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Steam activation, characterisation and adsorption studies of activated carbon from maize tassels.

- Olorundare, O F, Msagati, Titus A, Krause, Rui W M, Okonkwo, J O, Mamba, Bhekie B

Authors: Olorundare, O F , Msagati, Titus A , Krause, Rui W M , Okonkwo, J O , Mamba, Bhekie B
Date: 2014
Language: English
Type: text , article
Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/123847 , vital:35507 , https://doi.org/10.1080/02757540.2013.877001
Description: In this paper, steam-produced activated carbon (STAC) from maize tassel (MT) was evaluated for its ability to remove basic dye (methylene blue MB) from aqueous solution in a batch adsorption process. The equilibrium experiments were conducted in the range of 50–300 mg/L initial MB concentrations at 30°C, for effect of pH, adsorbent dosage and contact time. The experimental data were analysed by Langmuir, Freundlich and Temkin isotherm models of adsorption. Freundlich adsorption isotherm was found to have highest value of R2(R2=0.97) compared to other models of Langmuir and Temkin having (0.96 and 0.95 respectively). STAC has a high adsorptive capacity for MB dye (200 mg/g) and also showed favourable adsorption for the dye with the separation factor for the dye-activated carbon system. The kinetic data obtained were analysed using pseudo first-order kinetic equation and pseudo second-order kinetic equation. The experimental data fitted well into pseudo second-order kinetic equation, as demonstrated by the high value of R2.
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Date Issued: 2014

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Re-imagining Ourselves: Odyssey and Anthropology in the southwest Indian Ocean Islands

- Boswell, Rosabelle

Authors: Boswell, Rosabelle
Date: 2013-07-24
Language: English
Type: Text
Identifier: vital:570 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1004363
Description: How is identity reconstructed in places where oppression still lingers? This question has intrigued me for the past 15 years and I have sought to answer it by undertaking a voyage back to the Southwest Indian Ocean region, the place of my birth and space of incredible diversity and early globalisations. My proposed lecture discusses the politics of identity, as well as the influence of contemporary social phenomena on the islands, specifically international tourism and heritage management. I argue that the islanders are keen to re-imagine self and community so as to produce alternative identities, networks and sources of power in a still oppressive context – and that this process is vital to care, solidarity and the pursuit of social justice. Doing research in Mauritius, Madagascar, Seychelles and Zanzibar also revealed to me that anthropology is perplexing and rewarding, since it involves difficult ‘returns’, learning with others and seeing power where the apparently powerless reside. I conclude that being in the Indian Ocean region positively changed the way I perceive and experience fieldwork, and that my findings thus far, underscore the relevance of anthropology to contemporary Africans and their ‘cousins’ in the African Diaspora.
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Date Issued: 2013-07-24

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Controls on the formation of Wakkerstroom Vlei, Mpumalanga province, South Africa:

- Joubert, R, Ellery, William F N

Authors: Joubert, R , Ellery, William F N
Date: 2013
Language: English
Type: text , article
Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/144421 , vital:38344 , DOI: 10.2989/16085914.2012.762897
Description: The present study investigated controls on the formation of Wakkerstroom Vlei, an 1 000 ha unchannelled valley-bottom wetland on the South African Highveld. Along the uppermost and lowermost reaches of the wetland, where dolerite outcrops occur along the main valley, hydrogeomorphic features typical of geological control on wetland formation are present, including a meandering river channel, oxbow lakes and greater than 3 m deep organic-poor alluvial fill. Along the main body of the wetland, however, floodplain features are absent, alluvial fill is up to 4.5 m deep and contains up to 2 m deep accumulations of peat. These characteristics deviate from the traditional model of dolerite control on wetland formation described by several other studies on Highveld wetland systems.
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Date Issued: 2013

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Making meaning of citizenship: how ‘born frees’ use media in South Africa's democratic evolution

