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Entrepreneurship education in the agro-biodiversity sector: a case study of G-Tech PLA roll planter value creation for a youth community of practice in Gauteng

  • Authors: Thupana, Mabora
  • Date: 2020
  • Subjects: G-Tech PLA roll planter , Entrepreneurship -- South Africa -- Case studies , Entrepreneurship -- Study and teaching -- South Africa , Sustainable agriculture -- South Africa , Agriculture -- Environmental aspects -- South Africa
  • Language: English
  • Type: Thesis , Masters , MEd
  • Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/167620 , vital:41497
  • Description: Entrepreneurship is widely recognised as a basic skill that can be learned through practice. The main focus of this study was to investigate entrepreneurship education and the type of biodiversity entrepreneurial practices and opportunities that could create value for youth via the use of green technology: the PLA Roll Planter in the biodiversity and agriculture sector. The study was inspired by the need to identify and analyse knowledge, skills and entrepreneurial aspects associated with the use of green technology to strengthen entrepreneurial learning for youth participation in the green economy and green work. The study employed the use of Communities of Practice (COP) and Value Creation adopted from Wenger as theories and a focal lens to portray the contribution of technological practices to youth sustainable livelihoods and green work in the biodiversity sector. Research on the GTECH technology that was in focus in this study, the PLA Roll Planter, shows that newly introduced green innovations can increase agricultural outputs without depleting presently available resources. The study applied qualitative research approaches in a case study of the G-Tech PLA Roll Planter training and participation of a youth Community of Practice (COP) in Gauteng. It started by examining the knowledge capital as potential value embedded in the training and knowledge, skills and entrepreneurial aspects of the G-Tech PLA Roll Planter practices. The study then constructed four value creation stories of youth in the COP to understand other forms of value that were created for youth. The findings of the study depicted that the adoption of improved agricultural technology (PLA Roll Planter) has positive impacts and knowledge capital that can translate into other forms of value to support the emergence of viable economic activity in the agricultural sector. This can help increase food security and the ability to withstand risk of damaging the environment. The study shows that different forms of value were created for youth, and offers insight into how learning in communities of practice can help to advance entrepreneursip education in the biodiversity and especially the agro-ecological production sector.
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  • Date Issued: 2020

Making sense of a scam: MMM Mutual Fund participants in Kagiso negotiate dissenting mainstream new coverage on social media

  • Authors: Boqo, Bella Makhulu
  • Date: 2020
  • Subjects: Ponzi schemes -- South Africa , Fraud -- South Africa , Social media -- Influence -- South Africa , Mavrodi Mondial Moneybox -- In mass media
  • Language: English
  • Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
  • Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/145771 , vital:38465
  • Description: Pyramid, Ponzi and various fraudulent investment schemes are common feature in post-apartheid South Africa. The record levels of participation have generated much discussion in public discourse. Newspapers often abound with reports of participants who’ve lost large sums of money – in many instances their life savings. While on social media, thousands debate the merits and threats of new ventures as they emerge, in some instances using these platforms as the newest recruitment platforms. The sheer size and frequency of their appearance especially in post-revolutionary societies – those which experienced dramatic structural transformation following the end of the Cold War and growth of a neoliberal market economy – has drawn substantive scholarly attention. Much like media reports, however, this research often points to the morality of such practices, asking questions like what factors lead people to make the apparently irrational decision to participate in a scam? This study, however, contributes to a different body of emerging literature concerned with the larger structural contexts in which such forms of economic practice and organisation exist, and the meanings participants make of their involvement. Looking at the recently high profile of case of Mavrodi Mondial Moneybox (MMM), it employs a qualitative research methodology rooted in cultural studies to examine how participants based in the Johannesburg township of Kagiso used social media, specifically WhatsApp, to make sense of and contest the dissenting mainstream news coverage about MMM. Ultimately, it is a question of how their participation in particularly illegal pyramid or Ponzi type schemes and opposition to traditional news reports are rooted in their lived experiences, and what opportunities social media offer as alternate platforms for meaning-making, deliberation and public contestation.
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  • Date Issued: 2020

