“The Two Cultures reunited: entomology for everyone”
- Authors: Villet, Martin H
- Date: 2009
- Language: English
- Type: Audio , text
- Identifier: vital:587 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1018947
- Description: Fifty years ago C.P. Snow delivered his essay, "The Two Cultures", sparking the schism between the Humanities and the Sciences. This lecture explores cultural entomology as a means of reconciling two other cultures: academia and society, and suggests one way of addressing this alienating dilemma.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2009
- Authors: Villet, Martin H
- Date: 2009
- Language: English
- Type: Audio , text
- Identifier: vital:587 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1018947
- Description: Fifty years ago C.P. Snow delivered his essay, "The Two Cultures", sparking the schism between the Humanities and the Sciences. This lecture explores cultural entomology as a means of reconciling two other cultures: academia and society, and suggests one way of addressing this alienating dilemma.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2009
Workers' perceptions of occupational safety and health administration measures at Sasol Infrachem in Sasolburg
- Authors: Kwayiba, Thamsanqa Felix
- Date: 2009
- Subjects: Petroleum chemicals industry -- Sasolburg , Industrial hygiene -- South Africa -- Sasolburg , Industrial safety -- South Africa -- Sasolburg
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MPhil (Environmental Studies)
- Identifier: vital:11878 , http://hdl.handle.net/10353/d1001090 , Petroleum chemicals industry -- Sasolburg , Industrial hygiene -- South Africa -- Sasolburg , Industrial safety -- South Africa -- Sasolburg
- Description: This is a qualitative study that seeks to explore the workers’ perceptions towards the occupational safety and health administration (OSHA) system at the petrochemical industrial plant Sasol Infrachem in Sasolburg. It provides a platform for shop floor workers to express their subjective perceptions of the company’s OSHA measures by answering open ended questions. The study advances the notion that notwithstanding the safety managers’ efforts towards ensuring a safety regime in the workplace, however lucrative these might be, to really ensure a safe working environment in the workplace will always depend on the individual workers’ motivation to participate safely at work at any given time to ensure his/her safety and that of others. The study explores this subject by considering how they perceive these safety strategies, their vigilance, attitudes, their ownership of these and their inclination to comply with the occupational safety and health administration measures of Sasol. This study follows a Postmodernist theoretical framework emphasizing differences. Difference is a first and foremost identity feature of human beings. This goes for both their external and internal qualities. How workers perceive and relate to safety concepts will always be shaped by the differences among them. The study also makes use of the Environmental Justice Theory as a central theme, that holds that one life lost is one too many. At the forefront of industries are shop floor workers who are most vulnerable to workplace incident.The study assumes this premise with regard to their safety and health in the workplace
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2009
- Authors: Kwayiba, Thamsanqa Felix
- Date: 2009
- Subjects: Petroleum chemicals industry -- Sasolburg , Industrial hygiene -- South Africa -- Sasolburg , Industrial safety -- South Africa -- Sasolburg
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MPhil (Environmental Studies)
- Identifier: vital:11878 , http://hdl.handle.net/10353/d1001090 , Petroleum chemicals industry -- Sasolburg , Industrial hygiene -- South Africa -- Sasolburg , Industrial safety -- South Africa -- Sasolburg
- Description: This is a qualitative study that seeks to explore the workers’ perceptions towards the occupational safety and health administration (OSHA) system at the petrochemical industrial plant Sasol Infrachem in Sasolburg. It provides a platform for shop floor workers to express their subjective perceptions of the company’s OSHA measures by answering open ended questions. The study advances the notion that notwithstanding the safety managers’ efforts towards ensuring a safety regime in the workplace, however lucrative these might be, to really ensure a safe working environment in the workplace will always depend on the individual workers’ motivation to participate safely at work at any given time to ensure his/her safety and that of others. The study explores this subject by considering how they perceive these safety strategies, their vigilance, attitudes, their ownership of these and their inclination to comply with the occupational safety and health administration measures of Sasol. This study follows a Postmodernist theoretical framework emphasizing differences. Difference is a first and foremost identity feature of human beings. This goes for both their external and internal qualities. How workers perceive and relate to safety concepts will always be shaped by the differences among them. The study also makes use of the Environmental Justice Theory as a central theme, that holds that one life lost is one too many. At the forefront of industries are shop floor workers who are most vulnerable to workplace incident.The study assumes this premise with regard to their safety and health in the workplace
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2009
Women in organisational management in Zimbabwe: theory and practice
- Authors: Zikhali, Whitehead
- Date: 2009
- Subjects: Businesswomen , Discrimination in employment -- Zimbabwe , Women executives -- Zimbabwe , Success in business -- Zimbabwe , Corporate culture -- Zimbabwe , Leadership -- Zimbabwe
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD (Social Science Dev)
