Workplace discipline in the public education sector
- Authors: Loliwe, Fezeka Sister
- Date: 2014
- Subjects: Labor laws and legislation -- South Africa , Labor discipline -- South Africa , Dispute resolution (Law) -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , LLM
- Identifier: vital:10290 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/d1020091
- Description: Discipline is crucial in the provision of quality public service work. This is because most citizens are serviced through the public service work. Adhering to rules and orders, exercise of self control and the ability to put needs of others over one’s own needs are fundamental aspects of discipline. Every workplace has its own pieces of legislation that are used as a guide on expected conduct as well as a tool to deal with failure to adhere to the outlined pieces of legislation governing the conduct in the workplace. There are institutions in place that deal with the crafting of the pieces of legislation which clearly outline the manner in which both the employer and employee should conduct themselves as well as rights of both parties as they interact in the employment relationship. The existing pieces of legislation as well as their implementation and relevance in this era needs to be closely scrutinised and critique with proposals within the prescripts of legislation is necessary as some pieces of legislation seem to be conclusive, thereby undermining procedures followed when dealing with cases of misconduct. In any disciplinary process, the sanction should be in line with the process as it has unfolded and not be influenced by how a piece of legislation is crafted. The Public Service Act, Employment of Educators’ Act and the Labour Relations Act 66 of 1995 are key statutes in dealing with discipline in public education. Sanctions for misconduct are dependent on the gravity of the misconduct. In order to discipline educators, sections 17 and 18 of the Employment of Educators Act are used as guides on processes and procedures to be followed.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2014
- Authors: Loliwe, Fezeka Sister
- Date: 2014
- Subjects: Labor laws and legislation -- South Africa , Labor discipline -- South Africa , Dispute resolution (Law) -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , LLM
- Identifier: vital:10290 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/d1020091
- Description: Discipline is crucial in the provision of quality public service work. This is because most citizens are serviced through the public service work. Adhering to rules and orders, exercise of self control and the ability to put needs of others over one’s own needs are fundamental aspects of discipline. Every workplace has its own pieces of legislation that are used as a guide on expected conduct as well as a tool to deal with failure to adhere to the outlined pieces of legislation governing the conduct in the workplace. There are institutions in place that deal with the crafting of the pieces of legislation which clearly outline the manner in which both the employer and employee should conduct themselves as well as rights of both parties as they interact in the employment relationship. The existing pieces of legislation as well as their implementation and relevance in this era needs to be closely scrutinised and critique with proposals within the prescripts of legislation is necessary as some pieces of legislation seem to be conclusive, thereby undermining procedures followed when dealing with cases of misconduct. In any disciplinary process, the sanction should be in line with the process as it has unfolded and not be influenced by how a piece of legislation is crafted. The Public Service Act, Employment of Educators’ Act and the Labour Relations Act 66 of 1995 are key statutes in dealing with discipline in public education. Sanctions for misconduct are dependent on the gravity of the misconduct. In order to discipline educators, sections 17 and 18 of the Employment of Educators Act are used as guides on processes and procedures to be followed.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2014
Writing the violated body : representations of violence against women in Margie Orford’s crime thriller novels
- Authors: Naidu, Samantha
- Date: 2014
- Language: English
- Type: Article , text
- Identifier: vital:26361 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/53932 , http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/18125441.2014.904396 , https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9456-8657
- Description: Using the late twentieth-century French feminist notions of écriture féminine and the abject as a starting point, this article considers the various pitfalls, effects and ethical ramifications of representations of violence against the female body in South African crime fiction. How do authors reconcile the entertainment value of such representations with their aims to perform social analysis? This article attempts to answer this question by first describing how violence targeted at the female body is graphically portrayed, and, second, by assessing the effects of these visceral descriptions. Margie Orford’s novels, in particular, the first in the Clare Hart series, Like clockwork (2006), which foregrounds human trafficking, prostitution and gender-based violence, will be examined. In Orford’s Clare Hart series, the female detective figure, the various plots to do with assault, abduction, rape and murder, and the explicit imagery that descriptively conveys such crimes, are narrative techniques employed by Orford to address this scourge, and the patriarchy and sexism of contemporary South African society in general. The article ends by assessing whether a bona fide feminist subgenre of South African crime fiction is being inscribed by Orford
- Full Text: false
- Date Issued: 2014
- Authors: Naidu, Samantha
- Date: 2014
- Language: English
- Type: Article , text
- Identifier: vital:26361 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/53932 , http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/18125441.2014.904396 , https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9456-8657
- Description: Using the late twentieth-century French feminist notions of écriture féminine and the abject as a starting point, this article considers the various pitfalls, effects and ethical ramifications of representations of violence against the female body in South African crime fiction. How do authors reconcile the entertainment value of such representations with their aims to perform social analysis? This article attempts to answer this question by first describing how violence targeted at the female body is graphically portrayed, and, second, by assessing the effects of these visceral descriptions. Margie Orford’s novels, in particular, the first in the Clare Hart series, Like clockwork (2006), which foregrounds human trafficking, prostitution and gender-based violence, will be examined. In Orford’s Clare Hart series, the female detective figure, the various plots to do with assault, abduction, rape and murder, and the explicit imagery that descriptively conveys such crimes, are narrative techniques employed by Orford to address this scourge, and the patriarchy and sexism of contemporary South African society in general. The article ends by assessing whether a bona fide feminist subgenre of South African crime fiction is being inscribed by Orford
- Full Text: false
- Date Issued: 2014
Xenophobia, sovereign power and the limits of citizenship:
- Idahosa, Grace E, Vincent, Louise
- Authors: Idahosa, Grace E , Vincent, Louise
- Date: 2014
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/141970 , vital:38020 , DOI: 10.1080/09744053.2014.914637
- Description: African foreigners in South Africa have frequently been the targets of violent and discriminatory practices, which occur in the enabling context of negative discourses concerning African foreigners that circulate in various spheres of public life. This study is interested in one particular field of interaction between African foreigners and the South African state, namely the public health sector. Discriminatory and, sometimes, violent practices towards African foreigners on the part of South African citizens are widely documented. Less discussed are the ways in which these practices of violence and discrimination are in fact state practices. We show this with reference to the treatment of African foreigners in the public health sector. We refer to this prejudicial treatment as health-care Xenophobia which is made possible by a wider set of discourses related to citizenship and the rights accruing to citizens which suggest the ‘non-rights’ of the non-citizen.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2014
- Authors: Idahosa, Grace E , Vincent, Louise
- Date: 2014
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/141970 , vital:38020 , DOI: 10.1080/09744053.2014.914637
- Description: African foreigners in South Africa have frequently been the targets of violent and discriminatory practices, which occur in the enabling context of negative discourses concerning African foreigners that circulate in various spheres of public life. This study is interested in one particular field of interaction between African foreigners and the South African state, namely the public health sector. Discriminatory and, sometimes, violent practices towards African foreigners on the part of South African citizens are widely documented. Less discussed are the ways in which these practices of violence and discrimination are in fact state practices. We show this with reference to the treatment of African foreigners in the public health sector. We refer to this prejudicial treatment as health-care Xenophobia which is made possible by a wider set of discourses related to citizenship and the rights accruing to citizens which suggest the ‘non-rights’ of the non-citizen.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2014