A hydrogeological investigation of Grahamstown, assessing both the dynamics and quality of the local groundwater system

  • Authors: Smetherham, Kyle Norman
  • Date: 2019
  • Subjects: Hydrogeology -- South Africa -- Makhanda , Water quality -- South Africa -- Makhanda , Groundwater -- Quality -- South Africa -- Makhanda
  • Language: English
  • Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MSc
  • Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/94444 , vital:31045
  • Description: In many parts of South Africa, complete allocation of surface water reservoirs together with current drought conditions has led to serious water shortages and subsequent awareness regarding the importance to save water. Grahamstown is no different, with water problems relating to low supply and high demand being compounded by insufficient treatment capacity and aging infrastructure. Groundwater is an alternative water resource that could potentially act as a supplementary and/or emergency supply to the town, reducing the reliability on surface reservoirs. Groundwater however, is a hidden resource and requires an understanding of various aquifer properties and continuous monitoring and modelling so not to permanently disrupt the natural system but rather achieve sustainable management. Grahamstown is situated towards the northern extent of the Cape Fold Belt (CFB) system, within a synclinal fold structure. The local geology forms two local aquifer systems beneath Grahamstown that directly influence both the dynamics and quality of the groundwater. These underground reservoirs are the Witpoort and Dwyka aquifers and can be described as a semi-confined, fractured, quartzitic sandstone aquifer and an unconfined, fractured, tillite aquifer, respectively. Separating these aquifer systems is a shale aquitard, although due to the fractured nature of the rocks in the region there is most likely some groundwater interaction between them. Evaluation of geological formations together with the monitoring of 31 local boreholes presented a valuable conceptualisation of the local system and allowed for the application of methods to estimate recharge. Recharge estimation is one of the most crucial factors when managing aquifer systems as it can be used to determine what proportion of rainfall contributes to the subsurface reservoir and therefore, the sustainable amount that can be extracted. Various methods have been developed to estimate recharge, however due to the uncertainty surrounding groundwater systems, especially fractured aquifers, it was important to apply multiple methods to validate results. The water-table fluctuation (WTF) and cumulative rainfall departure (CRD) are two methods that were used in the present study to determine recharge. These methods rely on water-table changes in boreholes and specifically how they respond to rainfall events. Along with the WTF and CRD methods, a modelling approach was also used to estimate recharge which focused on the dynamics of a natural groundwater outlet, termed the Fairview Spring. This natural spring system is located just outside the main town of Grahamstown, within the Witpoort aquifer system, and is an important water resource to many residents due to poor supply and quality of municipal water. Monitoring the discharge of this spring allowed for the development of a model which attempts to recreate the discharge conditions observed. Along with groundwater recharge, other processes added to the model include evapotranspiration, storage, interflow spring outflow and groundwater outflow. Several different model simulation scenarios provided valuable insight into the greater groundwater dynamics. In terms of groundwater quality, nine borehole samples and one spring sample were analysed for major ions (Ca, Na, K, Cl, Mg, SO4, HCO3), metals (Cu, Fe, Mn) as well as pH and electrical conductivity. Overall electrical conductivity levels and major ion concentrations were lower in the Witpoort aquifer indicating a better groundwater quality compared to that of the Dwyka aquifer. Of the three metals included in the analysis, Mn proved to be the most significant and the highest concentrations were produced for samples that intersected the shale aquitard unit, suggesting that Mn-containing groundwater is drawn from this geological layer. Development of a supplementary and/or emergency groundwater supply requires careful consideration of the geology, quantity, quality, and recharge in the study site. All these aspects were assessed as well as deliberation into the potential infrastructural costs involved. Through conceptualisation of the system; evidence gathered during basic monitoring; and a simple spring model, the current study aimed to explore certain management strategies and recommend potential options going forward. The hidden nature of the resource together with the heterogeneity of fracture networks creates an inevitable uncertainty surrounding the system. Proper development and management of the aquifer can only be achieved if the system is continually monitored, modelled and utilised sustainably.
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  • Date Issued: 2019

