Learning affordances and participation enablers within a primary mathematics in-service community of practice:
- Graven, Mellony, Pausigere, Peter
- Authors: Graven, Mellony , Pausigere, Peter
- Date: 2017
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/144622 , vital:38363 , https://sajce.co.za/index.php/sajce/article/view/551
- Description: This article investigates the participation enablers and learning affordances identified by teachers through participation within an in-service community of practice (CoP) of primary teachers called the Numeracy Inquiry Community of Leader Educators (NICLE) in the Eastern Cape. The article draws on three qualitative sources of data: the annual teacher questionnaires of 42 participating teachers, interview data from 8 of the 42 sampled teachers and reflective journal entries of these 8 teachers over the first 2 years of NICLE. All three data sets point to teachers foregrounding the affordances and enablers of NICLE participation across the fundamental elements of a CoP, namely domain, community and practice. We illuminate the way in which teachers' identification of learning affordances relates to these three structural features of a CoP. In concluding, we argue that explicit consideration of these structural elements, and their interrelationship in the design of in-service programmes, could enable clearer articulation of programme aspects and support reflection on the coherence between teacher feedback on these as programmes evolve.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2017
- Authors: Graven, Mellony , Pausigere, Peter
- Date: 2017
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/144622 , vital:38363 , https://sajce.co.za/index.php/sajce/article/view/551
- Description: This article investigates the participation enablers and learning affordances identified by teachers through participation within an in-service community of practice (CoP) of primary teachers called the Numeracy Inquiry Community of Leader Educators (NICLE) in the Eastern Cape. The article draws on three qualitative sources of data: the annual teacher questionnaires of 42 participating teachers, interview data from 8 of the 42 sampled teachers and reflective journal entries of these 8 teachers over the first 2 years of NICLE. All three data sets point to teachers foregrounding the affordances and enablers of NICLE participation across the fundamental elements of a CoP, namely domain, community and practice. We illuminate the way in which teachers' identification of learning affordances relates to these three structural features of a CoP. In concluding, we argue that explicit consideration of these structural elements, and their interrelationship in the design of in-service programmes, could enable clearer articulation of programme aspects and support reflection on the coherence between teacher feedback on these as programmes evolve.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2017
Learning pathways and articulation: Early conceptual explorations and implications for research design (s)
- Lotz-Sisitka, Heila, Ramsarup, Preesha
- Authors: Lotz-Sisitka, Heila , Ramsarup, Preesha
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , bulletin
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/436388 , vital:73268 , ISBN bulletin , https://www.saqa.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/SAQA-Bulletin-2017-1.pdf#page=37
- Description: This paper is an introductory, exploratory paper which opened up the ter-rain for a second phase of the South African Qualifications Authority (SAQA)-Rhodes University research partnership focusing on change-oriented workplace learning and sustainability practices, with an emphasis on learning pathways (the main period being 2011-2013, ongoing until 2016). The paper reviews early conceptual explorations of learning path-ways and articulation questions, as these relate to a transversal issue8 in the National Qualifications Framework (NQF), namely environment and sustainable development.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2017
- Authors: Lotz-Sisitka, Heila , Ramsarup, Preesha
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , bulletin
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/436388 , vital:73268 , ISBN bulletin , https://www.saqa.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/SAQA-Bulletin-2017-1.pdf#page=37
- Description: This paper is an introductory, exploratory paper which opened up the ter-rain for a second phase of the South African Qualifications Authority (SAQA)-Rhodes University research partnership focusing on change-oriented workplace learning and sustainability practices, with an emphasis on learning pathways (the main period being 2011-2013, ongoing until 2016). The paper reviews early conceptual explorations of learning path-ways and articulation questions, as these relate to a transversal issue8 in the National Qualifications Framework (NQF), namely environment and sustainable development.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2017
Learning to teach in higher education in South Africa
- Council on Higher Education (South Africa), Leibowitz, Brenda, Bozalek, Vivienne, Garraway, James, Herman, Nicoline, Jawitz, Jeff, Muhuro, Patricia, Ndebele, Clever, Quinn, Lynn, Van Schalkwyk, Susan, Vorster, Jo-Anne, Winberg, Chris
- Authors: Council on Higher Education (South Africa) , Leibowitz, Brenda , Bozalek, Vivienne , Garraway, James , Herman, Nicoline , Jawitz, Jeff , Muhuro, Patricia , Ndebele, Clever , Quinn, Lynn , Van Schalkwyk, Susan , Vorster, Jo-Anne , Winberg, Chris
- Date: 2017
- Language: English
- Type: text , book
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/66524 , vital:28958
- Description: publisher version , Preface by Prof Narend Baijnath: “Teaching and learning are never neutral. Every aspect is ideological in nature: from the admission of students, to the selection of curriculum content, to the adoption of learning materials, to the pedagogical approach, to the mode of assessment and the quality of the feedback. The form of disciplinary knowledge may vary from the more subjective and contentious to the more objective and broadly accepted, but teaching and learning remain highly political acts across all institutions, faculties and disciplines. So it is unsurprising that when a country undergoes major social change, ideological demands are placed on teaching and learning.” (HE Reviewed, CHE 2016 p.143). There are many and diverse influences on teaching and learning as a political act, from broad social movements that challenge what is taught, to the ways in which resources have historically been allocated, to the values and goals of different disciplines, and the more immediate institutional and faculty contexts in which they take place. Learning to teach in higher education in South Africa is a timely and well-researched contribution to understanding the influences of that more immediate layer, that is, of institutional contexts, on the professional learning of academics in their roles as teachers. It explores questions of whether it matters to the professional learning process whether one is teaching in a context in which resources are scarce, or whether the departmental leadership style is authoritarian, or whether an institution has a strong drive to increase research output. And if it matters, what are the implications for facilitating opportunities for academics to ‘learn to teach’ in higher education? Undertaken by a team of academic staff developers across eight institutional contexts, this research report offers a comprehensive, nuanced and theorised set of insights into the role that context plays in the ways in which academics learn to teach. Such insights can inform the development of professional learning initiatives at both the institutional and national policy levels. The report is one of the outcomes of a large-scale study carried out between 2011 and 2016, made possible by funding from the National Research Foundation. It has spawned many research articles, books and PhD studies (see Appendix One) and has thus in itself provided a vehicle for the development of further research and researchers on the subject. The team chose to work collaboratively, with all the possibilities and difficulties that that entails, as reflected on in Chapter 7. Thereby, it also offers an illuminating reflection and insights into such research methodology. While the report does not specifically set out to offer anything new or surprising about the cultural and contextual differences between institutions, it does offer a coherent interpretation of such complex and intersecting conditions examined through a single theoretical lens. Indeed, the concepts of ‘structure, culture and agency’ as developed in the work of the social realist, Margaret Archer, formed the theoretical canvas for the study. The theory allows for the analytical separation of different domains for the purposes of understanding the interplay of relations, but it also offers a hope of bringing about social transformation through exercising particular modes of reflexivity. As the report argues, quoting Archer, transforming our positions in society is possible, but “their transformation depends partly on the subjective reflexivity of primary agents in seeking to play an active part in reshaping society’s resource distribution”. The researchers may not always have found it easy to apply a single theoretical lens, but the theory based study provides a coherent representation of the differences and similarities between the institutional contexts of the eight universities, throwing into relief their different influences on professional learning, and points to pathways towards the improvement of teaching and learning in South African higher education. A major contribution of this report that is likely to influence the discourse on teaching and learning significantly, is the conceptual shift from ‘professional development’ to ‘professional learning’. As an external reviewer noted, “in the context of the decolonization debate, [this shift] has the potential to offer a more flexible continuum in which to position different learning opportunities”. It also recognises the importance of group and individual agency and the importance of informal contexts in learning to teach. 