- Malila, Vanessa, Oeofsen, Marietjie, Garman, Anthea

Authors: Malila, Vanessa , Oeofsen, Marietjie , Garman, Anthea
Date: 2013
Language: English
Type: text , article
Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/159790 , vital:40344 , DOI: 10.1080/02500167.2013.852598
Description: By examining young people's habits of using the media in relation to citizenship, this article responds to calls that the starting point for research into citizenship and democracy should be the perspectives of citizens themselves. Drawing on both quantitative and qualitative research with young South Africans (the ‘born free’ generation), the study sought to gain insight into how young people use media to make sense of notions of citizenship and participatory democracy in ways that are relevant and reliable to their everyday lives.
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Date Issued: 2013

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Marxisms past and present

- Helliker, Kirk D, Vale, Peter C J

Authors: Helliker, Kirk D , Vale, Peter C J
Date: 2013
Language: English
Type: text , article
Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/71263 , vital:29825 , https://doi.org/10.1177/0725513612470532
Description: Marxism was central to the understanding of South Africa’s struggle for freedom. This article provides a critical analysis of Marxist literature on South Africa since the 1970s, drawing out its relevance for contemporary analyses of the post-apartheid state and for radical politics today. It suggests that while the literature offered important insights into the character of the apartheid state, it failed to provide a critical appraisal of the state per se. Moreover, the capturing of state power by the liberation movement was not grounded in an understanding of the oppressive character of the state-form. The undermining of mainstream Marxism under neo-liberalizing conditions in post-apartheid South Africa has opened up the prospects for anti-statist radical libertarian thinking (including autonomist Marxism), and this thinking is consistent with the practices of certain autonomist popular politics currently emerging. Social theorizing on South Africa has had a complex relationship with Marxism. This article is interested in drawing on this experience in an effort to understand its implications for the ‘new’ South Africa where, 20 years after apartheid’s formal ending, social transformation remains caught in the logic not of Marxism but neo-liberalizing capitalism.
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Date Issued: 2013

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Rhodes University Library Services Annual Report 2012 : Library Director's message

- Satgoor, Ujala

Authors: Satgoor, Ujala
Date: 2013
Language: English
Type: Text
Identifier: vital:7945 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1011893
Description: Library Director's Message: It gives me great pleasure to present the 2012 annual report of the Rhodes University Library Services. Since 2010 the staff have experienced a variety of impactful changes which included a new building, a new organisational structure, a new practice model and a change of leadership. Change refers to altering one’s approach or attitude; a process which enables transformation, becoming different or doing things differently. Peter Drucker defines innovation as “change that creates a new dimension of performance.” Therefore 2012 can be described as a year of engagement, conversations, consultations, reviews, participation, collaboration and redefinition. In addition to ensuring the delivery of professional services to the Rhodes community, strategy development, quality of service, continuing professional development, human resources management and national professional engagement defines this period. Therefore an effective organization must be prepared to grasp the opportunities, alongside the threats, by responding to the challenge of change to continue adding value to its defined audience. An innovative organization focuses on the following four significant areas: • Alignment of internal strategies to corporate/institutional goals and strategies • People, skills and roles • Defined workflows or processes • Cultural engagement and support The process towards crafting a new strategic directions and articulating an organizational culture commenced with a 2-day intervention on June 14-15 2012 which was facilitated by Dr Noel Pearse. This exercise proved to be an invaluable experience for the staff, who by taking ownership of the subsequent development of the strategic focus areas and the organisational culture statement, were able to articulate their thoughts, concerns, aspirations and expectations of their organisation. The four strategies identified will go a long way to strengthening and consolidating the RUL: • Positioning the RUL in the intellectual midst of the University community • Dynamic user services to advance the RU research, teaching and learning endeavours • Staff development • Technology and innovation The LibQual online library quality survey conducted during 13-31 August 2012 was a success, which surpassed our expectations. The comparison between the 2005 and 2012 results show a significant improvement in the perceptions of the RU community towards the quality of service, information resources and the library as place. This affirmed that the new Library building and Faculty Library liaison model are serving to locate the library positively in the academic endeavor. However while we savour these results, concerns have been raised about the lack of awareness and proper use of the wide array of electronic resources available. Therefore we will be focusing on a concerted marketing and training campaign to ensure that the subscription-based electronic resources are optimally used by the RU community, especially the academics. I wish to acknowledge the sterling and creative work of the team that led this project. We also bade farewell to Ms Jeanne Berger, who was the former Deputy Director and Acting Director in April 2012. Together with the former Director, Gwenda Thomas, Jeanne drove the reconstruction and renewal project of the RUL. I acknowledge both Gwenda and Jeanne, the University Management and all those who contributed to the realisation of the vision of a modern 21st century academic library.
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Date Issued: 2013

