb and Sb ions). The nonlinear optical properties of PbPc complexes were studied in dimethylsulfoxide. The optical limiting threshold intensity (Ilim) for the PbPc derivatives were calculated and ranged from 2.1 to 6.8 W/cm2. The photodegradation studies of the PbPc and SbPc complexes synthesized showed that then are stable.
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  • Date Issued: 2009

Technologicalship in e-banking services: a constraint or contributor to relationship marketing in retail banking in East London, Eastern Cape, South Africa

  • Authors: Masocha, Reginald
  • Date: 2009
  • Subjects: Bank management , Electronic funds transfers , Banks and banking -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Electronic data interchange , Electronic commerce
  • Language: English
  • Type: Thesis , Masters , M Com (Business Management)
  • Identifier: vital:11316 , http://hdl.handle.net/10353/306 , Bank management , Electronic funds transfers , Banks and banking -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Electronic data interchange , Electronic commerce
  • Description: Contemporarily, one of the major business demands is to extensively understand the impact of technology on the major business strategies and practices. Technologicalship marketing, a concept investigated in this study, emanates from a symbiosis of technology and relationship marketing. Per se, a prevalent area of debate pertains to whether technology promotes or constrains relationships. Outstandingly, this study pursued the technologicalship marketing concept, a new and vital 21st century suggestion in literature (Zineldin, 2000:16). Secondly, against the scarcity of empirical studies in mass marketing environments, the study at hand focused on retail banking client relationships. Lastly, the proposed meta-construct hypothetical model is an essential relationship marketing instrument. The proposed model consists of four major relationship marketing construct categories, namely, personal contact, customer retention, customer switching and relational exchange. At the hand of these constructs, the research primarily aimed to determine the impact of technology on client relationships in e-banking with the focus of closing the gap prevalent in literature on whether technology constraints or supports relationship marketing. The study focused on retail banking client relationships of the four major commercial banks in East London, Eastern Cape, South Africa. A survey was conducted of a sample of 200 clients selected using the convenience sampling method. The study hypothesised that technology is resulting in more transactional than relationship marketing in retail banking by constraining social constructions, customer retention and relational exchange, whilst, promoting customer switching mobility. Through the GLM regression analysis method, findings of the study established that technology was to a larger extent supporting relationship marketing. However, it is envisaged that technology is resulting in the disappearance of human contact which is a critical aspect of relationships. Conclusively, the researcher recommended that the only plausible strategy is to endeavour to integrate the human aspect at self-service podiums e.g. mounting of staff at ATM points, which most banks have been doing.
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  • Date Issued: 2009

The ambivalent engagement with Christianity in the writing of nineteenth- and early twentieth-century Africans in the Eastern Cape

  • Authors: Nxasana, Thulani Litha
  • Date: 2009
  • Subjects: Authors, African -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape Authors, South African -- 19th century -- Criticism and interpretation Authors, South African -- 20th century -- Criticism and interpretation Soga, Tiyo, 1829-1871 -- Criticism and interpretation Mqhayi, S. E. K. -- Criticism and interpretation Mgqwetho, Nontsizi -- Criticism and interpretation South African literature -- 19th century -- History and criticism South African literature -- 20th century -- History and criticism Christianity and literature Ambivalence in literature
  • Language: English
  • Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
  • Identifier: vital:2195 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002237
  • Description: Until recently much of the literature recording the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries in the Eastern Cape focused purely on frontier conflict and missionary activity, ignoring the evolving culture of the colonized people. But as Somande Fikeni declares, “[i]t is important when celebrating the country’s heritage to look beyond battle sites, monuments and wars and to pay attention to South Africa’s intellectuals and knowledge producers” (quoted in Hollands 4). This is indeed the central purpose of my research. This thesis seeks to examine the influence of Christianity on early South African writing by Africans and the ambivalence with which Christianity is often treated in their work. In South Africa, as elsewhere in Africa, Christianity played a central role in the development of African literature through the influence of mission schools and printing presses. Thus from the outset the development of written literature was inseparable from the spread of Christianity. Nineteenth- and early twentieth-century writing by Africans reflects this: Christian idioms, biblical stories and images colour their work and yet are not employed unthinkingly. Each of the writers whom I will explore has a complex and at times ambivalent relationship with Christianity, and they use religious discourse for a variety of ends, some of them clearly at odds with their origins in the “civilizing mission” of Europe. According to Yunus Momoniat, “Their works . . . are the beginnings of an engagement not only with the world of words on a page, but also with the politics of literacy itself” (1). The subject of this research is three Xhosa writers from the Eastern Cape: the Reverend Tiyo Soga (1829-1871), the renowned novelist and “National Poet” S. E. K. Mqhayi (1875-1945), and the little-known poet Nontsizi Mgqwetho (Dates uknown, writings 1920-1929), who is described by Mbeki as “the most prolific woman Xhosa poet of the twentieth century” (6). The reason for focusing on the Eastern Cape is because the Xhosa “were the first Bantu people to be exposed to Christian proselytising and to receive a literate education” (Gerard 24). As a result much of the early literature in isiXhosa consisted of translations of the Bible and other Christian tracts, and such “improving” texts as Pilgrim’s Progress. In other words, it is in this work that the first roots of the influence of Christianity in southern Africa can be traced.
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  • Date Issued: 2009