Zimbabwe takes back its land:
- Authors: Helliker, Kirk D
- Date: 2014
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/144677 , vital:38369 , DOI: 10.1080/02589001.2014.984946
- Description: Zimbabwe Takes Back its Land offers a useful introduction to fast-track land reform in contemporary Zimbabwe for a broad popular audience unfamiliar with the existing literature on fast-track land reform. But its value as a contribution to a more specialised and nuanced body of knowledge about fast-track is considerably more problematic.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2014
- Authors: Helliker, Kirk D
- Date: 2014
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/144677 , vital:38369 , DOI: 10.1080/02589001.2014.984946
- Description: Zimbabwe Takes Back its Land offers a useful introduction to fast-track land reform in contemporary Zimbabwe for a broad popular audience unfamiliar with the existing literature on fast-track land reform. But its value as a contribution to a more specialised and nuanced body of knowledge about fast-track is considerably more problematic.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2014
‘Gender’ and constructions of spousal mourning among the AmaXhosa in the Eastern Cape
- Authors: Ngqangweni, Hlonelwa
- Date: 2014
- Subjects: Widowhood -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Widows -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Xhosa (African people) -- Funeral customs and rites , Xhosa (African people) -- Psychology , Bereavement -- Psychological aspects , Mourning customs -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Death -- Social aspects -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: vital:3249 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1015647
- Description: Among the AmaXhosa the death of a person is marked by a tradition called ukuzila - the equivalent of the mourning process. As a sign of spousal mourning, and to show respect, the remaining spouse has to put on a marker (be visible). However, it is mostly the woman who is under obligation to show her mourner status by wearing ‘clothes of mourning’. The discriminatory nature of the practice, especially pertaining to visibility and some of the detrimental effects on the widows’ health and safety have been documented by some researchers, but the reasons for the continuity of visibility remain largely unexplored. Taking into account the dynamic nature of ‘culture’, this research explored the discourses deployed in men and women’s constructions of ukuzila specifically focusing on spousal mourning and the continuity of widows’ visibility in spite of their resistance to it. The research used postcolonial feminism drawing on postructuralism as its theoretical lens. This theoretical lens provided useful concepts such as hybridity, visibility, surveillance and power with which to examine spousal mourning and conceptualised people’s subject positions as multiple, fluid and contingent. Furthermore, the research employed thematic and discourse analysis at its methodology. Discourse analysis was employed to identify and analyse the discourses utilised in the constructions of spousal mourning. The research was conducted through focus group discussions held with younger and older urban and rural men and women, as well as interviews held with widows and widowers and key cultural informants. Concerning the question of constructions of spousal mourning for men and women, visibility of the mourner emerged as a central and contentious issue. Some participants were of the view that one could show mourning by engaging in culturally appropriate mourning behaviour, whilst others were of the view that showing one’s mourning had to be visible by publicly displaying mourning through a marker. Another group proposed mourning “by heart”, whereby the mourners’ status could either be inferred from their behaviour, whereas others maintained that behaviour was not mandatory. Various justifications for the continued visibility of widows were advanced. These justifications included showing love and respect to the deceased husband; showing respect to the ancestors; and helping to monitor their own behaviour in order to ensure that it is in line with appropriate mourning behaviour. The continued visibility of widows was also used to regulate the widows’ sexuality. Widows were coerced to put on ‘clothes of mourning’ in order to ‘protect’ them from being approached by men for a relationship during the mourning period. The regulation of the movement of widows was also managed through visibility. Widows’ movements were restricted in order to protect the community from pollution or bad luck. For example, they were not allowed to visit places of entertainment or visit other households. Key discourses identified were the familial-‘ukwenda’, respect-‘hlonipha’, and male sexual drive (MSD) discourse. The familial - ‘ukwenda’ discourse is centred on the idea that one is ‘married to the household’, which includes the nuclear family and wider extended family including ancestors. According to the respect-‘hlonipha’ discourse, respect is due to others on the basis of their age, status, and more especially their gender. Showing respect (hlonipha) necessitates the avoidance of all forms of behaviour and utterances that could be deemed disrespectful. The MSD holds a widespread view of sexuality as a biological drive that resides within each male and it was drawn on to make sense of discontinued visibility among widowers, whilst visibility of widows continued. It is argued that it is these discourses, embedded in the ‘culture’ of the AmaXhosa and upheld by the family that sustain the discriminatory nature of the practice, especially concerning the continued visibility of widows in spite of the resistance that has been voiced.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2014
- Authors: Ngqangweni, Hlonelwa
- Date: 2014
- Subjects: Widowhood -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Widows -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Xhosa (African people) -- Funeral customs and rites , Xhosa (African people) -- Psychology , Bereavement -- Psychological aspects , Mourning customs -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Death -- Social aspects -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: vital:3249 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1015647
- Description: Among the AmaXhosa the death of a person is marked by a tradition called ukuzila - the equivalent of the mourning process. As a sign of spousal mourning, and to show respect, the remaining spouse has to put on a marker (be visible). However, it is mostly the woman who is under obligation to show her mourner status by wearing ‘clothes of mourning’. The discriminatory nature of the practice, especially pertaining to visibility and some of the detrimental effects on the widows’ health and safety have been documented by some researchers, but the reasons for the continuity of visibility remain largely unexplored. Taking into account the dynamic nature of ‘culture’, this research explored the discourses deployed in men and women’s constructions of ukuzila specifically focusing on spousal mourning and the continuity of widows’ visibility in spite of their resistance to it. The research used postcolonial feminism drawing on postructuralism as its theoretical lens. This theoretical lens provided useful concepts such as hybridity, visibility, surveillance and power with which to examine spousal mourning and conceptualised people’s subject positions as multiple, fluid and contingent. Furthermore, the research employed thematic and discourse analysis at its methodology. Discourse analysis was employed to identify and analyse the discourses utilised in the constructions of spousal mourning. The research was conducted through focus group discussions held with younger and older urban and rural men and women, as well as interviews held with widows and widowers and key cultural informants. Concerning the question of constructions of spousal mourning for men and women, visibility of the mourner emerged as a central and contentious issue. Some participants were of the view that one could show mourning by engaging in culturally appropriate mourning behaviour, whilst others were of the view that showing one’s mourning had to be visible by publicly displaying mourning through a marker. Another group proposed mourning “by heart”, whereby the mourners’ status could either be inferred from their behaviour, whereas others maintained that behaviour was not mandatory. Various justifications for the continued visibility of widows were advanced. These justifications included showing love and respect to the deceased husband; showing respect to the ancestors; and helping to monitor their own behaviour in order to ensure that it is in line with appropriate mourning behaviour. The continued visibility of widows was also used to regulate the widows’ sexuality. Widows were coerced to put on ‘clothes of mourning’ in order to ‘protect’ them from being approached by men for a relationship during the mourning period. The regulation of the movement of widows was also managed through visibility. Widows’ movements were restricted in order to protect the community from pollution or bad luck. For example, they were not allowed to visit places of entertainment or visit other households. Key discourses identified were the familial-‘ukwenda’, respect-‘hlonipha’, and male sexual drive (MSD) discourse. The familial - ‘ukwenda’ discourse is centred on the idea that one is ‘married to the household’, which includes the nuclear family and wider extended family including ancestors. According to the respect-‘hlonipha’ discourse, respect is due to others on the basis of their age, status, and more especially their gender. Showing respect (hlonipha) necessitates the avoidance of all forms of behaviour and utterances that could be deemed disrespectful. The MSD holds a widespread view of sexuality as a biological drive that resides within each male and it was drawn on to make sense of discontinued visibility among widowers, whilst visibility of widows continued. It is argued that it is these discourses, embedded in the ‘culture’ of the AmaXhosa and upheld by the family that sustain the discriminatory nature of the practice, especially concerning the continued visibility of widows in spite of the resistance that has been voiced.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2014