Positioning 'the self': comparative case studies of first generation students' academic identities when home meets campus in a rapidly transforming higher education context

  • Authors: Alcock, Andrea
  • Date: 2017
  • Subjects: First-generation college students -- South Africa , First-generation college students -- South Africa -- Case studies , Social perception -- South Africa , Educational equalization -- South Africa , College students -- South Africa -- Attitudes , College students, Black -- South Africa -- Attitudes , College students, Black -- South Africa -- Psychology
  • Language: English
  • Type: Thesis , Masters , MEd
  • Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/6897 , vital:21198
  • Description: This research offers an in-depth view of the self-positioning of a sample of seven first generation students in an extended curriculum programme for Arts and Design at the Durban University of Technology. This comparative case study aims to examine how these participants took up, held or resisted positions, during the transitional process of entering a university. The students' responses were elicited in order to explore the development of student academic identity in this stage of late adolescence. Using positioning theory as an analytical framework, a visual methodology was employed to generate data during photo-elicitation interviews. For these, participants were invited to take metaphorical and non-mimetic photographs, in response to the prompt "Take photographs that show you as a student at home and on campus". Themes that surfaced were examined using positioning theory where the storylines, speech acts and rights and duties form the apex points of the positioning triangle that acts as a framework to analyse the participants' narratives. The study revealed the ways in which participants positioned their home communities and thereby developed their own agency. The majority of the participants used their self-positioning in relation to these home communities to build their academic identities. It was evident in the data that certain role models and peers played a significant part in such self-positioning. The rural to urban migration described by some of the participants indicated that the transition students navigated as they developed their academic identities was profound. The university was often perceived in this process as a powerful structure which offered opportunities but could simultaneously be experienced as alienating. Financial challenges added to the complexity of this experience. The development of student academic identity was evident in positioning statements of the participants and, in some cases, a professional identity was revealed. The analysis indicated that the participants were able to use their self-positioning to overcome many of their challenges through the creation of agential power and resilience. Furthermore the emergence of academic identity seemed to give rise to a positive view of 'the self' in relation to the period of transition to university.
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  • Date Issued: 2017

Street tree composition, distribution and urban residents’ perceptions within and between Eastern Cape towns