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Voices of the hungry: a qualitative measure of household food access and food insecurity in South Africa

- Chakona, Gamuchirai, Shackleton, Charlie M

Authors: Chakona, Gamuchirai , Shackleton, Charlie M
Date: 2013
Language: English
Type: text , article
Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/67277 , vital:29066 , https://doi.org/10.1186/s40066-017-0149-x
Description: publisher version , Background: South Africa is rated a food secure nation, but large numbers of households within the country have inadequate access to nutrient-rich diverse foods. The study sought to investigate households’ physical and economic access and availability of food, in relation to local context which influences households’ access to and ability to grow food which may affect the dietary quality. We sought to understand self-reported healthy diets, food insecurity from the perspective of people who experienced it, barriers to household food security and perceptions and feelings on food access as well as strategies households use to cope with food shortages and their perceptions on improving household food security. Methods: Focus group discussions were conducted along a rural–urban continuum in three South African towns situated along an agro-ecological gradient. Participants were asked about their knowledge of healthy diets, factors influencing their food consumption, their perceptions regarding food insecurity, barriers to food security, coping strategies and solutions to improve access to nutrient-rich foods. Results: A total of 91 people participated in 11 focus groups, with 76% females. The majority of participants aged between 31 and 50 years. Participants were knowledgeable about healthy diets but had limited access to it hence consumed monotonous diets. The perceptions provided insights into the pressing issues of inadequate access to food, food insecurity, coping strategies and ideas on improving food security. The majority of participants reported on experiencing food insecurity and female-headed households, unemployed and orphaned children were most vulnerable. Focus group participants highlighted the complexity of the food system in their communities which relies on own production, collecting from open spaces, donations and to a larger extent purchase, in the context of unemployment, low income, water and land shortages as well as theft. Conclusion: The results provide a significant contribution from a needs assessment perspective from the communities, identify “hidden” constrains in household food access and provide effective future solutions for improving food security in the communities. Government should assist with capacity building, employment creation and providing resources (especially, land and water) for communities to practise agriculture which they all agreed can improve food security.
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Date Issued: 2013

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Design of realistic hybrid marine resource management programs in Oceania

- Aswani, Shankar, Ruddle, Kenneth

Authors: Aswani, Shankar , Ruddle, Kenneth
Date: 2012
Language: English
Type: text , article
Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/70615 , vital:29681 , https://doi.org/10.2984/67.3.11
Description: This review article synthesizes the authors' several decades of multidisciplinary natural and social science and applied marine resource management experience in the Asia-Pacific region to examine the strengthening of coastal and marine resource management and conservation using alliances between local communities and external institutions. The objective is to assist the design of resource management and conservation programs that enhance the capacity of coastal communities in Oceania to confront both diminishing marine resources and the effects of climate change by providing guidelines for protecting marine biodiversity and vulnerable ecosystem functions. This article describes a management framework that hybridizes local beliefs and institutions expressed in customary management (CM) with such modern management concepts as marine protected areas (MPAs) and ecosystem-based management (EBM). Hybrid management accommodates the social, political, economic, and cultural contexts of Oceanic communities and, compared with recent or conventional management approaches, can therefore better address fundamental local concerns such as coastal degradation, climate change, sea level rise, weak governance, corruption, limited resources and staff to manage and monitor marine resources, and increasing poverty. Research on the hybridization of management systems demonstrates opportunities to establish context-appropriate EBM and/or other managerial arrangements that include terrestrial and adjacent coastal-marine ecosystems. Formal and informal CM systems are widespread in Oceania and in some parts of Southeast Asia, and if appropriate strategies are employed rapid progress toward hybrid CM-EBM could be enabled.
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Date Issued: 2012