‘Licking the snake’: the i'khothane and contemporary township youth identities in South Africa
- Howell, Simon, Vincent, Louise
- Authors: Howell, Simon , Vincent, Louise
- Date: 2014
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/141645 , vital:37993 , DOI: 10.1080/21528586.2014.917883
- Description: The i’khothane youth subculture is a relatively new phenomenon that has emerged in some of South Africa’s townships. Characterised by the rampant consumption of certain goods, such as expensive clothing, the subculture is unique in that it is also defined by the destruction of these goods in performances known as ‘battles’. Demonised by the media, we set out to explore what makes these practices meaningful to the participants themselves. On the basis of in-depth interviews conducted with the members of one group, we bring to the academic literature a scarcely analysed phenomenon that is nevertheless an acknowledged element of popular youth culture in contemporary South Africa. We attempt to place the practice of i’khothane within the context of the patterns of conspicuous consumption that have emerged in (a highly unequal) post-apartheid South Africa. While the practice of burning expensive consumer goods in public may seem alien, especially in contrast to the impoverished surroundings within which the i’khothane live, there are discernable and understandable reasons why the subculture has gained both popularity and notoriety. We show how the practice of i’khothane is a potent means of articulating youth identity in settings seemingly left behind by the ‘new’ South Africa.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2014
- Authors: Howell, Simon , Vincent, Louise
- Date: 2014
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/141645 , vital:37993 , DOI: 10.1080/21528586.2014.917883
- Description: The i’khothane youth subculture is a relatively new phenomenon that has emerged in some of South Africa’s townships. Characterised by the rampant consumption of certain goods, such as expensive clothing, the subculture is unique in that it is also defined by the destruction of these goods in performances known as ‘battles’. Demonised by the media, we set out to explore what makes these practices meaningful to the participants themselves. On the basis of in-depth interviews conducted with the members of one group, we bring to the academic literature a scarcely analysed phenomenon that is nevertheless an acknowledged element of popular youth culture in contemporary South Africa. We attempt to place the practice of i’khothane within the context of the patterns of conspicuous consumption that have emerged in (a highly unequal) post-apartheid South Africa. While the practice of burning expensive consumer goods in public may seem alien, especially in contrast to the impoverished surroundings within which the i’khothane live, there are discernable and understandable reasons why the subculture has gained both popularity and notoriety. We show how the practice of i’khothane is a potent means of articulating youth identity in settings seemingly left behind by the ‘new’ South Africa.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2014
‘Student life’ discourse and the perception of risk for HIV infection among undergraduate nursing students, at a university, Eastern Cape Province, South Africa
- Authors: Mnwana, Sindiswa Millicent
- Date: 2014
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc (Nursing Science)
- Identifier: vital:11922 , http://hdl.handle.net/10353/d1019830
- Description: There is evidence that the HIV prevalence rates among South African university students remains low at 3.4 %. However, the vulnerability of young people to HIV/AIDS continues to be a serious concern as the prevalence of sexual risk behaviour among students in South African universities is reported to reach 68% in heterosexual relationships. Some analysts argue that so far little is known about the influence of the university culture (the so called “student life”) in this behaviour. The purpose of this study was to explore the perceptions of the risk for HIV infection amongst undergraduate nursing students at an institution of higher learning (university) in East London, Eastern Cape. More specifically, the study examined the ways in which the ‘student life’ discourse functions to influence students’ perceptions of the risk to HIV infection at the selected institution of higher learning. An explorative and descriptive qualitative design was used. The purposive sampling technique was used to select participants. In total, 12 one to one interviews and four focus group discussions (n=35) were conducted. An interview guide was used and a voice recorder to record interviews. Through in-depth interviews and focus group discussions, the research sought to provide insight into the perceptions of risk for HIV infection. The data were analysed using thematic analysis and the themes identified formed the basis for discussion in this study. Among the key findings, that emerged from this study was that knowledge about potential risks to HIV/AIDS did not seem to influence the general sexual behaviour of students. A majority of the participants, 90% that were interviewed individually perceived themselves to be at “little or no” risk of contracting HIV/AIDS despite the high prevalence of HIV risk indicators among them. One of the main findings was that the students’ values that they bring from home were seriously challenged by the student life when they arrived at the university. Therefore in this regard undergraduate nursing students should be equipped by the university with aspects of sexual behaviour such as sexual negotiation and sexual decision making. This would equip them with the necessary skills to resist peer pressure.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2014
- Authors: Mnwana, Sindiswa Millicent
- Date: 2014
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc (Nursing Science)
- Identifier: vital:11922 , http://hdl.handle.net/10353/d1019830
- Description: There is evidence that the HIV prevalence rates among South African university students remains low at 3.4 %. However, the vulnerability of young people to HIV/AIDS continues to be a serious concern as the prevalence of sexual risk behaviour among students in South African universities is reported to reach 68% in heterosexual relationships. Some analysts argue that so far little is known about the influence of the university culture (the so called “student life”) in this behaviour. The purpose of this study was to explore the perceptions of the risk for HIV infection amongst undergraduate nursing students at an institution of higher learning (university) in East London, Eastern Cape. More specifically, the study examined the ways in which the ‘student life’ discourse functions to influence students’ perceptions of the risk to HIV infection at the selected institution of higher learning. An explorative and descriptive qualitative design was used. The purposive sampling technique was used to select participants. In total, 12 one to one interviews and four focus group discussions (n=35) were conducted. An interview guide was used and a voice recorder to record interviews. Through in-depth interviews and focus group discussions, the research sought to provide insight into the perceptions of risk for HIV infection. The data were analysed using thematic analysis and the themes identified formed the basis for discussion in this study. Among the key findings, that emerged from this study was that knowledge about potential risks to HIV/AIDS did not seem to influence the general sexual behaviour of students. A majority of the participants, 90% that were interviewed individually perceived themselves to be at “little or no” risk of contracting HIV/AIDS despite the high prevalence of HIV risk indicators among them. One of the main findings was that the students’ values that they bring from home were seriously challenged by the student life when they arrived at the university. Therefore in this regard undergraduate nursing students should be equipped by the university with aspects of sexual behaviour such as sexual negotiation and sexual decision making. This would equip them with the necessary skills to resist peer pressure.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2014
‘Ubhuti wami’: a qualitative secondary analysis of brothering among isiXhosa men
- Authors: Mbewe, Mpho
- Date: 2014
- Subjects: Brotherliness , Xhosa (African people) -- Social life and customs , Men, Black -- South Africa -- Social life and customs
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSocSc
- Identifier: vital:3233 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1013149