  • Authors: Gwedla, Nanamhla
  • Date: 2016
  • Subjects: Urbanization -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Urban ecology (Sociology) -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Tree planting -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Trees in cities -- Environmental aspects -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Urban forestry -- Law and legislation -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Low-income housing -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
  • Language: English
  • Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc
  • Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/4702 , vital:20714
  • Description: Promoting urban sustainability is vital in the face of rapid human and urban population growth. A core tenet of urban sustainability, urban forestry, is poised to “go global” with the intent of mitigating the negative environmental and social effects of urbanisation through green infrastructure, spaces and trees. Amongst these, the planting of street trees has become a major strategy. The public functions of street trees as demonstrated through the provision of ecosystem services are highly dependent on the structure, composition and diversity of tree species within the urban forest. The bulk of available literature on the composition, diversity and perceptions of residents regarding street trees has largely focused on the developed world, while the few in the developing world have been conducted at only one or two sites. The aim of this study was to investigate the composition, diversity and density of urban street trees in relation to the perceptions of local residents and horticulturists, across a range of ecological and social contexts. To do this, the species composition, diversity and dominance of street trees planted in 10 randomly selected Eastern Cape towns was assessed. Within each town ten replicate 200 m transects were located in three different suburbs. Perceptions and appreciation of street trees were assessed by 1 200 household questionnaires, as well as key informant interviews with personnel responsible for street tree planting and maintenance. Sixty-nine out of 300 sampled transects had street trees, with 888 trees enumerated, spanning ninety-seven species. Alien tree species accounted for 71 % of all the enumerated trees while indigenous trees species accounted for 12 %. The non-former homeland towns had a significantly higher (5.8±1.6 trees) mean street tree density per transect than the former homeland towns (0.6±03). There were no significant relationships between street tree density or richness to mean annual rainfall or the background biome in which the town was situated. However, density strongly was related to size of the town. RDP and township suburbs had fewer street trees and low species richness relative to the affluent suburbs. In selecting street trees, root system of the prospective tree, the eventual size or shape of the species, whether an alien or indigenous species, and the species’ adaptability to the climate of the respective town are considered before planting. The biggest identified threats to street trees were the deliberate vandalism of trees by people and animals, and lack of education and awareness regarding the importance of street trees among urban residents and municipal officials. More than half of the respondents prefer that trees be planted both on the street and in their yards while a few do not want trees at all. The majority of respondents with this preference do so because they want shade and abundant fruit, and to have beautiful yards and streets. Those who do not want trees at all do so because they just do not like trees, there is no space for trees, or they fear that criminals hide behind trees. The presence of trees in peoples’ yards correlated with a positive preference for trees in the street. The majority of respondents were neither satisfied with the general appearance of their street nor with the number of trees on their street. Residents from the RDP suburbs were the least satisfied with both the appearance and number of trees on their streets, while those from the affluent suburbs were the most satisfied. Street trees were seen as greatly important to have by the majority of people. The more educated people were more appreciative of the importance of street trees. Local municipalities were identified by the majority of respondents as the stakeholders responsible for the planting and maintenance of street trees, although a considerable proportion of respondents reported a willingness to volunteer to help plant and maintain trees on their streets. Municipalities were seen as doing very little to provide and maintain trees in the various suburbs by the majority of respondents. The majority of respondents also reported that they had never been consulted about tree planting activities in their suburbs before, and would like to have been consulted.
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  • Date Issued: 2016

Hardware evolution of a digital circuit using a custom VLSI architecture

  • Authors: Van den Berg, Allan Edward
  • Date: 2013
  • Subjects: Digital electronics , Field programmable gate arrays , Sequential machine theory
  • Language: English
  • Type: Thesis , Masters , MEngineering (Mechatronics)
  • Identifier: vital:9661 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/d1020984
  • Description: This research investigates three solutions to overcoming portability and scalability concerns in the Evolutionary Hardware (EHW) field. Firstly, the study explores if the V-FPGA—a new, portable Virtual-Reconfigurable-Circuit architecture—is a practical and viable evolution platform. Secondly, the research looks into two possible ways of making EHW systems more scalable: by optimising the system’s genetic algorithm; and by decomposing the solution circuit into smaller, evolvable sub-circuits or modules. GA optimisation is done is by: omitting a canonical GA’s crossover operator (i.e. by using an algorithm); applying evolution constraints; and optimising the fitness function. The circuit decomposition is done in order to demonstrate modular evolution. Three two-bit multiplier circuits and two sub-circuits of a simple, but real-world control circuit are evolved. The results show that the evolved multiplier circuits, when compared to a conventional multiplier, are either equal or more efficient. All the evolved circuits improve two of the four critical paths, and all are unique. Thus, it is experimentally shown that the V-FPGA is a viable hardware-platform on which hardware evolution can be implemented; and how hardware evolution is able to synthesise novel, optimised versions of conventional circuits. By comparing the and canonical GAs, the results verify that optimised GAs can find solutions quicker, and with fewer attempts. Part of the optimisation also includes a comprehensive critical-path analysis, where the findings show that the identification of dependent critical paths is vital in enhancing a GA’s efficiency. Finally, by demonstrating the modular evolution of a finite-state machine’s control circuit, it is found that although the control circuit as a whole makes use of more than double the available hardware resources on the V-FPGA and is therefore not evolvable, the evolution of each state’s sub-circuit is possible. Thus, modular evolution is shown to be a successful tool when dealing with scalability.
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  • Date Issued: 2013