12 | Monitor 14 | Learning to Teach in Higher Education in South Africa The publication of this research report takes forward the CHE’s ongoing endeavours to improve and enhance the quality of teaching and learning in higher education. It serves to complement the more practical implementation of quality assurance in higher education, which for the CHE has largely entailed a focus on teaching and learning, whether in accreditation, audits or the Quality Enhancement Project (QEP) that began in 2014 in which one of the four focus areas that universities were asked to engage with was “enhancing academics as teachers”. Participation in the QEP over the past three years has contributed to a heightened awareness across the sector of the importance of academics developing competence in university teaching, particularly given the increased emphasis being placed on student success by both the government and higher education institutions themselves. As a result, universities are becoming more intentional in their efforts to help academics develop this competence. The release of the study is therefore timely, as not only will it add to our collective understanding of the complexities and nuances in the interrelationships between structure, culture and agency that inform and influence academics in their roles as teachers, but it will serve as a useful resource for institutions in their efforts to enhance university teachers and teaching. The Higher Education Monitor series, as was elaborated in the first issue in 2003, “aims to stimulate research and the production of knowledge and interpretive frameworks that could contribute to better theorisation of higher education, more rigorous analysis of higher education complexities and more effective strategies for change and progress”. It is our hope that this report will do exactly that. , We thank the National Research Foundation for funding the project that made the study and the ensuing report possible, Professor Brenda Leibowitz for leading the team of researchers, our external reviewers, and the individual authors who took the time to present drafts of their chapters to Dr Webbstock of the CHE at a workshop in May 2016.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2017
- Authors: Council on Higher Education (South Africa) , Leibowitz, Brenda , Bozalek, Vivienne , Garraway, James , Herman, Nicoline , Jawitz, Jeff , Muhuro, Patricia , Ndebele, Clever , Quinn, Lynn , Van Schalkwyk, Susan , Vorster, Jo-Anne , Winberg, Chris
- Date: 2017
- Language: English
- Type: text , book
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/66524 , vital:28958
- Description: publisher version , Preface by Prof Narend Baijnath: “Teaching and learning are never neutral. Every aspect is ideological in nature: from the admission of students, to the selection of curriculum content, to the adoption of learning materials, to the pedagogical approach, to the mode of assessment and the quality of the feedback. The form of disciplinary knowledge may vary from the more subjective and contentious to the more objective and broadly accepted, but teaching and learning remain highly political acts across all institutions, faculties and disciplines. So it is unsurprising that when a country undergoes major social change, ideological demands are placed on teaching and learning.” (HE Reviewed, CHE 2016 p.143). There are many and diverse influences on teaching and learning as a political act, from broad social movements that challenge what is taught, to the ways in which resources have historically been allocated, to the values and goals of different disciplines, and the more immediate institutional and faculty contexts in which they take place. Learning to teach in higher education in South Africa is a timely and well-researched contribution to understanding the influences of that more immediate layer, that is, of institutional contexts, on the professional learning of academics in their roles as teachers. It explores questions of whether it matters to the professional learning process whether one is teaching in a context in which resources are scarce, or whether the departmental leadership style is authoritarian, or whether an institution has a strong drive to increase research output. And if it matters, what are the implications for facilitating opportunities for academics to ‘learn to teach’ in higher education? Undertaken by a team of academic staff developers across eight institutional contexts, this research report offers a comprehensive, nuanced and theorised set of insights into the role that context plays in the ways in which academics learn to teach. Such insights can inform the development of professional learning initiatives at both the institutional and national policy levels. The report is one of the outcomes of a large-scale study carried out between 2011 and 2016, made possible by funding from the National Research Foundation. It has spawned many research articles, books and PhD studies (see Appendix One) and has thus in itself provided a vehicle for the development of further research and researchers on the subject. The team chose to work collaboratively, with all the possibilities and difficulties that that entails, as reflected on in Chapter 7. Thereby, it also offers an illuminating reflection and insights into such research methodology. While the report does not specifically set out to offer anything new or surprising about the cultural and contextual differences between institutions, it does offer a coherent interpretation of such complex and intersecting conditions examined through a single theoretical lens. Indeed, the concepts of ‘structure, culture and agency’ as developed in the work of the social realist, Margaret Archer, formed the theoretical canvas for the study. The theory allows for the analytical separation of different domains for the purposes of understanding the interplay of relations, but it also offers a hope of bringing about social transformation through exercising particular modes of reflexivity. As the report argues, quoting Archer, transforming our positions in society is possible, but “their transformation depends partly on the subjective reflexivity of primary agents in seeking to play an active part in reshaping society’s resource distribution”. The researchers may not always have found it easy to apply a single theoretical lens, but the theory based study provides a coherent representation of the differences and similarities between the institutional contexts of the eight universities, throwing into relief their different influences on professional learning, and points to pathways towards the improvement of teaching and learning in South African higher education. A major contribution of this report that is likely to influence the discourse on teaching and learning significantly, is the conceptual shift from ‘professional development’ to ‘professional learning’. As an external reviewer noted, “in the context of the decolonization debate, [this shift] has the potential to offer a more flexible continuum in which to position different learning opportunities”. It also recognises the importance of group and individual agency and the importance of informal contexts in learning to teach. 12 | Monitor 14 | Learning to Teach in Higher Education in South Africa The publication of this research report takes forward the CHE’s ongoing endeavours to improve and enhance the quality of teaching and learning in higher education. It serves to complement the more practical implementation of quality assurance in higher education, which for the CHE has largely entailed a focus on teaching and learning, whether in accreditation, audits or the Quality Enhancement Project (QEP) that began in 2014 in which one of the four focus areas that universities were asked to engage with was “enhancing academics as teachers”. Participation in the QEP over the past three years has contributed to a heightened awareness across the sector of the importance of academics developing competence in university teaching, particularly given the increased emphasis being placed on student success by both the government and higher education institutions themselves. As a result, universities are becoming more intentional in their efforts to help academics develop this competence. The release of the study is therefore timely, as not only will it add to our collective understanding of the complexities and nuances in the interrelationships between structure, culture and agency that inform and influence academics in their roles as teachers, but it will serve as a useful resource for institutions in their efforts to enhance university teachers and teaching. The Higher Education Monitor series, as was elaborated in the first issue in 2003, “aims to stimulate research and the production of knowledge and interpretive frameworks that could contribute to better theorisation of higher education, more rigorous analysis of higher education complexities and more effective strategies for change and progress”. It is our hope that this report will do exactly that. , We thank the National Research Foundation for funding the project that made the study and the ensuing report possible, Professor Brenda Leibowitz for leading the team of researchers, our external reviewers, and the individual authors who took the time to present drafts of their chapters to Dr Webbstock of the CHE at a workshop in May 2016.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2017
Learning Zulu: a secret history of language in South Africa
- Authors: Wylie, Dan
- Date: 2017
- Language: English
- Type: book review , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/61255 , vital:27997 , https://www.ajol.info/index.php/tvl/article/view/160848
- Description: Taking a leaf from the book under review, I’ll start by injecting an autobiographical element. Much of what Sanders examines here echoes my own experience, after Zimbabwe’s independence, of heading to a remote mission school to teach for two years. Part of my purpose was to learn better Shona, the majority language from which I had been systematically discouraged by my colonial education. It was, in a way, a gesture of reparation, or addressing a nagging “white guilt”, or at least of assuaging a sense of fruitless loss and exclusion. I was nowhere near as successful in attaining fluency as Sanders seems have been in learning Zulu; and now that I live in the Eastern Cape, my efforts to learn Xhosa have been similarly patchy and faltering. One thing is evident throughout Sanders’s dense discussions: long-term, assiduous application and pe¬riods of total immersion are vital—and as he points out, few whites in South Africa have carved out the time and energy to do so, while willy-nilly expecting the black majority to learn their language. (An endnote does aver that, according to census figures, a surprising 16,000-plus whites, and a similar number of Indians, in KwaZulu-Natal, list Zulu as their first language.)