The art of addiction : a phenomenological study of the lived experiences of cocaine dependents

  • Authors: Plumb, Sarah
  • Date: 2009
  • Subjects: Cocaine abuse , Cocaine -- Social aspects , Drugs -- Physiological effect
  • Language: English
  • Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
  • Identifier: vital:9912 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/902 , Cocaine abuse , Cocaine -- Social aspects , Drugs -- Physiological effect
  • Description: Addiction is a complex social phenomenon resulting from psychological and physiological dependence. The aim of the study was to create a clinical impression of the lived experiences of cocaine dependents. A transcendental phenomenological approach was used to elicit the essence of addiction as experienced by the participants. Theoretical sampling ensured relevant participants were selected through haphazard sampling procedures. Data was collected through the use of biographical questionnaires and individual, semi-structured interviews with three cocaine dependents. Data was processed according to the four phenomenological principles epoche, phenomenological reduction, imaginative variation and synthesis using Tesch’s eight steps. The essence of cocaine dependency is contained in the psychological experiences of the drug which define and perpetuate that addiction. The psychological addiction develops prior to physical dependence resulting in an entrenched addiction before treatment is sought by the cocaine dependents.
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  • Date Issued: 2009

The attitudes and perceptions of students at a South African university towards binge drinking

  • Authors: Mokgethi, Lerato
  • Date: 2009
  • Subjects: College students -- Alcohol use -- South Africa , Alcoholism -- Treatment -- South Africa , Drug abuse -- Treatment -- South Africa , Binge drinking
  • Language: English
  • Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
  • Identifier: vital:9858 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/1560 , College students -- Alcohol use -- South Africa , Alcoholism -- Treatment -- South Africa , Drug abuse -- Treatment -- South Africa , Binge drinking
  • Description: The focus of this treatise is to explore the attitudes and perceptions of university students towards binge drinking at a South African University. Binge drinking among university students is a serious concern, prevalent on many campuses and ingrained on university campuses worldwide. The aims of this study were (a) to describe students’ understanding of binge drinking, (b) to explore and describe university students’ attitudes towards and perceptions of binge drinking, and (c) to explore the contextual factors relating to binge drinking within a university setting. An exploratory, qualitative approach was utilized. The collection of data was initiated using a biographical questionnaire to identify participants relevant to the study. The data collection process continued with semi‐structured focus group interviews. Data was collected by conducting four focus group sessions with two separate groups of students between the ages of 18 and 25 and residing on a university campus. Data analysis was conducted in accordance with the principles and guidelines of Tesch’s (as cited in Creswell, 1994) eight steps in qualitative data analysis. The results of this study indicate the following: there is lack of knowledge and understanding of binge drinking, students have positive perceptions of binge drinking and there is a perception that the university environment promotes binge drinking. In order to address binge drinking, strategies need to be implemented in the student, family, university and community context.
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  • Date Issued: 2009