The phenomenology of psychiatric diagnosis: an exploration of the experience of intersubjectivity

  • Authors: Bradfield, Bruce Christopher
  • Date: 2003
  • Subjects: Mental illness -- Diagnosis , Intersubjectivity , Stereotypes (Social psychology)
  • Language: English
  • Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
  • Identifier: vital:2941 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002450 , Mental illness -- Diagnosis , Intersubjectivity , Stereotypes (Social psychology)
  • Description: This work is born out of previous research, conducted by this researcher, into the effects of psychiatric labelling on individuals thus differentiated. Informed by the investigative thrust of phenomenological inquiry, it is the aim herein to provide an illumination of the dramatic confrontation of the labelled individual with the classificatory branding that is his or her label. The question asked is: What is the experience of the labelled individual, and how does the label function as a ‘scientific fact’ (Kiesler, 2000) suffused within his being? In answering these questions, the researcher aims to abandon his own expectations, as is fitting with the phenomenological method, and to devote his sympathies entirely to the subjective disclosures which, it is hoped, the participants will offer. On this point, an obvious tension exists insofar as expectation and hypothesis necessarily constitute the inception of any research endeavour; and so, the notion of a complete bracketing of assumption and anticipation seems methodologically vague. The explorative impetus within this dissertation aims towards an elucidation of the effect of psychiatric diagnosis on the labelled individual, in terms of the individual’s experience of being-with-others. The impact of the offering of the label upon the individual’s interpersonal and intersubjective presence will be explored so as to establish whether psychiatric labelling unfolds as a disconnection of the individual from his co-existence with others.
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  • Date Issued: 2003

Tackling mild head injury in rugby: a comparison of the cognitive profiles of professional rugby and cricket players

  • Authors: Reid, Iain Robert
  • Date: 1999
  • Subjects: Head -- Wounds and injuries -- Complications , Rugby football injuries , Neuropsychological tests , Cricket -- Accidents
  • Language: English
  • Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
  • Identifier: vital:3043 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002552 , Head -- Wounds and injuries -- Complications , Rugby football injuries , Neuropsychological tests , Cricket -- Accidents
  • Description: The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of cumulative mild head injury on the cognitive functioning of professional rugby players. A comprehensive battery of neuropsychological tests was administered to 26 professional rugby players and to a comparison group of 21 professional cricket players. The group test results of the rugby, cricket, rugby forwards and rugby backline players were each compared with established normative data. Generally, the comparison of the rugby and cricket mean scores relative to the normative data did not reveal significant differences on tests known to be sensitive to the effects of mild head injury. However, the comparison of variability for each of the rugby and cricket playing groups relative to variability for the normative data, revealed a pattern of increased variability among the rugby players. This implies a bimodal distribution in which a significant number of rugby players were performing poorly across these tests whereas a significant proportion were not. This variability effect was accounted for by further mean score comparisons which revealed that, as a group, it was the forward players whose performances were disproportionately poor on tests sensitive to the effects of mild head injury. The implications of these results are developed theoretically within the context of brain reserve capacity theory and suggestions for future research are provided.
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  • Date Issued: 1999