- Description: This project is interested in investigating the construction of the fraternal sibling relationshipwithin the South African context from a narrative perspective. In particular, this study is interested in the ways in which middle aged isiXhosa men narrate experiences of brothering and how social class, as one particular context, mediates these narratives. This project is particularly interested in brothering within the isiXhosa culture and is concerned with both middle class and working class men within this cultural context. The project takes as its particular focus the meaning of brothering, and specifically how masculinity, intimacy and money or class influence the brothering practices constructed by the men in the sample. The project employs a social constructionist perspective, using a thematic narrative analysis to analyse the data. This project uses secondary analysis of data, as the data was collected for the primary use by Jackson (2009), Peirce (2009), Saville Young (Saville Young & Jackson, 2011) and Stonier (2010). The analysis reflects emergent themes of the importance of fraternal sacrifice, care-taking and sibling responsibility, honouring the family, and challenge to traditional masculinity. These themes emerged within the prior themes of masculinity, intimacy and class within brothering. The men spoke of keeping the family prosperous and united as an important duty in their brothering role. Affection was expressed more practically and symbolically, and closeness constructed through shared experiences, proximity and similarities. My findings reflect that family expectations, culture and social context had key influences on brothering, based on the men's narratives. Findings are discussed in relation to literature on brothering, masculinity and intimacy, and the influence of money in close relationships.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2014
- Authors: Mbewe, Mpho
- Date: 2014
- Subjects: Brotherliness , Xhosa (African people) -- Social life and customs , Men, Black -- South Africa -- Social life and customs
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSocSc
- Identifier: vital:3233 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1013149
- Description: This project is interested in investigating the construction of the fraternal sibling relationshipwithin the South African context from a narrative perspective. In particular, this study is interested in the ways in which middle aged isiXhosa men narrate experiences of brothering and how social class, as one particular context, mediates these narratives. This project is particularly interested in brothering within the isiXhosa culture and is concerned with both middle class and working class men within this cultural context. The project takes as its particular focus the meaning of brothering, and specifically how masculinity, intimacy and money or class influence the brothering practices constructed by the men in the sample. The project employs a social constructionist perspective, using a thematic narrative analysis to analyse the data. This project uses secondary analysis of data, as the data was collected for the primary use by Jackson (2009), Peirce (2009), Saville Young (Saville Young & Jackson, 2011) and Stonier (2010). The analysis reflects emergent themes of the importance of fraternal sacrifice, care-taking and sibling responsibility, honouring the family, and challenge to traditional masculinity. These themes emerged within the prior themes of masculinity, intimacy and class within brothering. The men spoke of keeping the family prosperous and united as an important duty in their brothering role. Affection was expressed more practically and symbolically, and closeness constructed through shared experiences, proximity and similarities. My findings reflect that family expectations, culture and social context had key influences on brothering, based on the men's narratives. Findings are discussed in relation to literature on brothering, masculinity and intimacy, and the influence of money in close relationships.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2014
‘Unnatural’,‘un-African’and ‘ungodly’: homophobic discourse in democratic South Africa
- Vincent, Louise, Howell, Simon
- Authors: Vincent, Louise , Howell, Simon
- Date: 2014
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/141570 , vital:37986 , DOI: 10.1177/1363460714524766
- Description: On 28 November 2006, South Africa’s legislature passed the Civil Union Act (No. 17, 2006), which legalised same-sex marriages or civil partnerships. While South Africa was fifth in the world to recognise the right of people of the same sex to marry, the country is by no means free of homophobic attitudes. However, we argue that an examination of the discourses embedded in the public discussion of gay marriage shows that the post-1994 period has not simply been a case of homophobia as usual. The altered context has given rise to the need for new ways of homophobic discourse to position itself. The rights enshrined in the Constitution represent a powerful set of ideas about the distinction between the democratic state and its apartheid predecessor. These ideas provide the dominant framework for political debate in the current context and it is therefore within this overarching framework that anti-gay sentiments must find a way to express themselves that has legitimacy. Our finding is that the reinscription of homophobia in an era of the ascendancy of human rights discourse has been chiefly in terms of three potent legitimising tropes – homosexuality as ‘unAfrican’, ‘unGodly’, and ‘unnatural’. It is only by deepening our understanding of the terms in which homophobia is being articulated in the current period that we can develop effective counter discourses.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2014
- Authors: Vincent, Louise , Howell, Simon
- Date: 2014
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/141570 , vital:37986 , DOI: 10.1177/1363460714524766
- Description: On 28 November 2006, South Africa’s legislature passed the Civil Union Act (No. 17, 2006), which legalised same-sex marriages or civil partnerships. While South Africa was fifth in the world to recognise the right of people of the same sex to marry, the country is by no means free of homophobic attitudes. However, we argue that an examination of the discourses embedded in the public discussion of gay marriage shows that the post-1994 period has not simply been a case of homophobia as usual. The altered context has given rise to the need for new ways of homophobic discourse to position itself. The rights enshrined in the Constitution represent a powerful set of ideas about the distinction between the democratic state and its apartheid predecessor. These ideas provide the dominant framework for political debate in the current context and it is therefore within this overarching framework that anti-gay sentiments must find a way to express themselves that has legitimacy. Our finding is that the reinscription of homophobia in an era of the ascendancy of human rights discourse has been chiefly in terms of three potent legitimising tropes – homosexuality as ‘unAfrican’, ‘unGodly’, and ‘unnatural’. It is only by deepening our understanding of the terms in which homophobia is being articulated in the current period that we can develop effective counter discourses.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2014
“Exploring barriers to citizen participation in development: a case study of a participatory broadcasting project in rural Malawi”
- Authors: Mtelera, Prince
- Date: 2014
- Subjects: Political participation -- Malawi , Malawi -- Citizen participation , Citizen journalism -- Malawi
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:3539 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1016360
- Description: In Malawi, as in many newly-democratic countries in the developing world, donor organisations and NGOs have embarked on projects aimed at making reforms in governance which have generated a profusion of new spaces for citizen engagement. This thesis critically examines one such project in Malawi against the backdrop of a democratic nation emerging from a background of dictatorial regime. For thirty years, until 1994, Malawi was under the one-party regime of Kamuzu Banda which was characterised by dictatorial tendencies, in which participatory processes were non-existent and development was defined in terms of client-patronage relationships between the state and society (Cammack, 2004: 17). In 1994, however, Malawi embraced a multiparty system of government, paving way to various political and social reforms, which adopted participatory approaches to development. Drawing on a number of literatures, this thesis seeks to historicize the relationship which developed during the pre democracy era between the state and society in Malawi to underscore its influence on the current dispositions displayed by both bureaucrats and citizens as they engage in participatory decision making processes. This is achieved through a critical realist case study of a participatory radio project in Malawi called Ndizathuzomwe which works through a network of community-based radio production structures popularly known as ‘Radio Listening Clubs’(RLCs) where communities are mobilised at village level to first identify and define development problems through consensus and then secondly engage state bureaucrats, politicians, and members of other relevant service delivery organisations in making decisions aimed at resolving community-identified development problems (Chijere-Chirwa et al, 2000). Unlike during the pre-democracy era, there is now a shift in the discourse of participation in development, from the participation of ‘beneficiaries’ in projects, to the more political and rights-based definitions of participation by citizens who are the ‘makers and shapers’ of their own development (Cornwall and Gaventa, 2000). The findings of this thesis, however point to the fact that, there remains a gap between normative expectations and empirical realities in that spaces for participation are not neutral, but are themselves shaped by power relations (Cornwall, 2002). A number of preconditions exist for entry into participatory institutions as such entry of certain interests and actors into public spaces is privileged over others through a prevailing mobilisation of bias or rules of the game (Lukes, 1974: I)
