It's my hand that wrote!
- Authors: Magade, Mncedi
- Date: 2020
- Subjects: South African fiction (English) -- 21st century
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/142551 , vital:38090
- Description: This collection of short stories experiments with the idea of the text as it constitutes the world just as much as it is constituted by the world. These short stories use the text as a way to respond to struggles faced by people whose identities do not conform to society’s standards. The stories in here navigate between fantastic and experiential writing which allows the text to speak in its own language. The writing is influenced by that of Mthuthuzeli Matshoba for the realist approach in telling the stories. Ayi Kwei Armah’s writing in Fragments for experientialism that focuses on the dead and the living and which makes specific references to the idea of home – particularly for those who always find it hard to belong. And that of Bruce Sterling’s creation of explosive imagery in science fiction that sticks in the reader’s mind as portrayed in his short story we see things differently. Angela Carter’s brilliance in writing short stories and her approach to magical realism has also been a powerful influence. In telling these stories using a hybrid/fluid approach, I hope to come to terms with being a different “being”. It is to find ways of telling myself that it is okay to be queer, that to be a misfit is no sin. To say this in a language that gives meaning to my own struggles of being. This work is a combination of three disjointed moments of the narrator’s life experiences which are exposed in three sections; It’s My Hand That Wrote, (Un)Tying The Knot and Thoughts. The aim of creating these three moments is to let the reader dive a variety of “truths” of the narrator’s life, instead of aiming to achieve a coherent single “Truth” about one’s life. It’s My Hand That Wrote explores both the unusual and inconsistency of life in a chaotic but explorative fashion.
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- Date Issued: 2020
Memory of a dead river
- Authors: Mayo, Thandokazi
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: Short stories, South African (English) , South African (English)
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/92364 , vital:30716
- Description: My thesis is a collection of short stories that tap into cultural, literal references, both oral andvisual, and also draws on images I have seen and have struggled to get out of my head. The collection draws on Alissa Nutting’s distorted realism and Noy Holland’s evocative imagery to make even the most mundane things feel like something out of the ordinary. An unreal way of looking at real things. The stories are interrelated only insofar as they seek to normalise or neutralise the peculiarity of society’s seemingly outdated people who come from the rural areas. Their faces, their stories, their general mannerisms. To capture the tone of their emotions, their small plights, and to give an in-depth look into how where you are affects the very shape of your face.
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- Date Issued: 2019
A stable isotope approach for the early detection and identification of N loading in aquatic ecosystems
- Authors: Hill, Jaclyn M , Kaehler, Sven , Hill, Martin P , Coetzee, Julie A
- Date: 2011
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/444491 , vital:74245 , https://www.wrc.org.za/wp-content/uploads/mdocs/KV 280.pdf
- Description: Global increases in urbanization and anthropogenic activity within wa-tersheds and catchment areas have resulted in excessive nitrogen loads in aquatic ecosystems. South Africa is deeply dependent on nat-ural resources for its economic health and as a consequence is particu-larly vulnerable to the degradation of its natural capital. Increased nitro-gen loading can result in widespread aquatic ecosystem degradation including: harmful algal blooms, increased turbidity, hypoxia, loss of aquatic vegetation and habitat and fish kills, it is also one of the mecha-nisms driving aquatic weed invasions. Understanding the fate and pro-cessing of anthropogenic nutrients in natural systems is therefore criti-cal for both preserving the well-being and biotic heritage for future gen-erations as well as providing a tremendous opportunity to improve the management driven by science. The objectives of this study were to evaluate the feasibility of mapping anthropogenic pollution through sta-ble isotopes signatures of aquatic plants, to investigate the potential for identifying different pollution sources, concentrations and distributions in a freshwater environment and to determine the utility of these tech-niques in indentifying early eutrophication.
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- Date Issued: 2011
Evaluating The Potential Contribution Of Episodic Toxicity Data To Environmental Water Quality Management In South Africa
- Authors: Gordon, Andrew K , Mantel, Sukhmani K , Muller, Nikite W J
- Date: 2011
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , report
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/438310 , vital:73450 , ISBN 978-1-4312-0070-2 , https://wrcwebsite.azurewebsites.net/wp-content/uploads/mdocs/KV259-10.pdf
- Description: An important aspect of the dynamics of nutrients and pollutants in natural systems is captured in the concept of allochthony, founded on the observation that nutrients and energy in a variety of forms are transferred between adjacent habitats, com-munities and ecosystems that are not routinely considered as connected. Different forms of nutrients and energy move across the conceptual boundaries of habitats via organisms’ activities or physical processes such as wind or water currents, and these transfers can represent important food subsidies. Such cross-partition ecolog-ical subsidies can augment the nutritional condition, biomass and biodiversity of communities, particularly where local production (or autochthony) alone may be inadequate to support local food webs. Furthermore, organic subsidies can influ-ence population dynamics, community interactions and ecosystem processes, and can represent dominant flux inputs in ecosystem budgets. Our intention was to explore organic nutrient fluxes in relation to a primarily lotic (i.e. flowing) aquatic sys-tem at the scale of a hydrological catchment.