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2017
- Authors: Wylie, Dan
- Date: 2017
- Language: English
- Type: book review , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/61255 , vital:27997 , https://www.ajol.info/index.php/tvl/article/view/160848
- Description: Taking a leaf from the book under review, I’ll start by injecting an autobiographical element. Much of what Sanders examines here echoes my own experience, after Zimbabwe’s independence, of heading to a remote mission school to teach for two years. Part of my purpose was to learn better Shona, the majority language from which I had been systematically discouraged by my colonial education. It was, in a way, a gesture of reparation, or addressing a nagging “white guilt”, or at least of assuaging a sense of fruitless loss and exclusion. I was nowhere near as successful in attaining fluency as Sanders seems have been in learning Zulu; and now that I live in the Eastern Cape, my efforts to learn Xhosa have been similarly patchy and faltering. One thing is evident throughout Sanders’s dense discussions: long-term, assiduous application and pe¬riods of total immersion are vital—and as he points out, few whites in South Africa have carved out the time and energy to do so, while willy-nilly expecting the black majority to learn their language. (An endnote does aver that, according to census figures, a surprising 16,000-plus whites, and a similar number of Indians, in KwaZulu-Natal, list Zulu as their first language.)
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2017
Life-histories explain the conservation status of two estuary-associated pipefishes
- Whitfield, Alan K, Mkare, Thomas K, Teske, Peter R, James, Nicola C, Cowley, Paul D
- Authors: Whitfield, Alan K , Mkare, Thomas K , Teske, Peter R , James, Nicola C , Cowley, Paul D
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/445087 , vital:74346 , https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2017.06.024
- Description: Two endemic southern African pipefish species (Teleostei: Syngnathidae) co-occur in estuaries on the southeast coast of South Africa. The larger longsnout pipefish, Syngnathus temminckii, is abundant and has a wide range that comprises coastal and estuarine habitats in all three of the region's marine biogeographic provinces. In contrast, the smaller estuarine pipefish S. watermeyeri is critically endangered, and confined to a few warm-temperate estuaries. Here, we explore reasons for these considerable differences in conservation status.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2017
- Authors: Whitfield, Alan K , Mkare, Thomas K , Teske, Peter R , James, Nicola C , Cowley, Paul D
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/445087 , vital:74346 , https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2017.06.024
- Description: Two endemic southern African pipefish species (Teleostei: Syngnathidae) co-occur in estuaries on the southeast coast of South Africa. The larger longsnout pipefish, Syngnathus temminckii, is abundant and has a wide range that comprises coastal and estuarine habitats in all three of the region's marine biogeographic provinces. In contrast, the smaller estuarine pipefish S. watermeyeri is critically endangered, and confined to a few warm-temperate estuaries. Here, we explore reasons for these considerable differences in conservation status.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2017
Listening and the ambiguities of voice in South African journalism:
- Garman, Anthea, Malila, Vanessa
- Authors: Garman, Anthea , Malila, Vanessa
- Date: 2017
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/158394 , vital:40180 , https://doi.org/10.1080/02500167.2016.1226914
- Description: Political theorists like Bickford (1996) and media theorists like Couldry (2006) have introduced the concept of listening as a complement to long-standing discussions about voice in democracies and in the media which serve the democratic project. This enhanced understanding of voice goes beyond just hearing into giving serious attention to, in particular, marginalised voices. This article reports on an investigation into the ways in which mainstream and community media in the Eastern Cape, South Africa, understand listening as an important part of their role as journalists. Interviews probed the attitudes of journalists and editors towards listening, and also interrogated their own understandings of their role in South Africa, particularly in relation to young people who are finding their political “voice”.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2017
- Authors: Garman, Anthea , Malila, Vanessa
- Date: 2017
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/158394 , vital:40180 , https://doi.org/10.1080/02500167.2016.1226914
- Description: Political theorists like Bickford (1996) and media theorists like Couldry (2006) have introduced the concept of listening as a complement to long-standing discussions about voice in democracies and in the media which serve the democratic project. This enhanced understanding of voice goes beyond just hearing into giving serious attention to, in particular, marginalised voices. This article reports on an investigation into the ways in which mainstream and community media in the Eastern Cape, South Africa, understand listening as an important part of their role as journalists. Interviews probed the attitudes of journalists and editors towards listening, and also interrogated their own understandings of their role in South Africa, particularly in relation to young people who are finding their political “voice”.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2017
Local knowledge on the uses, habitat, and change in abundance of multipurpose mimusops species in Benin
- Sinasson Gisèle K, Shackleton, Charlie M, Assogbadjo, Achille E, Sinsin, Brice
- Authors: Sinasson Gisèle K , Shackleton, Charlie M , Assogbadjo, Achille E , Sinsin, Brice
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/181105 , vital:43699 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s12231-017-9370-6"
- Description: Multipurpose NTFP species typically experience higher harvest demand because of their multiple uses, which, when combined with unsustainable land use practices, may threaten population viability. We assessed local knowledge on the uses, habitat, and population status of Mimusops andongensis and Mimusops kummel, both multipurpose NTFP species in Benin, to promote their valorization and conservation and thus sustain local knowledge on their uses for domestication issues. One hundred households were randomly selected for structured interviews for M. andongensis and 500 for M. kummel. The relationship between age, sex, and ethnic groups and the species uses was assessed using comparison and correspondence analyses. Nearly all organs of the species were used. Both species were mainly exploited for medicinal purposes but also in construction and as firewood. We found similarities in some uses of the species organs, although the species occur in different ecological zones and are used by different ethnic groups. This result should be considered for the valorization of the species. Most informants reported that populations of M. andongensis were decreasing, although some felt that they were increasing, whereas less than one-third said that M. kummel was decreasing. There were strong relationships between gender, age, and ethnic affiliation of the users and the exploited organs of both species. Potential uses exist based on both the past and current uses of the species and in comparison to other countries where they are exploited. Local ethnoecological knowledge and practices will help to valorize and conserve the species. However, further research on the species’ seed germination and propagation ability are also necessary.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2017
- Authors: Sinasson Gisèle K , Shackleton, Charlie M , Assogbadjo, Achille E , Sinsin, Brice
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/181105 , vital:43699 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s12231-017-9370-6"