- Identifier: vital:11415 , http://hdl.handle.net/10353/d1001185 , Businesswomen , Discrimination in employment -- Zimbabwe , Women executives -- Zimbabwe , Success in business -- Zimbabwe , Corporate culture -- Zimbabwe , Leadership -- Zimbabwe
- Description: The study was premised on the truism that men have historically served in higher echelons of organizational management structures and women are under-represented. The principal objective was to explore the constraints faced by women in accessing higher leadership and senior management positions in public, private and non-governmental organisations in Zimbabwe. This study adopted the triangulation method, that is, qualitative and quantitative approaches. These mixed research methods, were upgraded by the feminist research methodologies, thereby making a contribution in the field of research. The study found out that the constraints that mostly hinder women from accessing leadership and senior management positions in public, private and NGOs were cultural practices, which represent levels of power and control that in turn hinder reforms; and women's socialisation into feminised roles. The study also found out that in most organisations, most females work under male leadership, and this traditional organisational culture, needs to be deconstructed and reversed in order to achieve gender equality. The study recommended for a human centric and integrated organizational management strategy for public, private and NGOs in Zimbabwe. The adoption of a human centric and integrated management approach should aim at gender equity and reduce women's under-representation. A human centred organizational culture has to be practiced, that would create organisational ethos that guide organizational management. An integrated organizational management approach should integrate all systems and processes into one complete framework, enabling people to work as a single unit, unified by organizational goals, shared vision and common values. The system should depend on a balanced mix of the masculine and feminine attributes. The approach should put its weight towards adoption of measures to attract, advance and empower women so as to benefit from their qualifications, experience and talent in a highly competitive environment.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2009
- Authors: Zikhali, Whitehead
- Date: 2009
- Subjects: Businesswomen , Discrimination in employment -- Zimbabwe , Women executives -- Zimbabwe , Success in business -- Zimbabwe , Corporate culture -- Zimbabwe , Leadership -- Zimbabwe
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD (Social Science Dev)
- Identifier: vital:11415 , http://hdl.handle.net/10353/d1001185 , Businesswomen , Discrimination in employment -- Zimbabwe , Women executives -- Zimbabwe , Success in business -- Zimbabwe , Corporate culture -- Zimbabwe , Leadership -- Zimbabwe
- Description: The study was premised on the truism that men have historically served in higher echelons of organizational management structures and women are under-represented. The principal objective was to explore the constraints faced by women in accessing higher leadership and senior management positions in public, private and non-governmental organisations in Zimbabwe. This study adopted the triangulation method, that is, qualitative and quantitative approaches. These mixed research methods, were upgraded by the feminist research methodologies, thereby making a contribution in the field of research. The study found out that the constraints that mostly hinder women from accessing leadership and senior management positions in public, private and NGOs were cultural practices, which represent levels of power and control that in turn hinder reforms; and women's socialisation into feminised roles. The study also found out that in most organisations, most females work under male leadership, and this traditional organisational culture, needs to be deconstructed and reversed in order to achieve gender equality. The study recommended for a human centric and integrated organizational management strategy for public, private and NGOs in Zimbabwe. The adoption of a human centric and integrated management approach should aim at gender equity and reduce women's under-representation. A human centred organizational culture has to be practiced, that would create organisational ethos that guide organizational management. An integrated organizational management approach should integrate all systems and processes into one complete framework, enabling people to work as a single unit, unified by organizational goals, shared vision and common values. The system should depend on a balanced mix of the masculine and feminine attributes. The approach should put its weight towards adoption of measures to attract, advance and empower women so as to benefit from their qualifications, experience and talent in a highly competitive environment.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2009
Will the real custodian of natural resource management please stand up
- Authors: Shackleton, Charlie M
- Date: 2009
- Language: English
- Type: Article
- Identifier: vital:6657 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1007076