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- Date Issued: 2011
Osmoregulation in freshwater invertebrates in response to exposure to salt pollution
- Authors: Holland, Alexandra J , Gordon, Andrew K , Muller, Nikite W J
- Date: 2010
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , report
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/437700 , vital:73403 , ISBN 978-1-4312-0075-7 , https://wrcwebsite.azurewebsites.net/wp-content/uploads/mdocs/1585.pdf
- Description: The South African National Water Act (No. 36 of 1998) provides for an ecological Reserve which is intended to protect fresh water ecosystems and resources from degradation as a result of misuse, and to maintain vital ecological functions within these systems (Palmer et al., 2004). Water quality guidelines are an important tool in the management of these water resources, aiming to adequately balance protec-tion of aquatic ecological systems with sustainable human use needs. Jooste and Rossouw (2002) proposed guidelines or boundary values for inorganic salts to be included in the ecological Reserve. These boundary values for inorganic salts were derived as follows, acute lethality data (LC50s) from the ECOTOX database main-tained by the USEPA were projected to 336 h and the 5th percentile determined as a lethality benchmark, analogous to the Fair/Poor boundary. Similarly, the 5th percen-tile of available sublethal data was determined as the sublethality benchmark and analogous with the Natural/Good boundary value. The Good/Fair boundary was the mean value between Natural/Good and Fair/Poor values. It has been suggested however, that these guidelines might not be entirely appropriate as they were de-rived without including tolerances of South African biota. Furthermore, the accuracy for some salt boundary values have been questioned (Scherman, 2009; Scherman, 2010).
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- Date Issued: 2010
Workers News - SAMWU Women Lead
- Authors: SAMWU
- Date: Sep 1999
- Subjects: SAMWU
- Language: English, Zulu, Sotho and Afrikaans
- Type: text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/113325 , vital:33747
- Description: Heyta comrades, heyta! I greet you all as we move towards the end of another year in the history of SAMWU. There have been many important developments since the last edition of Workers' News. The union held a strategic planning workshop in July. This workshop came up with organisations systems to meet challenges facing SAMWU. Please ask for a copy of the proposals at your branch office. The final Central Executive Committee meeting for the year will meet from 6th-8th October. You should ask for a copy of the Secretariat Report from your branch, and get reportbacks from your office bearers after the meeting. This CEC will be finalising many of the recommendations made by the union this year. SAMWU needs your input! There has been a change in the Secretariat.Cde Roger Ronnie, General Secretary of SAMWU since 1995, has been redeployed to the Legal Unit following his resignation and the departure of the Legal Officer. Cde Mncedisi Nontsele, Deputy General Secretary will act as General Secretary until the CEC and the Provincial Secretary of the North West, Cde Tom Ngobeni will act as Deputy General Secretary. The CEC will finalise where the three comrades can be placed so that they are of maximum use to the organisation. The CEC will develop a programme of action leading up to SAMWU’s 6th National Congress next year. This includes looking at resolutions that will be adopted at the first women's conference in September, which will guide SAMWU on how to combat probems facing women. We need to develop a clear programme to fight upaid labour by women. We also need to address problems women are facing because of the globalisation of the world economy. Labour standards have dropped, collective bargaining rights have been removed and women are more open to exploitation with even female children working on short contracts. SAMWU will continue to provide childcare at meetings so that women comrades can participate fully in union activities. This is vital if we are to seriously build women leaders in preparation for next year's general electionof shopstewards, and the Congress where at least 30% of elected comrades MUST be women. The Quota System does not mean that women cdes are elected as tokens or just to concentrate on womens issues - women leaders must play a central political role in the union at all times. We face the challenge of building our organisation. But we cannot enter into benefits schemes to attract members if the same schemes such as loans will only mean that members pay such high interest that they get further into debt. For this reason, sAMWU is investigating a way to nationalise the current savings scheme so that it becomes a foundation for members to get free of loan sharks. All members can join the retirement fund that gives you the best benefits for your contributions. I am pleased to announce that the worker- controlled SAMWU National Provident Fund is now the fastest growing pension scheme in the country! Well done, cdes! SAMWU is not an island. We also face challenges as part of COSATU. Please read about the COSATU Congress on page 17. Comrades may have read about the recent wage dispute inthe public sector. The government's