Thematic integrity in filmic versions of E.M. Forster's novels

  • Authors: Hayes, Kalmia Joy
  • Date: 1998
  • Subjects: Forster, E. M. (Edward Morgan), 1879-1970. Passage to India , Forster, E. M. (Edward Morgan), 1879-1978. Where Angels Fear To Tread , Forster, E. M. (Edward Morgan), 1879-1978. Howards End , Sturridge, Charles , Merchant Ivory Productions , Lean, David, 1908-1991 , Film adaptations , Motion pictures -- Plots, themes, etc
  • Language: English
  • Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
  • Identifier: vital:2218 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002261 , Forster, E. M. (Edward Morgan), 1879-1970. Passage to India , Forster, E. M. (Edward Morgan), 1879-1978. Where Angels Fear To Tread , Forster, E. M. (Edward Morgan), 1879-1978. Howards End , Sturridge, Charles , Merchant Ivory Productions , Lean, David, 1908-1991 , Film adaptations , Motion pictures -- Plots, themes, etc
  • Description: This study discusses the extent to which Charles Sturridge's Where Angels Fear to Tread, Merchant Ivory's Howards End, and David Lean's A Passage to India have aimed at, and succeeded in, exploring the thematic concerns of E.M. Forster's novels. A brief introductory chapter explains the motivation behind this research, and the choice of critical methodologies used. It concludes with an outline of some of the problems confronting film-makers wishing to explore the concerns of novels. The first chapter, which is devoted to Where Angels Fear to Tread, reveals that while Sturridge is "faithful" to Forster's novel at a superficial level, basing most of his scenes on, and taking most of his dialogue directly from, the text, he does not explore Forster's themes. The facility with which film tells stories proves to be a treacherous trap for Sturridge. His version of Where Angels Fear to Tread is totally vacuous because he failed to develop anything beyond the story -- Forster's "tapeworm" of time (Aspects of the NoyeI41). The causality that Forster calls plot seemed beyond Sturridge's comprehension, leaving his film little more than an endless progression of "and then[s]" (Forster, Aspects 87). Characters are not given their full weight; symbols and leitmotifs are overlooked; the allegorical elements he did recognize, he failed to understand, and thus misplaced, so that the epiphanic moments of the novel are lost. There is no possibility of thematic concerns emerging from a film in which plot, characterization, symbol and rhythm are ignored. Sturridge's apparent inability to understand his source is in stark contrast to Merchant Ivory's sensitivity to Howards End, and their evident familiarity with literary criticism on the work. Chapter two explores the way in which their adaptation smooths out putative flaws in characterization and plot, and uses filmic rhythm and camera work to suggest comments made by the novel's narrator. Almost wholly successful in developing the novel's themes, Merchant Ivory's Howards End does not, however, successfully explore the spiritual dimensions of Forster's novel. Film is a medium capable of great subtlety, but its strength lies in its ability to capture the seen; the unseen tends to evade its grasp. It is in dealing with the unseen that Lean's A Passage to India misses greatness, for in virtually every other respect his version of Forster's masterpiece is superb. Chapter three explores Lean's creative and flexible approach to adaptation, his acute sensitivity to the differing demands of film and novel, and his confident technical mastery. It also explores, however, the emptiness at the heart of his film, an emptiness that is the result of his trivialization of the spiritual concerns of Forster's novel.
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  • Date Issued: 1998