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2014
- Authors: Mtelera, Prince
- Date: 2014
- Subjects: Political participation -- Malawi , Malawi -- Citizen participation , Citizen journalism -- Malawi
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:3539 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1016360
- Description: In Malawi, as in many newly-democratic countries in the developing world, donor organisations and NGOs have embarked on projects aimed at making reforms in governance which have generated a profusion of new spaces for citizen engagement. This thesis critically examines one such project in Malawi against the backdrop of a democratic nation emerging from a background of dictatorial regime. For thirty years, until 1994, Malawi was under the one-party regime of Kamuzu Banda which was characterised by dictatorial tendencies, in which participatory processes were non-existent and development was defined in terms of client-patronage relationships between the state and society (Cammack, 2004: 17). In 1994, however, Malawi embraced a multiparty system of government, paving way to various political and social reforms, which adopted participatory approaches to development. Drawing on a number of literatures, this thesis seeks to historicize the relationship which developed during the pre democracy era between the state and society in Malawi to underscore its influence on the current dispositions displayed by both bureaucrats and citizens as they engage in participatory decision making processes. This is achieved through a critical realist case study of a participatory radio project in Malawi called Ndizathuzomwe which works through a network of community-based radio production structures popularly known as ‘Radio Listening Clubs’(RLCs) where communities are mobilised at village level to first identify and define development problems through consensus and then secondly engage state bureaucrats, politicians, and members of other relevant service delivery organisations in making decisions aimed at resolving community-identified development problems (Chijere-Chirwa et al, 2000). Unlike during the pre-democracy era, there is now a shift in the discourse of participation in development, from the participation of ‘beneficiaries’ in projects, to the more political and rights-based definitions of participation by citizens who are the ‘makers and shapers’ of their own development (Cornwall and Gaventa, 2000). The findings of this thesis, however point to the fact that, there remains a gap between normative expectations and empirical realities in that spaces for participation are not neutral, but are themselves shaped by power relations (Cornwall, 2002). A number of preconditions exist for entry into participatory institutions as such entry of certain interests and actors into public spaces is privileged over others through a prevailing mobilisation of bias or rules of the game (Lukes, 1974: I)
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2014
“Please don’t show me on Agataliiko Nfuufu or my husband will beat me like engalabi (long drum)”: young women and tabloid television in Kampala, Uganda
- Authors: Nakacwa, Susan
- Date: 2014
- Subjects: Television broadcasting of news -- Uganda -- Kampala , Reality television programs -- Uganda -- Kampala , Sexism -- Uganda -- Kampala , Women in mass media , Sensationalism on television , Sensationalism in journalism , Mass media -- Moral and ethical aspects , Sex role on television , Uganda -- Social conditions -- 1979-
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:3551 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1020968
- Description: The “tabloid TV” news genre is a relatively new phenomenon in Uganda and Africa. The genre has been criticised for depoliticising the public by causing cynicism, and lowering the standards of rational public discourse. Despite the criticisms, the genre has been recognised for bringing ‘the private’ into a public space and one of the major ‘private’ issues on the public agenda is women and gender equality. Given these critiques, this study set out to interrogate the meanings that young working class women in Kampala make of the tabloid television news programme Agataliiko Nfuufu and to ask how these meanings relate to the contested notions of femininity in this urban space. In undertaking this audience reception study I interviewed young women between the ages of 18-35 years by means of individual in-depth interviews and focus group discussions. The study establishes that Agataliiko Nfuufu is consumed in a complex environment where contesting notions of traditionalism and modernity are at play. The study also establishes that while mediating the problems, discomforts and contestations of these young women’s lives, Bukedde TV1 operates within a specific social context and gendered environment where Agataliiko Nfuufu is consumed. The study concludes that the bulletin mediates the young women’s negotiations and contestations, but it provides them with a window into other people’s lives and affords them opportunities to compare, judge and appreciate their own. Furthermore, the gendered roles and expectations in this context have become naturalised and have achieved a taken-for-grantedness. Therefore, patriarchy has been legitimised and naturalised to the extent that the respondents define themselves largely in relation to male relatives, and marriage. While the women lament the changes that have taken place in their social contexts which disrupt the natural gender order, they construct themselves as subjects of the prevailing discourses of gender relations that see men as powerful and women as weak and in need of protection.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2014
- Authors: Nakacwa, Susan
- Date: 2014
- Subjects: Television broadcasting of news -- Uganda -- Kampala , Reality television programs -- Uganda -- Kampala , Sexism -- Uganda -- Kampala , Women in mass media , Sensationalism on television , Sensationalism in journalism , Mass media -- Moral and ethical aspects , Sex role on television , Uganda -- Social conditions -- 1979-
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:3551 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1020968
- Description: The “tabloid TV” news genre is a relatively new phenomenon in Uganda and Africa. The genre has been criticised for depoliticising the public by causing cynicism, and lowering the standards of rational public discourse. Despite the criticisms, the genre has been recognised for bringing ‘the private’ into a public space and one of the major ‘private’ issues on the public agenda is women and gender equality. Given these critiques, this study set out to interrogate the meanings that young working class women in Kampala make of the tabloid television news programme Agataliiko Nfuufu and to ask how these meanings relate to the contested notions of femininity in this urban space. In undertaking this audience reception study I interviewed young women between the ages of 18-35 years by means of individual in-depth interviews and focus group discussions. The study establishes that Agataliiko Nfuufu is consumed in a complex environment where contesting notions of traditionalism and modernity are at play. The study also establishes that while mediating the problems, discomforts and contestations of these young women’s lives, Bukedde TV1 operates within a specific social context and gendered environment where Agataliiko Nfuufu is consumed. The study concludes that the bulletin mediates the young women’s negotiations and contestations, but it provides them with a window into other people’s lives and affords them opportunities to compare, judge and appreciate their own. Furthermore, the gendered roles and expectations in this context have become naturalised and have achieved a taken-for-grantedness. Therefore, patriarchy has been legitimised and naturalised to the extent that the respondents define themselves largely in relation to male relatives, and marriage. While the women lament the changes that have taken place in their social contexts which disrupt the natural gender order, they construct themselves as subjects of the prevailing discourses of gender relations that see men as powerful and women as weak and in need of protection.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2014
“Pragmatic yet principled”: an assessment of Botswana’s Foreign Policy record as a small state
- Authors: Mahupela, Kabelo Moganegi
- Date: 2014
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/65290 , vital:28722
- Description: Expected release date-July 2019
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2014
- Authors: Mahupela, Kabelo Moganegi
- Date: 2014
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/65290 , vital:28722
- Description: Expected release date-July 2019
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2014
“The stranger at home” : representations of home and hospitality in three South African post-transitional novels
- Authors: Dass, Minesh
- Date: 2014
- Subjects: South African fiction (English) -- History and criticism , Wicomb, Zoë -- Criticism and interpretation , Shukri, Ishtiyaq, 1968- -- Criticism and interpretation , Vladislavić, Ivan, 1957- -- Criticism and interpretation , Home in literature , Hospitality in literature
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: vital:2325 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1016355
