Revitalisation of the informal township economy in Mdantsane
- Authors: Dyantyi, Unathi Sisikelelwe
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: Informal sector (Economics) -- South Africa -- Mdantsane Economic development -- South Africa -- Mdantsane
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MBA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/15611 , vital:28276
- Description: The main focus of this study was to perform an assessment of viable and sustainable means of creating a vibrant and sustainable economy in the Mdantsane Township. In order to perform the assessment objectives were formulated which aimed at assessing whether the informal small business sector of Mdantsane was generating wealth and livelihoods for the people running them. The study also looked at whether the informal business sector is a preferred option by most South Africans or people in the townships would rather seek employment. A number of data collection methods were used in completing this study such as literature reviews and a semi-structured questionnaire. The study revealed that Local Economic development can be implemented in the townships in order to assist in stimulating a vibrant local township economy. The study also revealed that the central focus of Local Economic Development is to support the development, growth and retention of private or co-operative enterprises. The survey conducted in the study further revealed that most businesses in the township are driven by necessity in order for them to start their businesses mainly due to unemployment. These businesses all agreed on the significant role that Local Economic Development can play in assisting township entrepreneurs and communities to grow and prosper.
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- Date Issued: 2017
A customer lead qualification model for successful potential customer profiling
- Authors: Rheeder, Andre James
- Date: 2016
- Subjects: Consumer profiling -- Africa , Market surveys -- Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MBA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/3684 , vital:20453
- Description: A key question that marketers and salespeople face is based on the dilemma of which customer to pursue and which not. This choice has far reaching effects in both company success. Investigating a client’s seriousness to make a purchase at the time of an enquiry is key. This will assist the firm in determining which future clients offer the firm the most potential value in sales turnover and company profits. By taking the client’s background and history into consideration the marketer has the opportunity to determine which clients have or have not previously committed to the firm and which did not. By profiling the customer, providing a yardstick against which one can measure probability of a purchase can be developed. New or prospective customer against those attributes of customers can then be benchmarked against the attributes that attest to whether interest and intention to purchase can be converted into a sale. Identifying these customers who will be most likely to make a purchase is a very important area of study for any business that focuses on the marketing and sales of products or services. Having an accurate profile of potential customers, of who will buy and who will not, will play a key role in the success of any organization. The focus of this study will be on investigating the profile of a potential customer/company as a benchmark for sales lead qualification. The profile will also be a precursor to determining the lifetime value of the prospective customer. Profiling of high sales potential customers is a management issue. It directly influences the number of hours key personnel in the sales department spend on key tasks, which can alternatively be spent more productively on other projects.
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- Date Issued: 2016
Influence of anthropogenic stressors on the behaviour and mortality of the endangered African penguin
- Authors: Nyengera, Reason
- Date: 2014
- Subjects: African penguin -- South Africa -- Algoa Bay , Birds -- Mortality -- South Africa -- Algoa Bay , Endangered species -- Breeding -- South Africa -- Algoa Bay
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/3064 , vital:20395
- Description: This study investigated the potential impacts of several anthropogenic stressors on the movement and survival of African penguins in Algoa Bay, taking into account prey availability and environmental conditions (sea surface temperature and chlorophyll productivity). The primary drive for the study was based on the seismic exploration, which took place in the habitat of the endangered African penguin. The research was also carried out to understand how pelagic fishing and prey availability influence the broader behavioural and mortality aspects of penguins. To achieve this goal, I used monthly beach surveys to assess seabird mortality, admissions of penguins in rehabilitation centres and the monitoring of breeding penguins’ movement at sea through individual GPS tracking. In addition, prey distribution and abundance were monitored with acoustic surveys to assess potential changes in relation anthropogenic stressors. Breeding African penguins did not react dramatically to seismic activities, except on St Croix Island where they changed their foraging direction during the seismic period. There was no evidence of a siginficant increase in African penguin carcasses encountered or strandings along the beaches during the period of seismic activity. However, a sharp increase in encounter rate was recorded