The binding roots of free speech

  • Authors: Boughey, Thomas John George
  • Date: 2009
  • Subjects: Freedom of speech
  • Language: English
  • Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
  • Identifier: vital:2849 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1006255
  • Description: This thesis argues that the modern notion of free-speech was born within the Westphalian nation-state. It suggests that the legal rights framework - particular to the Westphalian nationstate - not only legitimizes and legalizes the right to free-speech, but also enables us to invoke legally the necessary limitations that demand the limitation of free-speech in certain contexts. However, such a legal-rights framework is exclusive to the nation-state and cannot be enforced on an international level, outside of the nation-state boundary. With reference to examples on an international level, this thesis demonstrates that calls for the limitation of free-speech are indeed legitimate and necessary but cannot be enforced on an international level for the reasons just mentioned. In order to address this problem, this thesis proposes a framework - based on a Kantian model - that enables us to invoke the limitation of free-speech on an international level without appealing to a legal-rights discourse to do so.
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  • Date Issued: 2009

The capacity of emerging civil engineering construction contractors

  • Authors: Ramokolo, Bruce Sabelo Mpumelelo
  • Date: 2009
  • Subjects: Civil engineering -- Contracts -- South Africa -- Port Elizabeth , Construction industry -- South Africa -- Port Elizabeth -- Management , Construction contracts -- South Africa -- Port Elizabeth
  • Language: English
  • Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc
  • Identifier: vital:9693 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/873 , Civil engineering -- Contracts -- South Africa -- Port Elizabeth , Construction industry -- South Africa -- Port Elizabeth -- Management , Construction contracts -- South Africa -- Port Elizabeth
  • Description: Construction management competencies are essential to realise sound practices among and to realise optimum performance by, inter alia, emerging civil engineering contractors. Such competencies enable a clear focus on the business of construction and the management of projects, with increased efficiency and reduced costs as a benefit. The objective of the MSc (Built Environment) treatise study were to determine the current practices and performance of emerging civil engineering construction contractors operating in the Nelson Mandela Bay Metropole. The descriptive method was adopted in the empirical study. The salient findings of the study are: most of the emerging civil engineering construction contracting organisations lack construction management competencies; construction resources are inappropriately managed leading to construction failures; most of the emerging civil engineering construction contracting organisations lack adequate supervision resulting to poor workmanship; there is a shortage of skilled labour amongst emerging civil engineering construction contractors; procurement processes are inappropriate leading to under capacitated emerging civil engineering construction contracting organisations being awarded contracts; most emerging civil engineering construction contracting organisations lack the requisite aptitude for construction; there is a lack of capacity at all management levels of emerging civil engineering construction organisations in managing the business of construction and that of projects; the nine functions of organisations are not comprehensively represented, and self-ratings indicate inadequacy relative to the management function of control, and relative to certain activities of the organising function. Conclusions include that emerging civil engineering construction contracting organisations need to be comprised of technical teams that possess adequate competencies and that use the construction technology to its full use enabling their organisations to stay abreast of their competitors. Recommendations that can contribute towards improving the status quo include: formal civil engineering and construction management education, resources must be present and training should be promoted throughout the industry at all levels of management to ensure proper supervision and correct use of adequately trained labour, skilled or semi-skilled, incapacitated emerging civil engineering construction contractors should be awarded contracts through appropriately and structured procurement procedures, adequate aptitude in construction should be promoted and enhanced in order to realise conceptualisation and visualisation capabilities, comply with legislation, maintain records and communicate using state of the art technology, optimally manage the finances, have the requisite resources and undertake the work efficiently, interact with the respective publics, and market the organisation to ensure sustainability thereof.
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  • Date Issued: 2009

The choice of idols from a social psychological perspective

  • Authors: Lupke, Lynette M
  • Date: 2009
  • Subjects: Identity (Psychology) , Idols and images , Social interaction
  • Language: English
  • Type: Thesis , Masters , M Soc Sc (Psych)
  • Identifier: vital:11606 , http://hdl.handle.net/10353/132 , Identity (Psychology) , Idols and images , Social interaction
  • Description: The study of adolescents’ idols has an over 100-year tradition. The meta-analysis of Teigen, Normann, Bjorkheim and Helland (2000) showed that idols, which are commonly understood as role models, changed over the last century which is attributed to changes in the social context. The present paper argues that Social Identity Theory (Tajfel & Turner, 1979, 1986) offers an appropriate theoretical framework to conceptualize social context by hypothesising a functional relationship between idols and identity management strategies moderated by the status position of the adolescent’s group s/he belongs to. The hypothesised functional relationship was tested in two studies with white and black adolescent South Africans. The results of the two studies supported our assumptions that the functional relationship between idols and identity management strategies is indeed moderated by status position. The results also indicate that Social Identity Theory seems to be an appropriate theoretical framework when social context is particularly conceptualised as social change.
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  • Date Issued: 2009