- Description: This thesis examines the representation of home and hospitality in Zoë Wicomb’s Playing in the Light, Ishtiyaq Shukri’s The Silent Minaret, and Ivan Vladislavić’s Double Negative. It attempts to trace the un-homeliness of the central characters and to account for their feelings of discomfort. As such, it argues that the home is incapable of being inviolable because the invasion of the public is always a possibility. The implication is that master narratives such as race, history and politics are always entering the space one constructs as private. That said, this study also argues that the home and those things with which it is most closely associated, such as belonging, comfort and safety, may actually hide a form of violence. By this I mean that in the desire for homeliness, one may exclude others from one’s home. Consequently, this argument draws on Jacques Derrida’s writings on the aporia of conditional and unconditional hospitality to investigate what ethical possibilities might, somewhat unexpectedly, be created by the un-homely home. The study is therefore an exploration of the potentials that inhere in a certain kind of un-homeliness, the most important of which is the chance to respond ethically to the alterity of the other. In sum, there is a necessity to extend hospitality beyond condition and beyond limit, and this ethical imperative is at odds with the desire for comfort and safety. The way in which post-transitional novels explore these issues of hospitality and home is the primary focus of this study.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2014
- Authors: Dass, Minesh
- Date: 2014
- Subjects: South African fiction (English) -- History and criticism , Wicomb, Zoë -- Criticism and interpretation , Shukri, Ishtiyaq, 1968- -- Criticism and interpretation , Vladislavić, Ivan, 1957- -- Criticism and interpretation , Home in literature , Hospitality in literature
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: vital:2325 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1016355
- Description: This thesis examines the representation of home and hospitality in Zoë Wicomb’s Playing in the Light, Ishtiyaq Shukri’s The Silent Minaret, and Ivan Vladislavić’s Double Negative. It attempts to trace the un-homeliness of the central characters and to account for their feelings of discomfort. As such, it argues that the home is incapable of being inviolable because the invasion of the public is always a possibility. The implication is that master narratives such as race, history and politics are always entering the space one constructs as private. That said, this study also argues that the home and those things with which it is most closely associated, such as belonging, comfort and safety, may actually hide a form of violence. By this I mean that in the desire for homeliness, one may exclude others from one’s home. Consequently, this argument draws on Jacques Derrida’s writings on the aporia of conditional and unconditional hospitality to investigate what ethical possibilities might, somewhat unexpectedly, be created by the un-homely home. The study is therefore an exploration of the potentials that inhere in a certain kind of un-homeliness, the most important of which is the chance to respond ethically to the alterity of the other. In sum, there is a necessity to extend hospitality beyond condition and beyond limit, and this ethical imperative is at odds with the desire for comfort and safety. The way in which post-transitional novels explore these issues of hospitality and home is the primary focus of this study.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2014
“There are certain things that I just know that I have to do because we are brothers”: a discourse analysis of young black men’s engagement with popular representations of brotherhood
- Authors: Mkhize, Sibongiseni
- Date: 2014
- Subjects: Brotherliness , Men, Black -- South Africa -- Social life and customs , Masculinity -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:3238 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1013212
- Description: The present study analyses the discourses that young black South African men employed when they engaged with popular representations of brotherhood in the media. In particular the study explores how these particular young men view masculinity within brothering and what the implications of ‘doing brothering’ are as a result of this view. Drawing on discursive psychology, the study is located in a social constructionist theoretical framework and uses a qualitative methodological approach. The data used in the discourse analysis was gathered through focus group discussion of scenes from the television show Generations. The discourse analysis produced two major discourses in which there were different constructions of masculinity each influencing the way in which brothering was done. The first discourse constructed a ‘dutiful man’ who performs his brotherly obligations separately from his emotions, this discourse is in line with discourses of hegemonic masculinity where men are expected to fulfil obligations and are not expected to be emotional. Resisting this discourse at times, some participants in this study did occasionally construct men as having rich emotional lives such that the quality of interaction with brothers is constructed as more important, in terms of building intimate fraternal relationships, than the amount of interaction with them. The second major discourse constructs the ‘ideal man’ in two different ways: as the ‘good man’ and the ‘unscrupulous man’. The ‘good man’, like the ‘dutiful man’ performs the obligations society has placed on him, but does not receive the social esteem that is given to the ‘unscrupulous man’, who is successful and financially powerful. Although both these types of men are spoken of as possessing masculinity, the ‘good man’ is constructed as holding onto a type of masculinity that does not have a place in contemporary society. The findings suggest that brothering informs the way in which men take up certain masculine positions. The study contributes to our understanding of the construction of gender identity within familial relationships, specifically the adult brother-brother relationship.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2014
- Authors: Mkhize, Sibongiseni
- Date: 2014
- Subjects: Brotherliness , Men, Black -- South Africa -- Social life and customs , Masculinity -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:3238 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1013212
- Description: The present study analyses the discourses that young black South African men employed when they engaged with popular representations of brotherhood in the media. In particular the study explores how these particular young men view masculinity within brothering and what the implications of ‘doing brothering’ are as a result of this view. Drawing on discursive psychology, the study is located in a social constructionist theoretical framework and uses a qualitative methodological approach. The data used in the discourse analysis was gathered through focus group discussion of scenes from the television show Generations. The discourse analysis produced two major discourses in which there were different constructions of masculinity each influencing the way in which brothering was done. The first discourse constructed a ‘dutiful man’ who performs his brotherly obligations separately from his emotions, this discourse is in line with discourses of hegemonic masculinity where men are expected to fulfil obligations and are not expected to be emotional. Resisting this discourse at times, some participants in this study did occasionally construct men as having rich emotional lives such that the quality of interaction with brothers is constructed as more important, in terms of building intimate fraternal relationships, than the amount of interaction with them. The second major discourse constructs the ‘ideal man’ in two different ways: as the ‘good man’ and the ‘unscrupulous man’. The ‘good man’, like the ‘dutiful man’ performs the obligations society has placed on him, but does not receive the social esteem that is given to the ‘unscrupulous man’, who is successful and financially powerful. Although both these types of men are spoken of as possessing masculinity, the ‘good man’ is constructed as holding onto a type of masculinity that does not have a place in contemporary society. The findings suggest that brothering informs the way in which men take up certain masculine positions. The study contributes to our understanding of the construction of gender identity within familial relationships, specifically the adult brother-brother relationship.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2014
“Watch-dogs for an Economy” : a determination of the origins of the South African Public Accountants' and Auditors' Board – as the Regulator of the Profession – principally through an analysis of the debates and related reports to the House of Assembly of the Parliament of the Union of South Africa in the period 1913–1940
- Lancaster, Jonathan Charles Swinburne
- Authors: Lancaster, Jonathan Charles Swinburne
- Date: 2014
- Subjects: Public Accountants' and Auditors' Board (South Africa) , Accounting -- Law and legislation -- South Africa , Accounting -- South Africa -- History , Accounting -- Standards -- South Africa , South Africa -- Economic conditions -- 1918-1961 , South Africa -- Politics and government -- 1909-1948
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: vital:922 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1020876
