Exploring organisational learning in water resource protection: activity system analysis of social learning among resource directed measures role-players in South Africa
- Authors: Thwala, Mmaphefo Doreen
- Date: 2025-04-03
- Subjects: Social learning , Organizational learning , Soft systems methodology , Water-supply Management , Cultural-historical activity theory
- Language: English
- Type: Academic theses , Doctoral theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/480117 , vital:78398 , DOI 10.21504/10962/480117
- Description: Globally, there are policy and practice efforts to mainstream inclusive education in different sub-fields of education. Part of the efforts have focused on investigating and finding practical mechanisms for the mainstreaming process in teacher education. Anecdotally, Education for Sustainable Development (ESD), with its focus on transformative education, collaborative learning, the community of practice and the whole institution approach, has the potential to mainstream inclusive education in teacher education practices if grounded in sociocultural realities rather than mere ideological framing. This situation is related to the need for more transformative capabilities for teacher educators to prepare teachers for inclusive pedagogical proficiency. However, in a southern African context, the outlook of the potential of pedagogical proficiency from the nexus of inclusive education, ESD and teacher education is disjointed. As such, this study focused on investigating the mainstreaming of inclusive education in teacher education practice for pedagogical proficiency through ESD Change Projects in Southern Africa, examining cases from Malawi, Tanzania and Eswatini. The study intended to gain an understanding of inclusive education and ESD in these countries, identify areas for strengthening inclusive education in teacher education practice, collaborate with teacher educators to develop strategies for mainstreaming inclusive education, and generate indicators for monitoring and evaluating inclusive education in teacher education contexts. The study used Urie Bronfenbrenner’s bioecological theory of human development and Lev Vygotsky’s sociocultural theory of learning as theoretical and analytical frameworks. The study also employed Roy Bhaskar’s critical realism philosophy as an underlabourer or a meta-theoretical framework. The study further adapted the Vygotsky-informed Engestrom’s expansive learning as a methodological torch. Together, these frameworks were used to analyse selected Change Projects within Sustainability Starts with Teachers (SST) programme, which focused on ESD capacity building in teacher educators from 11 southern African countries. In this regard, the research utilised a qualitative nested case study design. A formative interventionist research approach supported the cases in Malawi, Tanzania and Eswatini, with the study selecting SST Change Projects dealing with inclusive education through an initial scoping questionnaire. Data were generated through 12 in-depth interviews, nine workshops (involving 24 participants), document reviews, observations and reflective journals. Thematic ii analysis, employing a critical realist approach with abductive and retroductive reasoning, guided the reflexive presentation and discussion of research findings. The research findings revealed a common understanding of inclusive education as providing equal educational opportunities, ESD as supporting sustainable development, and teacher education as skill development. The research findings also highlighted the influence of teacher educators’ biopsychosocial characteristics on their perceptions of inclusive education, ESD and teacher education. Areas requiring improvement in teacher education systems included resources, attitude change, financing, cooperation, collaboration and leadership. Strategies for mainstreaming inclusive education in teacher education practice for pedagogical proficiency included curriculum implementation, policy shift, contextualisation and interactive systems. Monitoring and evaluation in all three cases focused on teaching practice, assessment, feedback tools, forums and curriculum implementation, but the absence of specific indicators for monitoring and evaluation was evident. These findings suggest multi-layered and complex implications for policy formulation, implementation practices and future research. Therefore, this thesis argues that, in a southern Africa context, the potential of pedagogical proficiency from the nexus of inclusive education, ESD and teacher education involves considering biopsychosocial characteristics to facilitate the capabilities of teacher educators. This situation necessitates utilising inclusivity mechanisms in pre-service teacher training grounded in biosocial and psychocultural realities of the region’s educational challenges. Consequently, this thesis proffers the Sustainable Inclusive Pedagogical Proficiency Process (SIP3) model as a framework to actualise the nexus of inclusive education, ESD and teacher education, and bring into focus its pedagogical proficiency potential which eventually helps with the mainstreaming process in teacher education practice via ESD. The study reported in this thesis contributes to international theory and practice development for inclusivity and ESD in teacher education practice, provides indicators for monitoring inclusive quality education in teacher education practice, and introduces a contextual dynamics model for comparative education research. The thesis is structured in eight chapters, introducing the study context, addressing literature gaps, presenting the theoretical framework, detailing research design, exploring specific cases in Malawi, Tanzania and Eswatini, discussing the research findings and its implications, and concluding with recommendations for change and future research. , Thesis (PhD) -- Faculty of Education, Secondary and Post School Education, 2025
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- Date Issued: 2025-04-03
Mainstreaming equitable decision-making under uncertainty at the Water User Association level using a reallocation model in the Western Cape, South Africa
- Authors: Xoxo, Beauten Sinetemba
- Date: 2025-04-03
- Subjects: Water-supply Management , Water-supply South Africa Western Cape , Right to water South Africa Western Cape , Water Distribution , Water resources development South Africa Western Cape , Uncertainty (Information theory) , Hydrology Statistical methods
- Language: English
- Type: Academic theses , Doctoral theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/479963 , vital:78384 , DOI 10.21504/10962/479963