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Dragging young people down the drain: the mobile phone, gossip mobile website Outoilet and the creation of a mobile ghetto

- Schoon, Alette

Authors: Schoon, Alette
Date: 2012
Language: English
Type: text , article
Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/147858 , vital:38679 , DOI: 10.1080/02560046.2012.744723
Description: This qualitative study uses the domestication model to describe how a geographically based gossip mobile website, Outoilet (old toilet), helped to shape the meanings of everyday life for young adults in Hooggenoeg, a poor black low-income urban settlement in Grahamstown, South Africa. All the residents here know one another and there is very little privacy, and the mobile phone, during the period of this research, reinforced the lack of privacy through gossip. Such gossip promoted an inward-looking collective sociability. As this article demonstrates, subjects of gossip avoided the streets to escape collective surveillance. Outoilet's explicit sexual language seemed to target those who attempted social mobility by replicating local discourses of respectability and shame. Contrary to findings from other contexts, the mobile phone here thus promoted a collective sociability and may have discouraged mobility as well as economic development.
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Date Issued: 2012

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Integrating stomach content and stable isotope analyses to elucidate the feeding habits of non-native sharptooth catfish Clarias gariepinus

- Kadye, Wilbert T, Booth, Anthony J

Authors: Kadye, Wilbert T , Booth, Anthony J
Date: 2012
Language: English
Type: text , article
Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/124843 , vital:35703 , https://doi.10.1007/s10530-011-0116-6
Description: Sharptooth catfish Clarias gariepinus was introduced into the Eastern Cape Province, South Africa, in 1976 and there are concerns about its possible negative impacts on native biota. This study investigated its trophic impact by examining its feeding habits. Stomach content and stable isotope analyses were compared from three localities—the Great Fish River, Sundays River and Glen Melville Dam. Stomach content analysis indicated a catholic diet dominated by fish particularly in all localities.Spatially, however, the diets revealed differences based on the dominance of macrophytes that were only present in the rivers, and aquatic invertebrates that appeared more diverse within the Great Fish River compared to other localities. By contrast, stable isotopes revealed a more generalised feeding pattern with no clear dominance of particular prey. Stable isotopes further showed that the catfish was a complex predator, with large catfish being top predators whereas smaller size groups appeared to feed lower in the food chain. An ontogenetic shift in diet was evident, with small fish predominantly consuming aquatic invertebrates and shifting towards fish with increasing size. High dietary overlap suggests the potential risk associated catfish feeding, especially the potential of piscivory by small catfish that are more likely to persist in shallow and marginal where endangered indigenous minnows occur. The alteration of environmental conditions, especially flow by inter basin water transfer (IBWT) schemes, was inferred to have had a probable influence its invasion success. Occurrence of other invaders, which was facilitated by the IBWT together with the catfish, posits the risk of invasion meltdown within the study systems.
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Date Issued: 2012

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Of goals and whores: Football fandom and misogynistic songs at the Rufaro Stadium in Zimbabwe

- Chiweshe, Manase K

Authors: Chiweshe, Manase K
Date: 2012
Subjects: To be catalogued
Language: English
Type: text , book chapter
Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/453404 , vital:75251 , ISBN 9789956763931 , https://doi.org/10.1080/14680777.2011.623170
Description: This chapter focuses on the creation and recreation of women’s bodies through songs and chants among football fans in Harare. It offers an analysis of how stadiums are arenas for the celebration and reinforcement of hegemonic masculinities. Football fandom has proved a fertile ground for the display of masculine identities and the stadium has proved a readymade arena for the playing out of these identities. Fandom is a bastion of hegemonic masculinity. Football stadiums provide an arena in which masculinity is constructed around a clear and distinct set of defining norms. Exaltation of manhood is part of football in Zimbabwe. Patriarchal views on women are played out in the game of football through songs and chants. Hegemonic masculinity is performed and reinforced within the stadiums. Vulgar and misogynistic language ensures that watching football in Zimbabwe remains a male domain. The following discussion endeavors to offer a critical analysis of the songs and chants at football matches in Zimbabwe. Such songs and chants have become an important part of football fandom and are expressions of hegemonic masculinities. The chapter offers an analysis of the creation and recreation of woman’s body and its portrayal within the stadiums.
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Date Issued: 2012