- Description: Multipurpose NTFP species typically experience higher harvest demand because of their multiple uses, which, when combined with unsustainable land use practices, may threaten population viability. We assessed local knowledge on the uses, habitat, and population status of Mimusops andongensis and Mimusops kummel, both multipurpose NTFP species in Benin, to promote their valorization and conservation and thus sustain local knowledge on their uses for domestication issues. One hundred households were randomly selected for structured interviews for M. andongensis and 500 for M. kummel. The relationship between age, sex, and ethnic groups and the species uses was assessed using comparison and correspondence analyses. Nearly all organs of the species were used. Both species were mainly exploited for medicinal purposes but also in construction and as firewood. We found similarities in some uses of the species organs, although the species occur in different ecological zones and are used by different ethnic groups. This result should be considered for the valorization of the species. Most informants reported that populations of M. andongensis were decreasing, although some felt that they were increasing, whereas less than one-third said that M. kummel was decreasing. There were strong relationships between gender, age, and ethnic affiliation of the users and the exploited organs of both species. Potential uses exist based on both the past and current uses of the species and in comparison to other countries where they are exploited. Local ethnoecological knowledge and practices will help to valorize and conserve the species. However, further research on the species’ seed germination and propagation ability are also necessary.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2017
Local people and conservation officials’ perceptions on relationships and conflicts in South African protected areas
- Thondhlana, Gladman, Cundill, Georgina
- Authors: Thondhlana, Gladman , Cundill, Georgina
- Date: 2017
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/68640 , vital:29300 , https://doi.org/10.1080/21513732.2017.1315742
- Description: Protected areas (PAs) are often conflict-ridden, but conflict resolution mechanisms are often constrained by little appreciation of the perceptions of the principal agents (PA managers and local communities) about such conflicts. Getting local people’s support in PA management efforts is considered important for achieving conservation and livelihood goals. Using data from 13 nature reserves in South Africa, this study explores the perceptions of reserve managers and local communities about their relationships and the existence and underlying causes of conflicts. The findings showed sharp contrasts in perceptions between reserve managers and local communities. Reserve managers generally perceived that there were no conflicts with local communities and that their relationship with them was positive while local communities thought otherwise, claiming conflicts were centred around restricted access to PAs, lack of benefits from PAs and communication problems. These findings have profound implications for conservation, especially considering the importance of getting local people’s support in PA management.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2017
- Authors: Thondhlana, Gladman , Cundill, Georgina
- Date: 2017
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/68640 , vital:29300 , https://doi.org/10.1080/21513732.2017.1315742
- Description: Protected areas (PAs) are often conflict-ridden, but conflict resolution mechanisms are often constrained by little appreciation of the perceptions of the principal agents (PA managers and local communities) about such conflicts. Getting local people’s support in PA management efforts is considered important for achieving conservation and livelihood goals. Using data from 13 nature reserves in South Africa, this study explores the perceptions of reserve managers and local communities about their relationships and the existence and underlying causes of conflicts. The findings showed sharp contrasts in perceptions between reserve managers and local communities. Reserve managers generally perceived that there were no conflicts with local communities and that their relationship with them was positive while local communities thought otherwise, claiming conflicts were centred around restricted access to PAs, lack of benefits from PAs and communication problems. These findings have profound implications for conservation, especially considering the importance of getting local people’s support in PA management.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2017
Local setting influences the quantity of household food waste in mid-sized South African towns
- Chakona, Gamuchirai, Shackleton, Charlie M
- Authors: Chakona, Gamuchirai , Shackleton, Charlie M
- Date: 2017
- Language: English
- Type: article , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/60866 , vital:27847 , https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0189407
- Description: The world faces a food security challenge with approximately 868 million people undernourished and about two billion people suffering from the negative health consequences of micronutrient deficiencies. Yet, it is believed that at least 33% of food produced for human consumption is lost or wasted along the food chain. As food waste has a negative effect on food security, the present study sought to quantify household food waste along the ruralurban continuum in three South African mid-sized towns situated along an agro-ecological gradient. We quantified the types of foods and drinks that households threw away in the previous 48 hours and identified the causes of household food waste in the three sites. More households wasted prepared food (27%) than unprepared food (15%) and drinks (8%). However, households threw away greater quantities of unprepared food in the 48-hour recall period (268.6±610.1 g, 90% confidence interval: 175.5 to 361.7 g) compared to prepared food (121.0±132.4 g, 90% confidence interval: 100.8 to 141.3 g) and drinks (77.0±192.5 ml, 90% confidence interval: 47.7 to 106.4 ml). The estimated per capita food waste (5±10 kg of unprepared food waste, 3±4 kg of prepared food waste and 1±3 litres of drinks waste per person per year) overlaps with that estimated for other developing countries, but lower than most developed countries. However, the estimated average amount of food waste per person per year for this study (12.35 kg) was higher relative to that estimated for developing countries (8.5 kg per person per year). Household food waste was mainly a result of consumer behavior concerning food preparation and storage. Integrated approaches are required to address this developmental issue affecting South African societies, which include promoting sound food management to decrease household food waste. Also, increased awareness and educational campaigns for household food waste reduction interventions are discussed.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2017
- Authors: Chakona, Gamuchirai , Shackleton, Charlie M
- Date: 2017
- Language: English
- Type: article , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/60866 , vital:27847 , https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0189407
- Description: The world faces a food security challenge with approximately 868 million people undernourished and about two billion people suffering from the negative health consequences of micronutrient deficiencies. Yet, it is believed that at least 33% of food produced for human consumption is lost or wasted along the food chain. As food waste has a negative effect on food security, the present study sought to quantify household food waste along the ruralurban continuum in three South African mid-sized towns situated along an agro-ecological gradient. We quantified the types of foods and drinks that households threw away in the previous 48 hours and identified the causes of household food waste in the three sites. More households wasted prepared food (27%) than unprepared food (15%) and drinks (8%). However, households threw away greater quantities of unprepared food in the 48-hour recall period (268.6±610.1 g, 90% confidence interval: 175.5 to 361.7 g) compared to prepared food (121.0±132.4 g, 90% confidence interval: 100.8 to 141.3 g) and drinks (77.0±192.5 ml, 90% confidence interval: 47.7 to 106.4 ml). The estimated per capita food waste (5±10 kg of unprepared food waste, 3±4 kg of prepared food waste and 1±3 litres of drinks waste per person per year) overlaps with that estimated for other developing countries, but lower than most developed countries. However, the estimated average amount of food waste per person per year for this study (12.35 kg) was higher relative to that estimated for developing countries (8.5 kg per person per year). Household food waste was mainly a result of consumer behavior concerning food preparation and storage. Integrated approaches are required to address this developmental issue affecting South African societies, which include promoting sound food management to decrease household food waste. Also, increased awareness and educational campaigns for household food waste reduction interventions are discussed.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2017
Looking after freedom?:
- Authors: Dantas, Nancy
- Date: 2017
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/147081 , vital:38591 , https://www.buala.org/en/ill-visit/looking-after-freedom