- Description: This thesis demonstrates how uncertainty can be explicitly incorporated into equitable decision-making in ungauged basins to support fair water reallocation strategies among conflicting uses and reduce vulnerability to water shortages. First, a methodological framework is developed to collect the required socio-economic data. Second, a role-playing game (RPG) is developed in collaboration with stakeholders to increase awareness and assess the implications of different allocation strategies and stakeholder actions. Thirdly, a reallocation decision-support system (Water-Sharing Tool) with dam storage and uncertainty is tested to inform strategic water planning under dry conditions. The study was carried out in collaboration with stakeholders in the upper reaches of the Koue Bokkeveld, Western Cape, South Africa. The study area is a winter rainfall area with commercial farming activities targeting the domestic and cross-border markets. Irrigation from numerous farm dams and run-of-river extraction compete with in-stream environmental protection targets for streamflow. The study area can be described as resource-poor in terms of institutional capacity, with water management decisions taken individually at a farm level. The key water users are the environment, farmers, lifestyle farmers (residents), and weekenders. The farmer group has three sub-groups: corporate-owned farms, family-owned commercial farms, and downstream less well-resourced farmers. Results from the user risk profiles show that the least influential actors reside downstream and are more vulnerable to water shortages, which could be attributed to upstream developments and their productivity-driven nature. The thesis pulls together the socio-economic data, the information contributed by the stakeholders during the RPG, uncertain natural runoff estimates, and water demands. It evaluates these using the Water Sharing Model to map water users’ vulnerability under four different management strategies and assesses equitable reallocation outcomes of the proposed strategies to different users. The magnitude and frequency of decision risks and the underlying uncertainty in the water supply are quantified. As expected, results suggest peak risks during months with the lowest streamflow, with negative implications for fruit production in the catchment. Results also showed the negative supply effects of upstream infrastructure development on downstream users and ecosystems. Game results with the farmers suggested different crop choices in dry periods between upstream and downstream farmers. Downstream farmers were surprisingly more willing to forego their dry season entitlements under water-sharing strategies that resulted in serious production losses upstream, prioritising social stability over their own profits. Farmers reflected on the game as an educational tool to enhance system understanding. The study confirms that decision-makers' understanding of the implications of water allocation decisions and the surrounding uncertainty is critical to meeting justice/fairness objectives. , Thesis (PhD) -- Faculty of Science, Institute for Water Research, 2025
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- Date Issued: 2025-04-03
Analysing the equity dimensions and governance drivers of water security challenges in Hammanskraal, City of Tshwane, South Africa
- Authors: Mahlatsi, Malaika Lesego Samora
- Date: 2024-10-11
- Subjects: Water security South Africa Hammanskraal , Water governance , Water-supply Law and legislation South Africa City of Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality , Water quality South Africa Hammanskraal , Water-supply Management , South Africa Social conditions
- Language: English
- Type: Academic theses , Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/465011 , vital:76565
- Description: South Africa is faced with a national water security challenge that is increasingly worsening due to a myriad of structural and governance factors. Over the past few years, several municipalities across the country have experience temporary loss of water access, while some have come dangerously close to Day Zero – a day when water levels of the major dams supplying water to residents would become critically low, resulting in households having no running water. But for the people of the township of Hammanskraal in the City of Tshwane metropolitan municipality, water insecurity has reached crisis point. Since 2005, the township has been battling with a chronic lack of access to safe drinking water. The water quality in Hammanskraal has been so dire that in 2019, the South African Human Rights Commission declared it unfit for human consumption and deemed it a violation of human rights. Despite this, the crisis has persisted. In 2023, Hammanskraal became the epicentre of a cholera outbreak that claimed a number of lives in several provinces across the country. Using a qualitative approach, this study analyses the equity dimensions and governance drivers of water security challenges in Hammanskraal. Through interviews with residents in Hammanskraal and government officials in the City of Tshwane metropolitan municipality and the Gauteng Provincial Government, the study explores the lived experiences of those affected by the water insecurity, as well as the governance drivers that inform the crisis. The study, using water justice theory and conflict theory/Marxism, contends that the water security challenges in Hammanskraal are driven by physical, economic and political factors. These factors have their roots in the geo-history of the township as well as contemporary responses to spatial development and water resource management by the post-apartheid government. The study finds that there are equity dimensions to the water security challenges in Hammanskraal. Contextually, the legacy of apartheid’s policy of separate and uneven development, coupled with contemporary failings of the implementation of the National Water Act, impact water access. In terms of water governance, while factors such as climate change and urbanisation are contributing determinants, the water security challenges in Hammanskraal are fundamentally the result of institutional failings that include lack of planning and investment as well as lack of infrastructure maintenance. The implications for South Africa in general is that failure to resolve water inequities and to strengthen water governance will result in the reproduction and persistence of structural inequalities. Key recommendations of the study include the expansion of the Temba Water Purification Plant, strengthening and coordination of institutions for water security, the setting of water allocation ceilings in Gauteng municipalities and investment in alternative water sources and tools for water conservation. The study also recommends further study into the extent to which water security challenges impact social unrest in South Africa. , Thesis (MSc) -- Faculty of Science, Institute for Water Research, 2024