- Description: This thesis concentrates upon a new field of research in South African accounting scholarship – this being, in general terms, accounting history and more specifically an analysis of the origins of the Public Accountants’ and Auditors’ Board as watch-dog in relation to: ● the South African economy in the period 1913–1940; and ● the changing political framework (also in the period 1913–1940). The integration of economy, politics and personal ambition on the part of early 20th Century accounting societies, led to a variety of responses, counter proposals, stalemates and unfocused activity which caused the process of accountants’ registration to extend over 38 years in South Africa. This confusion was in strong contrast to the process of speedy registration of accountants in New Zealand and Australia. The final unification of South African accounting societies in 1951 created the Public Accountants’ and Auditors’ Board. Its creation, at long last, suggested an overarching control and regulation which was mirrored in the final political unification and economic stability of a South Africa dominated by Afrikaner Nationalists. One further element was interwoven into the fabric of the thesis – this being the application of institutional economic theory and its impact upon the accounting concepts of “material irregularity” and “reportable irregularity”.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2014
- Authors: Lancaster, Jonathan Charles Swinburne
- Date: 2014
- Subjects: Public Accountants' and Auditors' Board (South Africa) , Accounting -- Law and legislation -- South Africa , Accounting -- South Africa -- History , Accounting -- Standards -- South Africa , South Africa -- Economic conditions -- 1918-1961 , South Africa -- Politics and government -- 1909-1948
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: vital:922 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1020876
- Description: This thesis concentrates upon a new field of research in South African accounting scholarship – this being, in general terms, accounting history and more specifically an analysis of the origins of the Public Accountants’ and Auditors’ Board as watch-dog in relation to: ● the South African economy in the period 1913–1940; and ● the changing political framework (also in the period 1913–1940). The integration of economy, politics and personal ambition on the part of early 20th Century accounting societies, led to a variety of responses, counter proposals, stalemates and unfocused activity which caused the process of accountants’ registration to extend over 38 years in South Africa. This confusion was in strong contrast to the process of speedy registration of accountants in New Zealand and Australia. The final unification of South African accounting societies in 1951 created the Public Accountants’ and Auditors’ Board. Its creation, at long last, suggested an overarching control and regulation which was mirrored in the final political unification and economic stability of a South Africa dominated by Afrikaner Nationalists. One further element was interwoven into the fabric of the thesis – this being the application of institutional economic theory and its impact upon the accounting concepts of “material irregularity” and “reportable irregularity”.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2014
Beyond greening: reflections on the business sustainability imperative
- Authors: Smith, Elroy Eugene
- Subjects: Sustainable development , Environmental economics , f-sa
- Language: English
- Type: text , Lectures
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/20768 , vital:29387
- Description: This paper sets out to reflect that organisations should go beyond greening and embrace the sustainability imperative. The concept of greening and environmentalism reached a ceiling as it focuses only on short-term green issues rather than on long-term sustainability goals. Narrow concerns for the natural environment often dilute the true meaning of sustainability. Yet, the field of sustainability is much broader than just focusing on environmental issues. Most contemporary executives know that their response to the challenges of sustainability could seriously affect the competitiveness and survival of their organisations. Despite this notion, most are failing by launching a few greening initiatives without a clear sustainability vision and plan. The sustainability discourse expanded the manner in which organisational success is measured, using values and criteria from the economic, environmental and social realms – commonly known as the triple bottom line. The idea is to balance the needs of people, the planet and the organisation’s profits to create long-term shareholder value. The concept of sustainability has suffered from a proliferation of definitions, meaning many things to different people. However, consensus is forming that sustainability refers to the process by which sound economic systems operate well within the biophysical constraints of the ecosystem to provide a good quality of life that is socially appropriate for current and future generations. Sustainability is bigger than a publicity stunt, green products or occasional acknowledgement to on-going efforts to save the planet. Although greening will be a central part of the way business is conducted, green alone is not a broad enough platform to sustain a business in the long-run. There is a need to look beyond the green aspects of sustainability and also using the social, economic and cultural aspects to build a successful and sustainable organisation. 2 This paper addresses aspects such as the sustainability paradigm, dimensions and drivers of sustainability, statistical evidence of sustainability, national framework for sustainable development in South Africa, a sustainability case example and challenges of sustainability.
- Full Text:
- Authors: Smith, Elroy Eugene
- Subjects: Sustainable development , Environmental economics , f-sa
- Language: English
- Type: text , Lectures
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/20768 , vital:29387
- Description: This paper sets out to reflect that organisations should go beyond greening and embrace the sustainability imperative. The concept of greening and environmentalism reached a ceiling as it focuses only on short-term green issues rather than on long-term sustainability goals. Narrow concerns for the natural environment often dilute the true meaning of sustainability. Yet, the field of sustainability is much broader than just focusing on environmental issues. Most contemporary executives know that their response to the challenges of sustainability could seriously affect the competitiveness and survival of their organisations. Despite this notion, most are failing by launching a few greening initiatives without a clear sustainability vision and plan. The sustainability discourse expanded the manner in which organisational success is measured, using values and criteria from the economic, environmental and social realms – commonly known as the triple bottom line. The idea is to balance the needs of people, the planet and the organisation’s profits to create long-term shareholder value. The concept of sustainability has suffered from a proliferation of definitions, meaning many things to different people. However, consensus is forming that sustainability refers to the process by which sound economic systems operate well within the biophysical constraints of the ecosystem to provide a good quality of life that is socially appropriate for current and future generations. Sustainability is bigger than a publicity stunt, green products or occasional acknowledgement to on-going efforts to save the planet. Although greening will be a central part of the way business is conducted, green alone is not a broad enough platform to sustain a business in the long-run. There is a need to look beyond the green aspects of sustainability and also using the social, economic and cultural aspects to build a successful and sustainable organisation. 2 This paper addresses aspects such as the sustainability paradigm, dimensions and drivers of sustainability, statistical evidence of sustainability, national framework for sustainable development in South Africa, a sustainability case example and challenges of sustainability.
- Full Text:
Carbon nanotube-enhanced photoelectrochemical properties of metallo-octacarboxyphthalocyanines
- Mphahlele, Nonhlanhla E., Roux, Lukas Le, Jafta, Charl J., Cele, Leskey, Mathe, Mkhulu K., Nyokong, Tebello, Kobayashi, Nagao, Ozoemena, Kenneth I.
- Authors: Mphahlele, Nonhlanhla E. , Roux, Lukas Le , Jafta, Charl J. , Cele, Leskey , Mathe, Mkhulu K. , Nyokong, Tebello , Kobayashi, Nagao , Ozoemena, Kenneth I.
- Language: English
- Type: Article
- Identifier: vital:7312 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1020538
- Description: The photoelectrochemistry of metallo-octacarboxyphthalocyanines (MOCPc, where M = Zn or Si(OH)2) integrated with MWCNTs for the development of dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) is reported. The DSSC performance (obtained from the photo-chronoamperometric and photo-impedimetric data) decreased as ZnOCPc > (OH)2SiOCPc. The incorporation of the MWCNTs on the surface of the TiO2 film (MOCPc–MWCNT systems) gave higher photocurrent density than the bare MOCPc complexes. Also, from the EIS results, the MOCPc–MWCNT hybrids gave faster charge transport kinetics (approximately three times faster) compared to the bare MOCPc complexes. The electron lifetime was slightly longer (ca. 6 ms) at the ZnOCPc systems than at the (OH)2SiOCPc system (ca. 4 ms) meaning that the presence of the MWCNTs on the surface of the TiO2 film did not show any significant improvement on preventing charge recombination process. , Original publication is available at http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10853-013-7710-1
- Full Text: false
- Authors: Mphahlele, Nonhlanhla E. , Roux, Lukas Le , Jafta, Charl J. , Cele, Leskey , Mathe, Mkhulu K. , Nyokong, Tebello , Kobayashi, Nagao , Ozoemena, Kenneth I.