- Description: Did freedom come to South Africa in 1994? Should it be marked and set in time, or is it a fragile process, an ambition and a becoming? Do we see ourselves coming closer to this ideal, or desperately receding from it as an invisible rip current pulls us away? To think of freedom as a given, a day in the year or a landmark on the horizon is to neglect that liberty from bondage and oppression, in all its disastrous and fatidic forms requires vigilance, nurturing and a spirit of insatiable demand. When our freedom becomes commodified, transformed into a mark on annual calendars, a mere commemoration; something we think have obtained and cannot possibly stand to loose, we are all in for trouble.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2017
- Authors: Dantas, Nancy
- Date: 2017
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/147081 , vital:38591 , https://www.buala.org/en/ill-visit/looking-after-freedom
- Description: Did freedom come to South Africa in 1994? Should it be marked and set in time, or is it a fragile process, an ambition and a becoming? Do we see ourselves coming closer to this ideal, or desperately receding from it as an invisible rip current pulls us away? To think of freedom as a given, a day in the year or a landmark on the horizon is to neglect that liberty from bondage and oppression, in all its disastrous and fatidic forms requires vigilance, nurturing and a spirit of insatiable demand. When our freedom becomes commodified, transformed into a mark on annual calendars, a mere commemoration; something we think have obtained and cannot possibly stand to loose, we are all in for trouble.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2017
Looking underneath: deconstruction in Hogarth's Industry and Idleness
- Authors: Herbst, Michael
- Date: 2017
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/147803 , vital:38674 , https://doi.org/10.1080/00043389.2003.11877010
- Description: In Hogarth's engraved series Industry and Idleness two young men from lower-class backgrounds are apprenticed to Mr West, a weaver. The first plate (1) lays bare the two apprentices' marked difference in temperament: Francis Goodchild works contentedly at his well-lit loom with his 'Prentice's Guide- a standard manual of instruction and advice for London apprentices in various trades - open on the floor below him. In the gloomy foreground Thomas Idle snores crassly at his loom, oblivious of his 'Prentice's Guide, which has apparently been reduced to tatters by the cat that now toys with the abandoned shuttle.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2017
- Authors: Herbst, Michael
- Date: 2017
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/147803 , vital:38674 , https://doi.org/10.1080/00043389.2003.11877010
- Description: In Hogarth's engraved series Industry and Idleness two young men from lower-class backgrounds are apprenticed to Mr West, a weaver. The first plate (1) lays bare the two apprentices' marked difference in temperament: Francis Goodchild works contentedly at his well-lit loom with his 'Prentice's Guide- a standard manual of instruction and advice for London apprentices in various trades - open on the floor below him. In the gloomy foreground Thomas Idle snores crassly at his loom, oblivious of his 'Prentice's Guide, which has apparently been reduced to tatters by the cat that now toys with the abandoned shuttle.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2017
Lost and found: the value of a little known bilingual dictionary towards the intellectualization of Ndau
- Sithole, Emmanuel, Nkomo, Dion
- Authors: Sithole, Emmanuel , Nkomo, Dion
- Date: 2017
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/67537 , vital:29109 , http://dx.doi.org/10.5788/27-1-1411
- Description: Publisher version , This article critically evaluates the ChiNdau–English and English–ChiNdau Vocabulary: With Grammatical Notes, a bilingual dictionary published in 1915 by the American Board Mission (Rhodesian Branch), with a view of determining its suitability for use as a point of departure for modern Ndau lexicography. More than a century after its publication, it remains the only dictionary in the language. The language has been treated as a dialect of Shona for close to a century, until its emergence as one of the country's sixteen officially-recognized languages in the 2013 Constitution of Zimbabwe. This landmark development requires practical work that can transform Ndau into a fully-fledged and intellectualized language. Lexicography is one of the key intellectual enterprises that can contribute in this regard. It is therefore the contention of this article that the existing dictionary be considered as a vital point of reference for future lexicographic work in Ndau. An analysis of various aspects of the dictionary indicate that, notwithstanding some limitations, this dictionary indeed managed to set some standards that may be incorporated in current and future lexicographic works in this less documented language.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2017
- Authors: Sithole, Emmanuel , Nkomo, Dion
- Date: 2017
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/67537 , vital:29109 , http://dx.doi.org/10.5788/27-1-1411
- Description: Publisher version , This article critically evaluates the ChiNdau–English and English–ChiNdau Vocabulary: With Grammatical Notes, a bilingual dictionary published in 1915 by the American Board Mission (Rhodesian Branch), with a view of determining its suitability for use as a point of departure for modern Ndau lexicography. More than a century after its publication, it remains the only dictionary in the language. The language has been treated as a dialect of Shona for close to a century, until its emergence as one of the country's sixteen officially-recognized languages in the 2013 Constitution of Zimbabwe. This landmark development requires practical work that can transform Ndau into a fully-fledged and intellectualized language. Lexicography is one of the key intellectual enterprises that can contribute in this regard. It is therefore the contention of this article that the existing dictionary be considered as a vital point of reference for future lexicographic work in Ndau. An analysis of various aspects of the dictionary indicate that, notwithstanding some limitations, this dictionary indeed managed to set some standards that may be incorporated in current and future lexicographic works in this less documented language.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2017
Macroinvertebrate functional organisation along the longitudinal gradient of an austral temperate river
- Moyo, Sydney, Richoux, Nicole B
- Authors: Moyo, Sydney , Richoux, Nicole B
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/443178 , vital:74086 , https://doi.org/10.1080/15627020.2017.1354721
- Description: The Kowie River, a relatively pristine system in South Africa, was sampled on four occasions over one year to determine if relative abundances of functional feeding groups (FFGs) of invertebrates changed along the longitudinal gradient, and if these changes matched predictions of the river continuum concept (RCC). The results revealed that gatherers and filterers dominated in the Kowie River, and together represented 50–83% of the invertebrate assemblages. There was a general paucity of shredders (relative abundance was 10% at all sites and times). The changes in relative abundances of the different FFGs did not always follow the predictions of the RCC, as there were no correlations of community structure with river width or canopy cover in some seasons; however, some predictions of the RCC were supported, as a dominance of filterers (with relatively small contributions from shredders and grazers) and a consistent presence of predators were recorded. The FFG abundances were correlated with water velocity and total dissolved solids. Broadly, shifts in relative abundances of FFGs along the river continuum could not be explained by physical attributes alone, and were probably influenced by the availability of food and the chemistry of the river. Our findings highlight the need for theoretical and field studies across a broad array of African systems to refine the applicability of the RCC and FFG classifications to further develop models of ecosystem function.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2017
- Authors: Moyo, Sydney , Richoux, Nicole B
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/443178 , vital:74086 , https://doi.org/10.1080/15627020.2017.1354721
- Description: The Kowie River, a relatively pristine system in South Africa, was sampled on four occasions over one year to determine if relative abundances of functional feeding groups (FFGs) of invertebrates changed along the longitudinal gradient, and if these changes matched predictions of the river continuum concept (RCC). The results revealed that gatherers and filterers dominated in the Kowie River, and together represented 50–83% of the invertebrate assemblages. There was a general paucity of shredders (relative abundance was 10% at all sites and times). The changes in relative abundances of the different FFGs did not always follow the predictions of the RCC, as there were no correlations of community structure with river width or canopy cover in some seasons; however, some predictions of the RCC were supported, as a dominance of filterers (with relatively small contributions from shredders and grazers) and a consistent presence of predators were recorded. The FFG abundances were correlated with water velocity and total dissolved solids. Broadly, shifts in relative abundances of FFGs along the river continuum could not be explained by physical attributes alone, and were probably influenced by the availability of food and the chemistry of the river. Our findings highlight the need for theoretical and field studies across a broad array of African systems to refine the applicability of the RCC and FFG classifications to further develop models of ecosystem function.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2017