The consequences of unlawful and prohibited contracts of employment in labour law

  • Authors: Salim, Raya Said
  • Date: 2009
  • Subjects: Contracts for work and labor -- South Africa , Labor contract -- South Africa , Labor laws and legislation -- South Africa
  • Language: English
  • Type: Thesis , Masters , LLM
  • Identifier: vital:10222 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/1041 , Contracts for work and labor -- South Africa , Labor contract -- South Africa , Labor laws and legislation -- South Africa
  • Description: The purpose of having labour laws in South Africa is to regulate employment contracts and the relationship between the employer and the employee. Once a legally binding contract comes into being the Labour Relations Act of 1995 automatically applies alongside the Basic Conditions of Employment Act and various other labour legislations. Common law rules play a vital role in the formation of an employment contract. For an ordinary contract to have legal effect, four basic requirements need to be met. Briefly, parties to the contract must have reached consensus, parties’ performance of their obligations must be possible, the conclusion and objectives of the contract must be lawful and that both parties to the contract must have the necessary capacity to conclude the contract. Once these requirements have been met one is said to have concluded a valid contract. Nevertheless for the purposes of this study, we focus specifically on the employment contract. Aside from the general common law requirements for a valid contract, for an employment contract to be recognised and protected by labour legislations, it is important to distinguish an employee from an independent contractor since only the former enjoys legal remedies afforded by labour law. Common law contractual rights and duties automatically apply once an employment relationship is established in addition to the rights and duties specified in the contract itself. Common law rules regarding morality plays a major role in our modern day societies, as shall be discussed the workforce has not been left untouched by this important principle. Morality greatly influences a society’s view concerning acceptable and unacceptable behaviour or practices. It goes without saying that a contract should not be contrary to the moral views of the society in which the parties find themselves in. A contract can be complying with all the statutory requirements for a valid employment contract; however it may at the same time be tainted with illegality as the object of performance is considered immoral in the society such as an employment contract to perform prostitution. Conversely, another scenario may involve a party to an employment contract who is a child below the age of 15 years old; the contract is invalid as it contravenes section 43 of the Basic Conditions of Employment Act. Despite clear statutory prohibitions this practice may be perfectly acceptable in the eyes and minds of the society. The purpose of this study is to evaluate prohibited and unlawful contracts of employments, how the law (both common law and statutory law) treats such contracts in the sense that; whether they are protected or not and to what extent these laws have been developed to influence modern attitudes concerning such contracts. One stark example is illustrated through case law where the court had to determine the validity of an employment contract concluded between an employer and an illegal immigrant.
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  • Date Issued: 2009

The conservation and management of freshwater fishes in the Greater Addo Elephant National Park