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Quality of life in Grahamstown, East London and Mdantsane: preliminary result

- Helliker, Kirk D, Bekker, Simon, Lambie, Eileen

Authors: Helliker, Kirk D , Bekker, Simon , Lambie, Eileen
Date: 2012
Language: English
Type: text , article
Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/144756 , vital:38376 , DOI: 10.1080/02580144.1981.10428933
Description: A quality of life survey amongst residents of three Eastern Cape towns, viz. Grahamstown, East London, and Mdantsane, shows that the attitudes to home and neighbourhood which urban residents in the Eastern Cape develop, are fashioned in large part by both the residential “group area” in which these urban dwellers live, and by their socio-economic status. White residents, overwhelmingly, are satisfied with their diets, their municipality, their homes. They feel safe in their homes and are satisfied that police protection is available if needed. For black residents fear of poverty and unemployment, of physical violence, and dissatisfaction with an inadequate diet is widespread. Indian and coloured urban residents who are generally perceived as minorities in Grahamstown and East London, occupy an intermediate position. Their residential areas are sited close to predominantly low income black residential areas. Higher income Indian and coloured households show lower rates of dissatisfaction with diet, housing, and municipal services than the black community.
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Date Issued: 2012

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Substantive second-level reasoning and experiential learning in legal ethics

- Kruuse, Helen

Authors: Kruuse, Helen
Date: 2012
Language: English
Type: text , article
Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/68983 , vital:29345 , https://hdl.handle.net/10520/EJC127082
Description: Publisher version , This article takes a critical look at law teaching in South Africa and seeks to consider how the application of experiential learning theory may assist law students in gaining a deeper understanding of the law in general, and the complexities of real life practice in particular. While clinical legal education is often seen as the locus of experiential learning in law, the author proposes that well-structured simulations in class can achieve similar goals. The article comprises a description of the nature of experiential learning and a further description of the application of the principles of experiential learning in a particular simulation exercise in a Legal Ethics course (using the US case of Wash St Phys Ins Exch v Fisons Corp 858 P2d 1054 (Wash 1993) as a basis). The author posits that the so-called experiential learning "cycle" or "process" enables a process of learning which draws out the students' beliefs and ideas about a topic so that it can be examined, tested and integrated with new, more refined ideas. This notion is then in keeping with the expectation that students who emerge from higher education institutions have developed meta-cognitive skills. Essentially then, it is hoped that, by using the methods proposed in this article, students can then manage their own development and learning throughout life.
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Date Issued: 2012

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Becoming African: debating post-apartheid white South African identities

- Matthews, Sally

Authors: Matthews, Sally
Date: 2011
Language: English
Type: text , article
Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/142409 , vital:38077 , DOI: 10.1080/14725843.2011.530440
Description: The post-apartheid era necessitates the rethinking of white identities in South Africa. One way in which some white South Africans are seeking to redefine themselves is through describing themselves as African. However, claims by white South Africans that they too are Africans have been met with mixed responses from black South Africans. In this article I use contributions to an online university students' forum to explore ways in which some white South Africans are embracing an African identity and to consider ways in which some black South Africans are responding to white South Africans' shifting identities. I use contributions to this forum as a starting point to think about the possibilities and limitations that the embracing of an African identity has for the development of what Frankenberg calls ‘anti-racist forms of whiteness’ among white South Africans.
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Date Issued: 2011

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Biological control of cactaceae in South Africa

- Paterson, Iain D, Hoffmann, John H, Klein, Hildegard, Mathenge, C W, Neser, Stephan, Zimmermann, Helmuth G