Malawi’s foreign policy decision-making: the 2012 Malawi-Tanzania boundary dispute
- Kaunda, Mapopa Charles Martin Sazamleke
- Authors: Kaunda, Mapopa Charles Martin Sazamleke
- Date: 2017
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/59225 , vital:27484
- Description: Expected release date-April 2019
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2017
- Authors: Kaunda, Mapopa Charles Martin Sazamleke
- Date: 2017
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/59225 , vital:27484
- Description: Expected release date-April 2019
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2017
MD-TASK: a software suite for analyzing molecular dynamics trajectories
- Brown, David K, Penkler, David L, Amamuddy, Olivier S, Ross, Caroline J, Atilgan, Ali R, Atilgan, Canan, Tastan Bishop, Özlem
- Authors: Brown, David K , Penkler, David L , Amamuddy, Olivier S , Ross, Caroline J , Atilgan, Ali R , Atilgan, Canan , Tastan Bishop, Özlem
- Date: 2017
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/125138 , vital:35735 , https://doi.10.1093/bioinformatics/btx349
- Description: Molecular dynamics (MD) determines the physical motions of atoms of a biological macromolecule in a cell-like environment and is an important method in structural bioinformatics. Traditionally, measurements such as root mean square deviation, root mean square fluctuation, radius of gyration, and various energy measures have been used to analyze MD simulations. Here, we present MD-TASK, a novel software suite that employs graph theory techniques, perturbation response scanning, and dynamic cross-correlation to provide unique ways for analyzing MD trajectories.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2017
- Authors: Brown, David K , Penkler, David L , Amamuddy, Olivier S , Ross, Caroline J , Atilgan, Ali R , Atilgan, Canan , Tastan Bishop, Özlem
- Date: 2017
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/125138 , vital:35735 , https://doi.10.1093/bioinformatics/btx349
- Description: Molecular dynamics (MD) determines the physical motions of atoms of a biological macromolecule in a cell-like environment and is an important method in structural bioinformatics. Traditionally, measurements such as root mean square deviation, root mean square fluctuation, radius of gyration, and various energy measures have been used to analyze MD simulations. Here, we present MD-TASK, a novel software suite that employs graph theory techniques, perturbation response scanning, and dynamic cross-correlation to provide unique ways for analyzing MD trajectories.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2017
Mechanism of nucleophilic substitution reactions of 4-(4ˊ-nitro) phenylnitrobenzofurazan ether with aniline in acetonitrile
- Gbayo, Kofoworola, Isanbor, C, Lobb, Kevin A, Oloba-Whenu, O
- Authors: Gbayo, Kofoworola , Isanbor, C , Lobb, Kevin A , Oloba-Whenu, O
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/448002 , vital:74690 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1515/psr-2016-0120"
- Description: Rate constants and activation parameters obtained for the nucleophilic aromatic substitution reactions (SNAr) of 4-substitutedphenoxy-7-nitrobenzoxadiazole (1) with aniline in acetonitrile at varying temperature using Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) techniques were reported. These results were compared with the theoretical study which identifies transformations and intermediates using Density Functional Theory (DFT).
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2017
- Authors: Gbayo, Kofoworola , Isanbor, C , Lobb, Kevin A , Oloba-Whenu, O
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/448002 , vital:74690 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1515/psr-2016-0120"
- Description: Rate constants and activation parameters obtained for the nucleophilic aromatic substitution reactions (SNAr) of 4-substitutedphenoxy-7-nitrobenzoxadiazole (1) with aniline in acetonitrile at varying temperature using Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) techniques were reported. These results were compared with the theoretical study which identifies transformations and intermediates using Density Functional Theory (DFT).
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2017
Media and citizenship: between marginalisation and participation
- Garman, Anthea, Wasserman, Herman
- Authors: Garman, Anthea , Wasserman, Herman
- Date: 2017
- Language: English
- Type: text , book
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/158383 , vital:40179 , ISBN 9780796925565
- Description: How central are the media to the functioning of democracy? Is democracy primarily about citizens using their vote? Does the expression of their voice necessarily empower citizens? Media and Citizenship challenges some assumptions about the relationship between the media and democracy in highly unequal societies like South Africa. In a post-apartheid society where an enfranchised majority is still unable to fundamentally practice their citizenship and experiences marginalization on a daily basis, notions like listening and belonging may be more useful ways of thinking about the role of the media. In this context, protest is taken seriously as a form of political expression and the media's role is foregrounded as actively seeking out the voices of those on the margins of society. Through a range of case studies, the contributors show how listening, both as a political concept and as a form of practice, has transformative and even radical potential for both emerging and established democracies.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2017
- Authors: Garman, Anthea , Wasserman, Herman
- Date: 2017
- Language: English
- Type: text , book
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/158383 , vital:40179 , ISBN 9780796925565
- Description: How central are the media to the functioning of democracy? Is democracy primarily about citizens using their vote? Does the expression of their voice necessarily empower citizens? Media and Citizenship challenges some assumptions about the relationship between the media and democracy in highly unequal societies like South Africa. In a post-apartheid society where an enfranchised majority is still unable to fundamentally practice their citizenship and experiences marginalization on a daily basis, notions like listening and belonging may be more useful ways of thinking about the role of the media. In this context, protest is taken seriously as a form of political expression and the media's role is foregrounded as actively seeking out the voices of those on the margins of society. Through a range of case studies, the contributors show how listening, both as a political concept and as a form of practice, has transformative and even radical potential for both emerging and established democracies.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2017
Microbial water quality monitoring of raw and treated water sources in Harare and the effect of gender in disaster management due to water related disasters
- Authors: Chirenda, Tatenda Grace
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: Drinking water Microbiology Zimbabwe Harare , Heterotrophic bacteria Zimbabwe Harare , Emergency management Zimbabwe Harare , Disasters Social aspects Zimbabwe Harare , Water quality management Zimbabwe Harare , Public health Zimbabwe Harare , Sex role Zimbabwe Harare
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MPharm
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/59156 , vital:27444