soon after seismic operations, which may potentially indicate a delay between the effect of seismic activities on penguin mortality and the encounter of the related carcasses after the operation. However, the impact of seismic surveys on penguins may be long-term rather than short term, and additional studies would be needed to reveal long-term effects of seismic activities, if any. Foraging effort of breeding African penguins increased substantially in the presence of commercial fishing activities within close proximity to the colonies. To a greater extent, at-sea movement patterns and counts of beach cast carcasses were largely influenced by prey availability. Penguins spent more time at sea, traveled longer and covered a larger foraging area during periods of relatvely low pelagic fish abundance. There was also a sharp increase in African penguin mortality during periods of low prey availability in the Bay. However, environmental conditions showed some influence over these interactions. Foraging effort of breeding African penguins increased substantially in the presence of commercial fishing activities within close proximity to the colonies. To a greater extent, at-sea movement patterns and counts of beach cast carcasses were largely influenced by prey availability. Penguins spent more time at sea, traveled longer and covered a larger foraging area during periods of relatvely low pelagic fish abundance. There was also a sharp increase in African penguin mortality during periods of low prey availability in the Bay. However, environmental conditions showed some influence over these interactions. For example a red tide event during in period of low prey availability, made it difficult to understand impacts of prey on penguins difficult. Both anthropogenic stressors and environmental conditions influenced African penguins’ behaviour and survival. Due to the worrying trend of African penguins in South Africa for the past few years, all conservation management efforts to increase penguin numbers and limit their mortality are necessary. This study highlights the negative impact of industrial fishing on this Endangered species and the rapid increase in mortality of penguins during times of low prey availability. A network of Marine Protected Areas would certainly increase food availability to African penguins by limiting competition with fisheries, and contribute to increasing the population numbers.
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- Date Issued: 2014
Evaluation of plant extracts : artemisia afra and annona muricata for inhibitory activities against mycobacterium tuberculosis and human immunodeficiency virus
- Authors: Pruissen, Megan Colleen
- Date: 2013
- Subjects: Plant extracts , Medicinal plants -- South Africa , Tuberculosis -- Alternative treatment -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: vital:10341 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/d1019845
- Description: Mycobacterium tuberculosis and Human Immuno-Deficiency Virus (HIV) have a high prevalence in South Africa. The development and spread of drug resistant tuberculosis is a serious problem which is exacerbated by tuberculosis (TB) co-infection in HIV patients. Traditional medicinal plants like Annona muricata and Artemisia afra are used for respiratory ailments and antiviral therapies respectively. The aim of this study was to evaluate Annona muricata (ethanolic extract) and Artemisia afra (ethanolic and aqueous extracts) for inhibitory activities against M. tuberculosis and HIV. In vitro bioassays for anti-TB activity included: microplate alamar blue assay (MABA), flow cytometry and ρ-iodonitrotetrazolium chloride assays while anti-HIV activity was determined using an HIV-1 reverse transcriptase colorimetric ELISA kit and an HIV-1 integrase colorimetric immunoassay. Cytotoxicity of plant extracts were assessed by the MTT assay on Chang Liver and HepG2 cells. Potential synergistic effects were determined using the basis of Combination Index. Potential interactions of plant extracts with drug metabolic pathways were evaluated with the Glutathione-S-Transferase assay kit as well as the CYP3A4 assay kit. A. muricata ethanolic extract exhibited anti-TB activity with MIC 125 μg/mL. MABA was shown to be the most sensitive and effective method for the detection of anti-TB activity. Artemisia afra aqueous extract showed HIV-1 reverse transcriptase inhibition exhibiting ˃85 percent inhibition at 1 mg/mL while the ethanolic extracts of A. afra and A. muricata showed inhibition of HIV-1 integrase activity at ˃86.8 percent and ˃88.54 percent respectively at concentrations >0.5 - 4 mg/mL. The aqueous extract of A. afra displayed inhibition of HIV-1 integrase ˃52.16 percent at 0.5 mg/mL increasing to 72.89 percent at 4 mg/ml of the extract. A. muricata was cytotoxic at an IC50 of 30 μg/mL and 77 μg/mL on Chang Liver and HepG2 cells respectively, whilst A. afra aqueous and ethanol extracts were not cytotoxic to both cell lines. The ethanolic extract of A. muricata showed both antagonistic and synergistic properties at various IC values, when used in conjunction with rifampicin. A. afra ethanolic extract interrupted GST activity while aqueous extracts of A. afra and A. muricata had a slight effect. All extracts interrupted CYP3A4 activity, however the ethanolic extracts of A. muricata and A. afra showed greater inhibition than the aqueous extract of A. afra. These extracts should be investigated further as they could be an important source of compounds for treatment of M. tuberculosis and HIV respectively.
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- Date Issued: 2013