Obedient daughter, silenced witch: the hysteric in Freudian psychoanalysis

  • Authors: Roux, Catharina
  • Date: 1989
  • Subjects: Freud, Sigmund, 1856-1939 -- Criticism and interpretation , Hysteria , Psychoanalysis , Seduction
  • Language: English
  • Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
  • Identifier: vital:3117 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1004637 , Freud, Sigmund, 1856-1939 -- Criticism and interpretation , Hysteria , Psychoanalysis , Seduction
  • Description: This study explores the theoretical consequences of Freud's renunciation of the seduction theory. The dissertation defends the thesis that the seduction theory was shaped as much by Freud's adherence to the nomonological model as by the empirical evidence of child sexual abuse. A renunciation of the seduction theory was inevitable, not because the accounts of the daughters were lies, but because the methodology was inappropriate. The nomonological model obscured the emotional structure of the nuclear family in which the structure itself, through which sexuality emerged, directed the girl's entrance into womanhood and caused the woman's dis-ease. Freud's methodology forced him to isolate an event as cause of an illness and to attribute the event to an agent. The universal perversity of the Victorian father thus became the central theme around which an explanation of a female disease was built. When this theme became theoretically untenable, Freud renounced the seduction theory and, still using the nomonological model, built up the construct of the Oedipus complex in which the father was vindicated. In order to exonerate the father, the transactions through which the child's libido developed were represented as originating in inherent tendencies. As a result, the hierarchical nature of the interaction between parent and child was distorted, and this led to the formulation of the distinction between real events and fantasies as a basic premise on which the difference between the pleasure principle and the reality principle rests. This formulation gave rise to the sharp duality between fantasy and reality which eventually compelled him to separate psychic reality and social reality. The theoretical structure built on this duality could not but fuse hysteria, masochism and "normal" femininity into an explanation of the female state, and obscure the essential social relations between men and women which were structured in terms of dominance and submission. The thesis traces the journey from the perverted father as cause of a female disease, hysteria, to the theoretical conjunction of masochism and hysteria. It comes to the conclusion that Freud's model is unable to explain the self-mutilation of the hysteric; nor is it capable of explaining the hysteric's refusal to participate in the circuit of symbolic exchanges which constituted Victorian society. The study further attempts to understand hysteria in terms of the complex interlacing of fact and fantasy and tries to show that fantasy was rooted in the facts of Victorian culture.
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  • Date Issued: 1989

The effects of externally induced socio-economic and political changes in rural areas: the Keiskammahoek district 1948-1986: a pilot project

  • Authors: de Wet, Christopher J , Leibbrandt, M V , Palmer, Robin C G , Mills, M E , Tantsi, V
  • Date: 1989
  • Subjects: Land use -- South Africa -- Keiskammahoek Keiskammahoek (South Africa) -- Economic conditions Keiskammahoek (South Africa) -- Social conditions Ciskei (South Africa) -- Social conditions Ciskei (South Africa) -- Economic conditions
  • Language: English
  • Type: Book , Text
  • Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/1848 , vital:20233 , ISBN 0868101893
  • Description: This Working Paper contains the results of a pilot investigation undertaken in 1986/87 in selected areas of the Keiskammahoek District of Ciskei. The pilot study was undertaken in order to compile a comprehensive plan for a long-term study of the Keiskammahoek District as a whole. Such a study would be designed to analyse socio-economic and political changes which have taken place in the District, measured against the results of a major multidisciplinary research project (The Keiskammahoek Rural Survey) which was undertaken in the area between 1948 and 1950. The existence of the Keiskammahoek Rural Survey affords a unique opportunity for comparative social science research, particularly because it is well known that substantial changes have taken place in the District. However, the precise nature and scale of the changes were unknown; hence, the decision to conduct a pilot survey first. The results of the pilot survey, published here, have turned out to be extremely valuable in formulating proposals for a subsequent on-going research undertaking; and have fully justified the time and money devoted to the exploratory investigation which constituted the basis of the pilot project. , Digitised by Rhodes University Library on behalf of the Institute of Social and Economic Research (ISER)
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  • Date Issued: 1989

Studies in the plant ecology of Fern Kloof near Grahamstown

  • Authors: Seagrief, S C
  • Date: 1950
  • Subjects: Plant communities -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Plant ecology -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Plants -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Forest ecology -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
  • Language: English
  • Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc
  • Identifier: vital:4267 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1014299
  • Description: The area studied at Fern Kloof, near Grahamstown, consists of a strip of vegetation approximately 260 yds. long and 50 yds. wide, in which there are two communities: 1) indigenous forest 2) exotic Pine forest (which has only one tree species Pinus pinaster). Throughout the thesis this species is referred to as the pine. The object of the investigation has been to determine whether these communities are natural or not. This has involved a study of the floristic composition, the life forms and the structure of the plant communities. In addition, various soil and environmental factors have been studied.
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  • Date Issued: 1950
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