implementation of a wage increase not agreed upon is an attack on collective bargaining rights. We need to close ranks with comrades in NEHAWU, SADTU, POPCRU. The employer in Joburg has already followed the government's bad example by implementing privatisation plans while still pretending to be negotiating. This is an overall attack on all public sector workers! As SAMWU members, we need to take seriously the resolutions on job losses. Our sector has been lucky so far - as part of the public sector we enjoy the largest number of employed workers in the country. But we could face job losses in the future - already when workers retire or get dismissed they are not replaced. The Job Creation Fund and the October Recruitment Campaign are key COSATU campaigns. Cdes, we must deposit our one day's salary into the Job Creation Fund if we have not already done so. This will assist our comrades who have lost their jobs. SAMWU has set aside resources for all branches to participate in the recruitment campaign - unionised workers are less likely to lose their jobs! If the union participates fully in all these activities, we will be in a good position to assess whether SAMWU has implemented the 3 year programme and also lay the foundation for a productive and revolutionary Congress in the year 2000!
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- Date Issued: Sep 1999
The fields of wrath: cattle impounding in Weenen
- Authors: Kockott, Fred
- Date: 1993-07
- Subjects: Cattle stealing -- South Africa -- KwaZulu-Natal , Land tenure -- South Africa -- KwaZulu-Natal , KwaZulu-Natal (South Africa) -- Rural conditions
- Language: English
- Type: text , book
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/74471 , vital:30305 , 0620177543
- Description: This Special Report attempts to capture, in a very readable journalistic style, the fundamental complexity of the conflict in the Weenen District. It is an honest attempt to look beyond the comfortable stereotypes. Hopefully, it will contribute to a clearer understanding of attitudes to land and the conflict around land. There are no easy solutions to this problem. But, hopefully, this report will assist in the process of finding workable solutions to land struggles in Weenen and other neglected parts of South Africa. , Special Report no. 8
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- Date Issued: 1993-07
People's education - An Examination of the Concept
- Authors: Centre for Adult and Continuing Education (CACE)
- Date: 1988
- Subjects: Centre for Adult and Continuing Education (CACE)
- Language: English
- Type: text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/168796 , vital:41648
- Description: This research report sets out to examine the concept of People’s Education in South Africa from December 1985, when the call for People’s Education was first made, to September 19877“It is the result of a preliminary six month research project which set out to lay the basis for a long term study of international perspectives on People’s Education. The researcher experienced the difficulties associated with doing contemporary research in a charged political environment. Several of the potential interviewees were either in detention or ‘on the run’ because of their commitment to People’s Education. The contemporary nature of the research focus also meant that the sources of relevant printed materials were limited and dispersed. The study demonstrates that People’s Education is concerned with more than responding to ‘the education crisis'. In addition, it is attempting to address the problem of a future education system in a post-apartheid society. As adult educators we are excited by the challenges that People’s Education offers. It is one of the first times in South Africa that ‘lifelong education ’ is on the agenda where education in the school is seen as only one aspect of necessary education provision. Adult Education at the workplace, in voluntary associations, in political movements, in the home, is seen as integral to the educational process both in the period of social transformation and in a future, post-apartheid society. This study has confirmed that People’s Education cannot be ignored. People’s Education has achieved what many previous investigations into education have not achieved; it has involved a wide range of grassroots people in the debates around the future of South African education. It is an ongoing process. As Ken Hartshorne is quoted as saying : "Both the debate on and the process leading to post-apartheid education are well underway; they are loaded with complexities, uncertainties and risks, because they are taking place in an unstable and unresolved vortex which changes from day to day, from place to place." I would like to acknowledge the assistance of colleagues who played an important role in the process of the study : Professor Owen van den Berg who was very helpful in the setting up of the project, and Mr Brian O’Connell who assisted with the conceptualisation and ongoing discussion of the project. In addition, his critical reading of the draft of this report provided many invaluable suggestions. Thanks are also due to our colleagues at UWC and elsewhere who took time to read the draft paper and offered constructive criticisms.
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- Date Issued: 1988