Authors: Paterson, Iain D , Hoffmann, John H , Klein, Hildegard , Mathenge, C W , Neser, Stephan , Zimmermann, Helmuth G
Date: 2011
Subjects: To be catalogued
Language: English
Type: text , article
Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/452308 , vital:75119 , https://hdl.handle.net/10520/EJC32918
Description: This review is a summary of developments that have contributed to the success of several biological control programmes against invasive cactus species (Cactaceae) that have been worked on in South Africa over the last 12 years. Six potential biological control agents have been identified for the control of Pereskia aculeata Mill. and molecular studies have identified the origin of the South African P. aculeata population. Host-specificity testing is now required for the three most promising of these agents. The successful biological control programme against Opuntia stricta (Haw.) Haw. has resulted in a change in management strategies against this weed in the Kruger National Park and the control of O. stricta is now almost entirely reliant on biological control. Taxonomic problems associated with the identification of Cylindropuntia fulgida var. fulgida (Engelm.) F.M.Knuth var. fulgida have been resolved and an appropriate cochineal insect (Hemiptera: Dactylopiidae) biotype has been released, resulting in substantial declines in Cyl. fulgida var. fulgida populations. A long-term monitoring programme has been initiated to evaluate the progress of this new cochineal insect biotype. The Harrisia mealybug, Hypogeococcus pungens Granara de Willink (Hemiptera: Pseudococcidae), which was originally released on Harrisia martinii (Labour.) Britton and Rose has been collected and redistributed onto Cereus jamacaru DC., where it reduces fruit production and leads to the death of both seedlings and large plants. Resolving taxonomic problems to ensure the correct identification of plant species and the most appropriate biological control biotypes have been key issues that have led to the successful control of several cactaceous weed species in South Africa.
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Date Issued: 2011

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Climate‐driven genetic divergence of limpets with different life histories across a southeast African marine biogeographic disjunction: different processes, same outcome

- Teske, Peter R, Papadopoulos, Isabelle, Mmonwa, Kolobe L, Matumba, Tshifhiwa G, McQuaid, Christopher D, Barker, Nigel P, Beheregaray, Luciano B

Authors: Teske, Peter R , Papadopoulos, Isabelle , Mmonwa, Kolobe L , Matumba, Tshifhiwa G , McQuaid, Christopher D , Barker, Nigel P , Beheregaray, Luciano B
Date: 2011
Subjects: To be catalogued
Language: English
Type: text , article
Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/445420 , vital:74385 , https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-294X.2011.05307.x
Description: Genetic divergence among populations of marine broadcast spawners in the absence of past geological barriers presents an intriguing challenge to understanding speciation in the sea. To determine how differences in life history affect genetic divergence and demographic histories across incomplete dispersal barriers, we conducted a comparative phylogeographic study of three intertidal limpets (Siphonaria spp.) represented on either side of a biogeographic disjunction separating tropical and subtropical marine provinces in southeastern Africa. Using a combination of mitochondrial and nuclear sequence data, we identified two distinct evolutionary lineages each in both Siphonaria concinna (a planktonic disperser) and S. nigerrima (a direct developer), and panmixia in a second planktonic disperser, S. capensis.
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Date Issued: 2011

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Macrofaunal community structure in the littoral zone of a freshwater-deprived, permanently open Eastern Cape estuary

- Henninger, Tony O, Froneman, P William

Authors: Henninger, Tony O , Froneman, P William
Date: 2011
Subjects: To be catalogued
Language: English
Type: text , article
Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/443954 , vital:74174 , https://doi.org/10.1080/15627020.2011.11407500
Description: Spatial patterns in the macrofauna community structure within four distinct zones of the permanently open, freshwater-deprived Kariega Estuary on the southeastern coastline of southern Africa were investigated in March–May 2010. The zones within the littoral zone comprised a band of Zostera capensis (Setchell) exposed at spring low tide and comprising Zone I; a band of mud or sand, lacking vegetation, corresponded to Zone II; stands of Spartina maritima (Curtis) formed Zone III and a belt of Sarcocornia perennis (Miller) constituted Zone IV.
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Date Issued: 2011