  • Authors: Traas, Graham Ronald Louis
  • Date: 2009
  • Subjects: Addo Elephant National Park (South Africa) , Freshwater fishes -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Fishery conservation -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Fishery management -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Estuarine fishes -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
  • Language: English
  • Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc
  • Identifier: vital:5247 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1005090 , Addo Elephant National Park (South Africa) , Freshwater fishes -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Fishery conservation -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Fishery management -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Estuarine fishes -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
  • Description: Freshwater fish are the most imperilled vertebrate group with a high projected extinction rate. In general, the world's freshwater ichthyofauna is in a poor state and is threatened by habitat destruction, pollution, the effects of alien species, damming, water extraction and overfishing. Within South Africa, legislation supporting the conservation of aquatic habitats and its associated fauna is strong, but there is a lack of capacity and poor co-ordination between agencies responsible for the conservation and management. The Greater Addo Elephant National Park (GAENP) includes the upper catchments of five of the Sundays River tributaries. Since the optimal method of conserving freshwater aquatic biota is to conserve the headwaters of either the river or its tributaries, there is an opportunity to conserve the native ichthyofauna of the Sundays River system. The principal objective of this thesis was, therefore, to provide information pertinent to the conservation and management of the fishes in the Sundays River system. Sixteen species of freshwater and estuarine fish were sampled, of which eight were alien. Species composition in each of the rivers, with the exception of the Kabouga River, had changed significantly from previous studies. The distribution ranges of several indigenous species had reduced, while those of some alien species was increased. Two species not previously recorded, Labeo capensis and Gambusia affinis, were sampled. Alien species were sampled from all the tributaries. Diversity indices and community assemblage models were identified as approaches for monitoring the ichthyofauna in this species depauperate system. Diversity indices were not recommended for use as a monitoring tool, as they provided insufficient detail on community composition and structure. A modified depletion estimator was applied to multiple pass electrofishing data to determine the effects of various physico-chemical variables on the absolute abundance of Pseudobarbus afer, an endangered species. Pseudobarbus afer density was found to be positively correlated to the presence of boulders. Where P. afer were present, they were abundant. Of the total sampled catch, 21.8% was comprised of alien fishes. Clarias gariepinus was the most successful invader having penetrated all but one of the tributaries. Micropterus salmoides changed the species composition of the Wit River significantly through predation, and is potentially the most dangerous of the alien species in the Sundays River system, capable of extirpating a population of P. afer in as little as three days. Only one man-made barrier to the upstream migration of alien fishes was present on the tributaries, and several addition barriers are required to safeguard the populations of indigenous fish in the headwaters of these tributaries. Several management and conservation tools are presented and discussed, including river rehabilitation, translocation, eradication of alien species, erection of barrier weirs and captive breeding programmes. Public awareness and education is stressed because without support from the communities surrounding the GAENP, management plans for conservation of the indigenous ichthyofauna will, in all likelihood, fail.
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  • Date Issued: 2009

The contribution of municipal commonage to local people's livelihoods in small South African towns

  • Authors: Davenport, Nicholas Ashbury
  • Date: 2009
  • Subjects: Land tenure -- South Africa , Land reform -- South Africa , Property -- South Africa , Property rights -- South Africa , Commons -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Natural resources, Communal -- Management -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Rural development -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Households -- Economic aspects -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
  • Language: English
  • Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc
  • Identifier: vital:4749 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1006976 , Land tenure -- South Africa , Land reform -- South Africa , Property -- South Africa , Property rights -- South Africa , Commons -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Natural resources, Communal -- Management -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Rural development -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Households -- Economic aspects -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
  • Description: To redress past discrepancies in land tenure, the ANC government acknowledged that land needs to be made accessible to the previously disadvantaged, announcing that commonage would be a pillar of their land reform programme. Municipal commonage is land granted by the state to municipalities for urban households to use. Presently many urbanites in South Africa seek a livelihood from commonage. However, there has been no livelihood valuation of the contribution commonage makes to previously disadvantaged households. Thus there is a need to calculate the benefits of the commonage programme. Through a two phase approach, this thesis investigated firstly, the proportion of township households which use commonage; and the main characteristics of those households. Secondly, the thesis looks at the extent to which commonage contributes to users' livelihoods and the dominant livelihood strategies pursued by user households. Data was collected for three towns in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa; Bathurst, Fort Beaufort, and Grahamstown. Firstly it was found that between 27-70% of households used commonage, with the largest town having the lowest proportion of users, and vice versa for the smallest town. In terms of household characteristics, each study town was unique. Both Bathurst and Grahamstown user households were poorer than non-using households, however all Fort Beaufort households were considered poor. To assess the benefits of the commonage programme, the marketed and non-marketed consumptive direct-use values of land-based livelihoods on commonage were calculated via the 'own reported values' method. Commonage contributions to total livelihoods ranged between 14-20%. If the contributors from commonage were excluded, over 10% of households in each study town would drop to living below the poverty line. Additionally, commonage was being used productively, with the productivity at each study town being worth over R1 000 per hectare and over R4.7 million per commonage. Finally, a typology of subsistence/survivalist commonage users is presented, with four types being identified. Overall, results suggest that commonage use has increased over the last decade. Moreover, due to food inflation and urbanisation the use of commonage is expected to increase further, highlighting the need for holistic commonage management plans to be created, which should include strategies such as sustainable grazing regimes and natural resource management.
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  • Date Issued: 2009