- Description: Background - Microbial water quality monitoring is essential to the provision of potable water for domestic use. Unsafe water sources increase the risk of waterborne diseases. There is a need to raise awareness of legislature that supports management of water related disasters. Gender, education, health, and economic vulnerability contribute to the success of disaster management. Aim - This study aimed to investigate the microbial water quality of treated water in the Harare area. The study also researched the microbial water quality monitoring practices in Zimbabwe and how these contribute to the management of water borne diseases. The impact of gender, marriage, education, and disease in disaster management practices in Zimbabwe and South Africa was analysed. Method - Literature review was conducted on microbial water quality monitoring practices in Zimbabwe and legislature that supports disaster management. Practices of disaster management in Zimbabwe, and South Africa were investigated and compared. The perspective of the Harare community on the quality of their potable water was investigated through the use of a questionnaire and water quality testing was conducted using hydrogen sulphide test and R2A based heterotrophic plate count. Raw water supplying Manyame River and tap water in Harare households were assessed for microbial quality. Results and Discussion - Raw water sources were found to be contaminated by faecal matter. Household water sources had no faecal contamination, but tested positive for heterotrophic bacteria. The CFU/ml quantities obtained ranged from 1- 452 CFU/ml for all samples. The WHO guidelines for domestic water sources recommend that domestic water should have no coliforms/100 ml sample. Disaster management protocols were available in disaster prone areas such as the Matabeleland South Province. No guidelines were in place for monitoring microbial water quality as a disaster prevention method. Conclusion - The current state of treated water supplied by the Morton Jaffray Treatment Plant was found to be suitable for domestic use, but not sufficient to meet the Harare population’s needs. The need to push for legislature supporting microbial water quality monitoring was recognised. Initiating public / private partnerships in water distribution and water quality monitoring in Zimbabwe was encouraged.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2017
- Authors: Chirenda, Tatenda Grace
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: Drinking water Microbiology Zimbabwe Harare , Heterotrophic bacteria Zimbabwe Harare , Emergency management Zimbabwe Harare , Disasters Social aspects Zimbabwe Harare , Water quality management Zimbabwe Harare , Public health Zimbabwe Harare , Sex role Zimbabwe Harare
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MPharm
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/59156 , vital:27444
- Description: Background - Microbial water quality monitoring is essential to the provision of potable water for domestic use. Unsafe water sources increase the risk of waterborne diseases. There is a need to raise awareness of legislature that supports management of water related disasters. Gender, education, health, and economic vulnerability contribute to the success of disaster management. Aim - This study aimed to investigate the microbial water quality of treated water in the Harare area. The study also researched the microbial water quality monitoring practices in Zimbabwe and how these contribute to the management of water borne diseases. The impact of gender, marriage, education, and disease in disaster management practices in Zimbabwe and South Africa was analysed. Method - Literature review was conducted on microbial water quality monitoring practices in Zimbabwe and legislature that supports disaster management. Practices of disaster management in Zimbabwe, and South Africa were investigated and compared. The perspective of the Harare community on the quality of their potable water was investigated through the use of a questionnaire and water quality testing was conducted using hydrogen sulphide test and R2A based heterotrophic plate count. Raw water supplying Manyame River and tap water in Harare households were assessed for microbial quality. Results and Discussion - Raw water sources were found to be contaminated by faecal matter. Household water sources had no faecal contamination, but tested positive for heterotrophic bacteria. The CFU/ml quantities obtained ranged from 1- 452 CFU/ml for all samples. The WHO guidelines for domestic water sources recommend that domestic water should have no coliforms/100 ml sample. Disaster management protocols were available in disaster prone areas such as the Matabeleland South Province. No guidelines were in place for monitoring microbial water quality as a disaster prevention method. Conclusion - The current state of treated water supplied by the Morton Jaffray Treatment Plant was found to be suitable for domestic use, but not sufficient to meet the Harare population’s needs. The need to push for legislature supporting microbial water quality monitoring was recognised. Initiating public / private partnerships in water distribution and water quality monitoring in Zimbabwe was encouraged.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2017
Middle management communication in the midst of a crisis
- Authors: Mbolekwano, Veliswa A
- Date: 2017
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MBA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/52477 , vital:26194
- Description: Crisis communication by organisational top leadership to external stakeholders has been explored in literature, while internal crisis communication dynamics by middle managers with their employees within the organisation has been under studied. This paper pursues an understanding of crisis communication dynamics between middle management and their subordinates by investigating how the Middle Managers/Team Leaders of Makana Brick Manufacturing Firm (MBMF) communicated with their employees in the midst of the Eskom load shedding crisis in 2014. The investigation is not limited only to how they handled or made sense of the crisis, but also examines the effect and efficiency of their daily communication on both employees (subordinates) and operations in pursuing this end. As a foundation and background, the study broadly explores the literature on Crisis Leadership, Crisis and Crisis Communication, which are critical topics to understanding the communication role of the middle managers who were the primary subject of this research. The research was conducted through semi-structured, face-to-face interviews. Nine Team Leaders were interviewed. The data collected was transcribed verbatim and analysed through open coding. In the literature of crisis management, the concept of crisis communication has been extensively examined as a function of crisis management, primarily with regards to the crisis communication strategy, encompassing the actual verbal and nonverbal responses an organisation uses to address a crisis. The findings are generally congruent with the crisis communication literature, and reinforce the importance of efficient internal communication in building a culture of transparency between management and employees, as espoused in the literature reviewed, which in addition presents an invaluable opportunity for employees across all levels to engage in and be informed of the organisation’s priorities and therefore has the potential to dictate the success or failure of any major change or crisis situation. As such, it can be argued that there is a need for the same analytical rigour that is given to external crisis communication to be given to financial or operational measures (Barrett, 2002). For both external and internal stakeholders, human compassion, concern and empathy; faith in legitimate and appropriate actions taken by the chosen organisation spokesperson; and honesty, candidness and openness in communication (Seeger 2006, p. 242) are universal. The quality and the quantity of communication, essentially, affect the level of trust and involvement of employees (Thomas, Zolin & Hartman, 2009), which is particularly relevant in times of crisis (Mazzei & Ravazzani, 2015 p. 322). Trust must be developed with staff through clear, honest communication and transparent actions. These encompass being fair, open in communication and intentions, showing consistency, fulfilling promises and being honest about what middle managers can and cannot communicate to their employees (Farrel & Schlesinger, 2013, p. 125). In this study, face to face communication proved to be the most preferred communication channel because of its rewarding advantages such as direct feedback, two-way communication, relationship building and project collaboration.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2017
- Authors: Mbolekwano, Veliswa A
- Date: 2017
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MBA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/52477 , vital:26194