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Small steps to equal dignity: the work of the South African equality courts

- Krüger, Rósaan

Authors: Krüger, Rósaan
Date: 2011
Language: English
Type: text , article
Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/68920 , vital:29339 , http://www.equalrightstrust.org/ertdocumentbank/ERR7_kruger.pdf
Description: Publisher version , Introduction: “The South African Constitution is primarily and emphatically an egalitarian constitution. The supreme laws of comparable constitutional states may underscore other principles and rights. But in the light of our own particular history, and our vision for the future, a constitution was written with equality at its centre. Equality is our Constitution’s focus and organising principle.” Given the foundational role of equality in the South African constitutional framework, the drafters of the South African Constitution (the Constitution) directed the South African Parliament (Parliament) to enact legislation to “prevent or prohibit unfair discrimination” between individuals within three years of the enactment of the Constitution.3 Under great pressure, Parliament finalised and passed the Promotion of Equality and Prevention of Unfair Discrimination Act (the Equality Act) within two days of the constitutional deadline.4 The Equality Act, as the title indicates, addresses the promotion of equality on the one hand, and provides for reactive measures where the equality right is breached, on the other. The reactive provisions include the prohibition of unfair discrimination and related infringements of the equality right. The Equality Act expressly provides for the enforcement of its provisions in specifically created equality courts. The majority of the reactive provisions of the Equality Act have been operational since 16 June 2003. More than a decade after the enactment of the legislation, the promotional aspects of the Equality Act are yet to come into operation. This article focuses on the reactive provisions of the Equality Act by providing a snapshot of the work of selected South African equality courts for the period from June 2003 to December 2007 insofar as complaints of racism are concerned. In order to contextualise the application of the Equality Act, the article provides a brief overview of the reactive provisions of the Equality Act and the mechanisms for its enforcement.
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Date Issued: 2011

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Using molecules and morphology to infer the phylogenetic relationships and evolutionary history of the Dirini (Nymphalidae: Satyrinae), a tribe of butterflies endemic to Southern Africa

- Price, Benjamin W, Villet, Martin H, Walton, Shaun M, Barker, Nigel P

Authors: Price, Benjamin W , Villet, Martin H , Walton, Shaun M , Barker, Nigel P
Date: 2011
Subjects: To be catalogued
Language: English
Type: text , article
Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/442397 , vital:73981 , https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-3113.2010.00560.x
Description: The first empirically supported phylogenetic hypothesis of relationships for the southern African endemic butterfly tribe Dirini is presented. Data derived from the morphology and ecology of the adults and immature stages (33 characters), and portions of the mitochondrial gene cytochrome oxidase I (COI) and the nuclear genes elongation factor 1α (EF1α) and wingless (WG) (totalling 1734 bp) were used to infer the relationships of the in‐group genera. An expanded molecular dataset using four genera from the Nymphalini and Satyrini to root the tree, and three genera from the Melanitini to test the monophyly of the tribe, was analysed using parsimony and Bayesian methods. Estimates of divergence times were calculated using two fossil calibrations under a relaxed molecular clock model. The monophyly of the tribe and each in‐group genus were strongly supported. Key findings are the sister‐taxon relationship of Aeropetes and Tarsocera, the apparent simultaneous or nearly simultaneous radiation of four lineages, the polyphyly of the species within Torynesis, and the apparent trans‐Atlantic dispersal of the ancestors of Manataria about 40 Ma. Estimates of divergence times indicate that the tribe has undergone two major radiations since its origin: the first when they left forest habitats in the mid–late Oligocene, shortly after the radiation of the grasses (Poaceae), and the second in the early‐middle Pliocene, coinciding with the aridification of southern Africa and the spread of conditions that favoured C4 grasses over the C3 grasses that dirine larvae prefer to eat. The high species diversity within the tribe appears to be partly a taxonomic artefact that may have resulted from the misinterpretation of climate-related phenotypic variation within extant species. Relocation and breeding experiments should test this hypothesis.
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Date Issued: 2011

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