The covariation of South African and foreign equity returns during bull and bear runs : implications for portfolio diversification

  • Authors: Mhlanga, Godfrey
  • Date: 2009
  • Subjects: Stock exchanges -- South Africa , Portfolio management -- South Africa , Investments -- South Africa
  • Language: English
  • Type: Thesis , Masters , MCom
  • Identifier: vital:944 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002678
  • Description: This study examines the pattern of covariation of the industrial index returns of South Africa and foreign industrial sectors. This follows recent increase in national equity correlations and increases in the influence of industry effects in portfolio diversification. The covariation pattern in returns across industries and countries during both bull and bear runs is examined using correlation analysis to determine if there is a difference between the two epochs. The study presents preliminary evidence of the covariation between sectors during a bear and a bull run. Return covariation among sectors is impelled to a greater extent by country-specific factors than by industry-specific factors, implying the segmentation of industrial sectors. Thus, South African investors can in general gain more if a portfolio comprising shares across industries and countries is held, even if these investors buy shares from similar industries.
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  • Date Issued: 2009

The cultural determinants of success in Indian owned family businesses

  • Authors: Adams, Leigh Christie
  • Date: 2009
  • Subjects: Family-owned business enterprises -- Management , Indian business enterprises , Small business -- Management
  • Language: English
  • Type: Thesis , Masters , MBA
  • Identifier: vital:8543 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/1258 , Family-owned business enterprises -- Management , Indian business enterprises , Small business -- Management
  • Description: Family owned businesses play a vital role in the economy of a country, therefore their sustainability and succession is a topic that requires adequate research and analysis. This is required to determine the impact and contribution at a socioeconomic level and future development of the family owned business. Within the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan area previous research has been conducted analysing the above with regard to Greek family businesses. There is a little evidence to suggest similar studies have been conducted on Indian owned family businesses, specifically businesses operating at a third generation level. This research will therefore analyse Indian owned family businesses that are at a minimum level of third generation within the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan area. The purpose is to investigate whether there is any specific cultural attributes of the Indian culture which have contributed to their success.
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  • Date Issued: 2009

The current state of Black female empowerment in the construction industry measured against broad-based Black economic empowerment scorecard

  • Authors: Podges, Joan Winnifred
  • Date: 2009
  • Subjects: Women -- Employment -- South Africa , Women executives -- South Africa , Business enterprises, Black -- South Africa , Women, Black -- South Africa , Sex discrimination in employment -- South Africa , Women-owned business enterprises -- South Africa
  • Language: English
  • Type: Thesis , Masters , MBA
  • Identifier: vital:8675 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/1161 , Women -- Employment -- South Africa , Women executives -- South Africa , Business enterprises, Black -- South Africa , Women, Black -- South Africa , Sex discrimination in employment -- South Africa , Women-owned business enterprises -- South Africa
  • Description: The Government of South Africa has placed a lot of emphasis on economic growth and the involvement of Black people in the mainstream of the economy. The implementation of Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment (B-BBEE) created opportunities for direct empowerment of Black females in ownership and management. The Construction Industry is being challenged to increase the number of Black females in management and ownership levels. Due to the nature of the Industry, only a small population of females considers Construction as a career option. The Industry has also lost a significant number of skilled Engineers and is experiencing a shortage of skilled managers in Middle and Senior Management Levels. The research problem questioned the current state of empowerment for Black women in the Construction Industry as measured against the B-BBEE Scorecard. The literature review focused on the requirements of the B-BBEE scorecard and Construction Charter. The second phase focused on gender equality and the achievements of women in Construction. The research design was done by using questionnaires to the South African Federation of Civil Engineering Contractors (Safcec) members in the Eastern Cape. The research design and survey aimed to determine the status of empowerment in the Construction Industry. With reference to both the literature review and the empirical findings the state of female empowerment can be determined. Therefore iv recommendations and opportunities for further research in this regard can be identified.
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  • Date Issued: 2009
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