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- Date Issued: 2024-10-11
Application of the modified pitman and swat models for groundwater recharge estimation in the upstream area of the Uitenhage artesian basin, South Africa
- Authors: Wasswa, Peter
- Date: 2024-04-04
- Subjects: Hydrologic models , Groundwater recharge , Runoff Mathematical models , Rain and rainfall Mathematical models , Water-supply Management , Artesian basins South Africa Eastern Cape
- Language: English
- Type: Academic theses , Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/435400 , vital:73154
- Description: The world's most plentiful source of freshwater is thought to be groundwater. During extended dry times, it serves as an essential storage component and guards against environmental catastrophes. Despite its critical functions in the aforementioned scenarios, it is often insufficiently understood and inadequately managed. As a result, it calls for the adoption of integrated methods to comprehend the dynamics of groundwater recharge. Thus, the current study evaluated the applicability and suitability of the Modified Pitman and SWAT models for groundwater recharge estimation in the upstream area of UAB for the period that spanned from 1993 to 2021. It was achieved by using a qualitative conceptual-perceptual model to inform the two hydrological models, Modified Pitman, and SWAT. The developed qualitative conceptual-perceptual model depicted the dominancy of irregularly folded and fractured TMG rock outcrops coupled with fault systems in the upstream area. In the downward section, TMG is overlaid by the aquiclude from the Uitenhage Group which is responsible for the artesian conditions. Groundwater potential zones were classified as Poor, Fair, Good, and Excellent, with 65.4% and 8.7% of the upstream area attributed to Good and Excellent zones respectively. Both Modified Pitman and SWAT predicted decreasing rates of groundwater recharge in the upstream area over time, though Mann-Kendal trend tests done at 5% signifance level depicted significant decreasing rates in SWAT predicted recharge compared to Modified Pitman predicted recharge. The two models did also predict recharge and other water balance components with differing peaks, lows and timings. Modified Pitman predicted mean annual recharge of 63.3-92.8 mm where as SWAT predicted mean annual recharge of 14.4-182.8 mm. In reference to earlier findings within TMG areas, estimated percentages of groundwater recharge were close to those simulated by both Pitman and SWAT models. Modified Pitman and SWAT models appear to both be reasonable tools to estimate recharge in TMG setting, producing relatively similar results to one another and to other regional estimates. Since the current study estimated low recharge rates (Modified Pitman; ~9.3-13.6% MAP), (SWAT; ~2.1-26.7% MAP) which are close to those predicted in other TMG areas, the study recommends exercising caution when developing a water supply strategy in the current study area. The recharge rates within the pertinent recharging areas should be considered when designing and sitting abstraction points such as boreholes and a sustainable abstraction rate in any one borehole for improved sustainable management of groundwater resources. , Thesis (MSc) -- Faculty of Science, Institute for Water Research, 2024
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- Date Issued: 2024-04-04
A proposed management framework for water stewardship for small business in South Africa
- Authors: Huxtable, Collette
- Date: 2022-12-12
- Subjects: Water-supply Management , Small business South Africa , Water-supply Economic aspects , Triple bottom line , Sustainable development reporting , Competitive advantage
- Language: English
- Type: Academic theses , Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/419090 , vital:71615
- Description: Climate change, severe weather events, population growth and, urbanisation are just a few of the leading causes contributing to the global water crisis. This global water crisis is negatively impacting the environment, and society, which includes business (large and small). Businesses are facing many water risks and challenges in their daily operations, such as water scarcity, water stress and water pollution, which are resulting in them being negatively impacted financially. For all business to overcome these risks and challenges which are negatively impacting their operations and to assist in protecting the scarce water resources left on the planet, the implementation of water stewardship practices will play a very important role. The literature has fallen short in addressing water stewardship frameworks and practices for small business. Through a sustainability lens underpinned by Natural Resource Based View Theory, this research study sets out to develop a water stewardship framework for implementation by small business to provide them with a competitive advantage. By reviewing the current literature and frameworks available to large business organisations, the insights gained allowed for a draft water stewardship framework to be developed from this literature, suitable for small business. This draft water stewardship framework for small business was used to gather further information on its suitability for small business, through an interview process. A qualitative interview process with seven small businesses in Makhanda (South Africa), allowed for data to be gathered and used to refine and adjust the draft water stewardship framework for small business. The findings from this research study show that small business do not have a global awareness of water problems and are not aware of the concept of water stewardship. Small business were very receptive to the draft water stewardship framework for small business and felt that its implementation would make a difference in saving scarce water resources and create a competitive advantage for them. The study concludes by recommending a water stewardship framework for small business (WSF4SB), who will play a leading role in fighting the water crisis. The implementation of the WSF4SB aims to provide small business with a sustainable competitive advantage by looking after scarce water resources ensuring there is sufficient water for current and future generations. , Thesis (MBA) -- Faculty of Commerce, Rhodes Business School, 2023
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- Date Issued: 2022-12-12