- Language: English
- Type: Article
- Identifier: vital:7312 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1020538
- Description: The photoelectrochemistry of metallo-octacarboxyphthalocyanines (MOCPc, where M = Zn or Si(OH)2) integrated with MWCNTs for the development of dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) is reported. The DSSC performance (obtained from the photo-chronoamperometric and photo-impedimetric data) decreased as ZnOCPc > (OH)2SiOCPc. The incorporation of the MWCNTs on the surface of the TiO2 film (MOCPc–MWCNT systems) gave higher photocurrent density than the bare MOCPc complexes. Also, from the EIS results, the MOCPc–MWCNT hybrids gave faster charge transport kinetics (approximately three times faster) compared to the bare MOCPc complexes. The electron lifetime was slightly longer (ca. 6 ms) at the ZnOCPc systems than at the (OH)2SiOCPc system (ca. 4 ms) meaning that the presence of the MWCNTs on the surface of the TiO2 film did not show any significant improvement on preventing charge recombination process. , Original publication is available at http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10853-013-7710-1
- Full Text: false
Characterization of electrodes modified by one pot or step by step electro-click reaction and axial ligation of iron tetracarboxyphthalocyanine
- Maringa, Audacity, Mashazi, Philani N, Nyokong, Tebello
- Authors: Maringa, Audacity , Mashazi, Philani N , Nyokong, Tebello
- Language: English
- Type: Article
- Identifier: vital:7307 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1020384
- Description: The modification of the glassy carbon electrode (GCE) was carried out using two methods. The first method is simultaneous electropolymerization and electro-click followed by immersion into a solution of dimethyl formamide (DMF) containing FeTCPc. The second method is step by step whereby electropolymerization is carried out first followed by electro-click and then immersion into a DMF solution containing FeTCPc. From the electrochemical characterization, it was observed that the second route (step by step method) was the best as indicated by the ferricyanide studies (cyclic voltammetry and scanning electrochemical microscopy). In the electrooxidation of hydrazine, we obtained a potential of 0.26 V. Of interest were the detection limit of 6.4 μM and the catalytic rate constant of 2.1 × 109 cm3 mol−1 s−1. This shows that the sensor can be used for the electrooxidation of hydrazine. , Original publication is available at http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.electacta.2014.09.011
- Full Text: false
- Authors: Maringa, Audacity , Mashazi, Philani N , Nyokong, Tebello
- Language: English
- Type: Article
- Identifier: vital:7307 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1020384
- Description: The modification of the glassy carbon electrode (GCE) was carried out using two methods. The first method is simultaneous electropolymerization and electro-click followed by immersion into a solution of dimethyl formamide (DMF) containing FeTCPc. The second method is step by step whereby electropolymerization is carried out first followed by electro-click and then immersion into a DMF solution containing FeTCPc. From the electrochemical characterization, it was observed that the second route (step by step method) was the best as indicated by the ferricyanide studies (cyclic voltammetry and scanning electrochemical microscopy). In the electrooxidation of hydrazine, we obtained a potential of 0.26 V. Of interest were the detection limit of 6.4 μM and the catalytic rate constant of 2.1 × 109 cm3 mol−1 s−1. This shows that the sensor can be used for the electrooxidation of hydrazine. , Original publication is available at http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.electacta.2014.09.011
- Full Text: false
Consumer health informatics in the information age and beyond
- Authors: Pottas, Dalenca
- Subjects: Medical informatics , Information technology , f-sa
- Language: English
- Type: text , Lectures
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/20757 , vital:29386
- Description: This paper reviews current and future trends and challenges in the field of consumer health informatics. Emergent innovations driving consumer health informatics in the information age include devices, tools and applications supporting personalised healthcare, electronic personal health record (PHR) systems and a plethora of tools in the health social media domain. Within this domain, a new kind of social media citizen, the consumer specialist or patient opinion leader, is taking the lead in online communities of patients. A new generation of personal health records combining PHRs and social media is emerging, even though pervasive adoption and use of PHRs remains elusive. The accuracy of information, security and privacy of personal health information, legislative matters and the digital divide remain recurring challenges of consumer health informatics. In future, PHR vendors will have to address the lack of espousal of PHRs in innovative ways to provide a compelling case for adoption. The continued uptake of health social media necessitates efforts to understand, through longitudinal studies, precisely who the users are, what they use it for and how it contributes to the achievement of both personal and public health outcomes. Health information consumers, of varying levels of techno-literacy, needs and preferences, must be assisted to move from simply accessing information to distilling relevant and credible information and making informed decisions. Further research is required to understand the changing relationships between patients and healthcare providers and how consumer health information technologies can best support these. There is a need to evaluate the effectiveness of consumer health information technologies to inform both public policy and the next generation of tools, technologies and artefacts that could better facilitate improved health outcomes. Lastly, more effort is required to erode digital inequalities. As we move into a future emphasising both the global and the individual, accelerated connectedness and speed of change, consumer health informatics must respond such that it remains germane and amplifies the value that can be gained by all stakeholders.
- Full Text:
- Authors: Pottas, Dalenca
- Subjects: Medical informatics , Information technology , f-sa
- Language: English
- Type: text , Lectures
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/20757 , vital:29386
- Description: This paper reviews current and future trends and challenges in the field of consumer health informatics. Emergent innovations driving consumer health informatics in the information age include devices, tools and applications supporting personalised healthcare, electronic personal health record (PHR) systems and a plethora of tools in the health social media domain. Within this domain, a new kind of social media citizen, the consumer specialist or patient opinion leader, is taking the lead in online communities of patients. A new generation of personal health records combining PHRs and social media is emerging, even though pervasive adoption and use of PHRs remains elusive. The accuracy of information, security and privacy of personal health information, legislative matters and the digital divide remain recurring challenges of consumer health informatics. In future, PHR vendors will have to address the lack of espousal of PHRs in innovative ways to provide a compelling case for adoption. The continued uptake of health social media necessitates efforts to understand, through longitudinal studies, precisely who the users are, what they use it for and how it contributes to the achievement of both personal and public health outcomes. Health information consumers, of varying levels of techno-literacy, needs and preferences, must be assisted to move from simply accessing information to distilling relevant and credible information and making informed decisions. Further research is required to understand the changing relationships between patients and healthcare providers and how consumer health information technologies can best support these. There is a need to evaluate the effectiveness of consumer health information technologies to inform both public policy and the next generation of tools, technologies and artefacts that could better facilitate improved health outcomes. Lastly, more effort is required to erode digital inequalities. As we move into a future emphasising both the global and the individual, accelerated connectedness and speed of change, consumer health informatics must respond such that it remains germane and amplifies the value that can be gained by all stakeholders.
- Full Text:
Development of Graphene/CdSe Quantum Dots-Co Phthalocyanine Nanocomposite for Oxygen Reduction Reaction
- Nyoni, Stephen, Nyokong, Tebello
- Authors: Nyoni, Stephen , Nyokong, Tebello
- Language: English
- Type: Article
- Identifier: vital:7300 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1020368
- Description: Nanocomposites containing CdSe quantum dots, tetra(4-(4,6-diaminopyrimidin-2-ylthio) phthalocyaninatocobalt(II)) (CoPyPc) and reduced graphene nanosheets (rGNS) were devoloped and used for the modification of a glassy carbon electrode. Characterization of the nanocomposites was done by transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) analyses. Cyclic voltammetry (CV) was used for electrochemical characterization of the prepared nanocomposite for oxygen reduction reaction. The oxygen reduction activity for rGNS/CdSe-CoPyPc nanocomposite was found to be superior over the individual nanomaterials in this study. The activity of the nanocomposite towards oxygen reduction was also tested for tolerance to methanol crossover effect using chronoamperometry (CA) and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) studies. , Original publication is available at http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/elan.201400372
- Full Text: false
- Authors: Nyoni, Stephen , Nyokong, Tebello
- Language: English
- Type: Article
- Identifier: vital:7300 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1020368
- Description: Nanocomposites containing CdSe quantum dots, tetra(4-(4,6-diaminopyrimidin-2-ylthio) phthalocyaninatocobalt(II)) (CoPyPc) and reduced graphene nanosheets (rGNS) were devoloped and used for the modification of a glassy carbon electrode. Characterization of the nanocomposites was done by transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) analyses. Cyclic voltammetry (CV) was used for electrochemical characterization of the prepared nanocomposite for oxygen reduction reaction. The oxygen reduction activity for rGNS/CdSe-CoPyPc nanocomposite was found to be superior over the individual nanomaterials in this study. The activity of the nanocomposite towards oxygen reduction was also tested for tolerance to methanol crossover effect using chronoamperometry (CA) and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) studies. , Original publication is available at http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/elan.201400372
- Full Text: false