- Description: Crisis communication by organisational top leadership to external stakeholders has been explored in literature, while internal crisis communication dynamics by middle managers with their employees within the organisation has been under studied. This paper pursues an understanding of crisis communication dynamics between middle management and their subordinates by investigating how the Middle Managers/Team Leaders of Makana Brick Manufacturing Firm (MBMF) communicated with their employees in the midst of the Eskom load shedding crisis in 2014. The investigation is not limited only to how they handled or made sense of the crisis, but also examines the effect and efficiency of their daily communication on both employees (subordinates) and operations in pursuing this end. As a foundation and background, the study broadly explores the literature on Crisis Leadership, Crisis and Crisis Communication, which are critical topics to understanding the communication role of the middle managers who were the primary subject of this research. The research was conducted through semi-structured, face-to-face interviews. Nine Team Leaders were interviewed. The data collected was transcribed verbatim and analysed through open coding. In the literature of crisis management, the concept of crisis communication has been extensively examined as a function of crisis management, primarily with regards to the crisis communication strategy, encompassing the actual verbal and nonverbal responses an organisation uses to address a crisis. The findings are generally congruent with the crisis communication literature, and reinforce the importance of efficient internal communication in building a culture of transparency between management and employees, as espoused in the literature reviewed, which in addition presents an invaluable opportunity for employees across all levels to engage in and be informed of the organisation’s priorities and therefore has the potential to dictate the success or failure of any major change or crisis situation. As such, it can be argued that there is a need for the same analytical rigour that is given to external crisis communication to be given to financial or operational measures (Barrett, 2002). For both external and internal stakeholders, human compassion, concern and empathy; faith in legitimate and appropriate actions taken by the chosen organisation spokesperson; and honesty, candidness and openness in communication (Seeger 2006, p. 242) are universal. The quality and the quantity of communication, essentially, affect the level of trust and involvement of employees (Thomas, Zolin & Hartman, 2009), which is particularly relevant in times of crisis (Mazzei & Ravazzani, 2015 p. 322). Trust must be developed with staff through clear, honest communication and transparent actions. These encompass being fair, open in communication and intentions, showing consistency, fulfilling promises and being honest about what middle managers can and cannot communicate to their employees (Farrel & Schlesinger, 2013, p. 125). In this study, face to face communication proved to be the most preferred communication channel because of its rewarding advantages such as direct feedback, two-way communication, relationship building and project collaboration.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2017
Mineralogical and geochemical constraints on the origin, alteration history and metallogenic significance of the Manganore iron-formation, Northern Cape Province, South Africa
- Authors: Papadopoulos, Vlassis
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: Banded iron formation , Transvaal Supergroup (South Africa) , Groups (Stratigraphy) South Africa , Lithostratigraphy , Petrology South Africa , Geochemistry South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/65189 , vital:28702
- Description: The Manganore iron-formation (MIF) of the Transvaal Supergroup is host to the most important high-grade iron ore bodies in South Africa. Prevailing models for ore genesis invoke supergene processes performing during a long period of erosion, oxidation and weathering under tropical lateritic conditions while the role of potential hydrothermal processes is not addressed. Lack of detailed petrographical and geochemical data necessitated reexamination of the MIF through new and existing drill core exploration material. Thorough petrographical investigation revealed a multi-event complex alteration history involving hydrothermal activity. Iron and silica mobility during alteration is demonstrated by a series of replacement, overprinting, crosscutting textures, extensive silicification and hematitization. Metasomatized textures such as pseudomorphs of primary magnetite, carbonate minerals and chert pods/lenses point to an alteration occurring in layer- controlled fronts and link stratigraphically the MIF to Kuruman and Griquatown iron- formations. Whole-rock geochemical data verify textural observations suggesting strong enrichment of iron or silica in meter-scale horizons, expressed by different generations of quartz and hematite. High-grade iron ore is highly enriched in TiO2 and Al2O3 compared to the protolith while both BIF and iron ore display highly increased concentrations of trace elements (transition metals and HFSE). Oxygen isotopes from different quartz textures reveal little to none isotopic exchangement during alteration whereas O isotopes from hematite are in concert to values from literature and suggest two different generations of hematite. A total of 20 minerals apart from quartz and hematite were documented. An earlier alkali/HFSE alteration event that is believed to have affected the overlying Gamagara shales is recorded in the BIF by the presence of muscovite, apatite, rutile, zircon and xenotime. A later and possibly ongoing event of succeeding hydrothermal pulses involves mainly sulphates (gypsum, baryte, celestine), pyrite, carbonates (siderite, calcite) and silicates (berthierine and tourmaline). Alkali-bearing brines persistently exploit the BIF mainly through karstification-related secondary porosity, are evidently carrying iron and are proposed to participate in or control the iron enrichment by facilitating removal of silica. The source of metals, sulfur and carbon is attributed to the underlying Campbellrand dolomites and especially to the upper Gamogaan Formation. The unconformable contact between BIF and the overlying shales is suggested as a suitable fluid conduit for the development of the observed BIF and shale-derived high-grade hematite iron ore.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2017
- Authors: Papadopoulos, Vlassis
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: Banded iron formation , Transvaal Supergroup (South Africa) , Groups (Stratigraphy) South Africa , Lithostratigraphy , Petrology South Africa , Geochemistry South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/65189 , vital:28702
- Description: The Manganore iron-formation (MIF) of the Transvaal Supergroup is host to the most important high-grade iron ore bodies in South Africa. Prevailing models for ore genesis invoke supergene processes performing during a long period of erosion, oxidation and weathering under tropical lateritic conditions while the role of potential hydrothermal processes is not addressed. Lack of detailed petrographical and geochemical data necessitated reexamination of the MIF through new and existing drill core exploration material. Thorough petrographical investigation revealed a multi-event complex alteration history involving hydrothermal activity. Iron and silica mobility during alteration is demonstrated by a series of replacement, overprinting, crosscutting textures, extensive silicification and hematitization. Metasomatized textures such as pseudomorphs of primary magnetite, carbonate minerals and chert pods/lenses point to an alteration occurring in layer- controlled fronts and link stratigraphically the MIF to Kuruman and Griquatown iron- formations. Whole-rock geochemical data verify textural observations suggesting strong enrichment of iron or silica in meter-scale horizons, expressed by different generations of quartz and hematite. High-grade iron ore is highly enriched in TiO2 and Al2O3 compared to the protolith while both BIF and iron ore display highly increased concentrations of trace elements (transition metals and HFSE). Oxygen isotopes from different quartz textures reveal little to none isotopic exchangement during alteration whereas O isotopes from hematite are in concert to values from literature and suggest two different generations of hematite. A total of 20 minerals apart from quartz and hematite were documented. An earlier alkali/HFSE alteration event that is believed to have affected the overlying Gamagara shales is recorded in the BIF by the presence of muscovite, apatite, rutile, zircon and xenotime. A later and possibly ongoing event of succeeding hydrothermal pulses involves mainly sulphates (gypsum, baryte, celestine), pyrite, carbonates (siderite, calcite) and silicates (berthierine and tourmaline). Alkali-bearing brines persistently exploit the BIF mainly through karstification-related secondary porosity, are evidently carrying iron and are proposed to participate in or control the iron enrichment by facilitating removal of silica. The source of metals, sulfur and carbon is attributed to the underlying Campbellrand dolomites and especially to the upper Gamogaan Formation. The unconformable contact between BIF and the overlying shales is suggested as a suitable fluid conduit for the development of the observed BIF and shale-derived high-grade hematite iron ore.
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- Date Issued: 2017