- Description: South Africa is the custodian of an immense wealth of biodiversity resources, and is estimated to be the third most biodiverse country in the world. At the ecosystem level this biodiversity supports the production of goods and services used by us all; water, air, soil fertility, wood, food, etc. At a more local level the harvesting of numerous natural resources provides consumptive products for millions of poor South Africans, as well as income for equally significant numbers.Consumption of and trade in these resources is the very mainstay of their well-being, and crucial in preventing deeper poverty levels. For example, despite massive improvements in the provision of electricity, most rural and a significant proportion of urban South Africans continue to use fuelwood as a key energy source for cooking (e.g. 65% of electrified households in the urban areas of Makana municipality, and 92% of households in the rural areas of Bushbuckridge); approximately 75% of the population use medicinal plants for medicinal or cultural reasons; and millions of urban and rural households make use of wild edible herbs. With such high demand for these resources, it is not unsurprising that there are large and established trade networks spanning local, regional, national and, for some resources (e.g. specific medicinal plants, mopane worms), international boundaries. The total value of this trade is unknown, and unrecorded in local or national economic or GDP statistics. It certainly equates to billions of rands per year. The direct-use and trade values are substantial and provide a cost saving to the State. Where biodiversity resources are overused or exhausted, people have to purchase alternatives, which reduces their scarce cash resources, thereby increasing their likely dependency on State welfare grants.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2009
- Authors: Shackleton, Charlie M
- Date: 2009
- Language: English
- Type: Article
- Identifier: vital:6657 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1007076
- Description: South Africa is the custodian of an immense wealth of biodiversity resources, and is estimated to be the third most biodiverse country in the world. At the ecosystem level this biodiversity supports the production of goods and services used by us all; water, air, soil fertility, wood, food, etc. At a more local level the harvesting of numerous natural resources provides consumptive products for millions of poor South Africans, as well as income for equally significant numbers.Consumption of and trade in these resources is the very mainstay of their well-being, and crucial in preventing deeper poverty levels. For example, despite massive improvements in the provision of electricity, most rural and a significant proportion of urban South Africans continue to use fuelwood as a key energy source for cooking (e.g. 65% of electrified households in the urban areas of Makana municipality, and 92% of households in the rural areas of Bushbuckridge); approximately 75% of the population use medicinal plants for medicinal or cultural reasons; and millions of urban and rural households make use of wild edible herbs. With such high demand for these resources, it is not unsurprising that there are large and established trade networks spanning local, regional, national and, for some resources (e.g. specific medicinal plants, mopane worms), international boundaries. The total value of this trade is unknown, and unrecorded in local or national economic or GDP statistics. It certainly equates to billions of rands per year. The direct-use and trade values are substantial and provide a cost saving to the State. Where biodiversity resources are overused or exhausted, people have to purchase alternatives, which reduces their scarce cash resources, thereby increasing their likely dependency on State welfare grants.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2009
Why we should avoid the use of the term “Post-Abortion Syndrome” : commentary on Boulind and Edwards (2008)
- Authors: Macleod, Catriona I
- Date: 2009
- Language: English
- Type: Article
- Identifier: vital:6277 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1008277
- Description: Boulind and Edwards (2008) present a case study of Grace, a women suffering, in their words, from post-abortion syndrome (PAS). In this commentary I argue that while Boulind and Edwards’ (2008) report is useful in terms of documenting the therapeutic processes engaged in, they would have been better served in not hanging the distress experienced by Grace on the diagnostic category of post-abortion syndrome. Reasons for this are that: PAS is not a recognised category of diagnosis, despite having been initially proposed in 1981; applying a PTSD framework to abortion is questionable; PAS focuses attention on the abortion itself in isolation from the fact that abortion occurs in the context of severely problematic pregnancies and other important socio-cultural stressors; PAS, in the very manner in which it is formulated, invokes to a very complex politics of the foetus. Boulind and Edwards (2008) are careful in their documentation of the complexities of the case, and thus their use of PAS is unfortunate.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2009
- Authors: Macleod, Catriona I
- Date: 2009
- Language: English
- Type: Article
- Identifier: vital:6277 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1008277
- Description: Boulind and Edwards (2008) present a case study of Grace, a women suffering, in their words, from post-abortion syndrome (PAS). In this commentary I argue that while Boulind and Edwards’ (2008) report is useful in terms of documenting the therapeutic processes engaged in, they would have been better served in not hanging the distress experienced by Grace on the diagnostic category of post-abortion syndrome. Reasons for this are that: PAS is not a recognised category of diagnosis, despite having been initially proposed in 1981; applying a PTSD framework to abortion is questionable; PAS focuses attention on the abortion itself in isolation from the fact that abortion occurs in the context of severely problematic pregnancies and other important socio-cultural stressors; PAS, in the very manner in which it is formulated, invokes to a very complex politics of the foetus. Boulind and Edwards (2008) are careful in their documentation of the complexities of the case, and thus their use of PAS is unfortunate.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2009
Why ontology matters to reviewing environmental education
- Authors: Lotz-Sisitka, Heila
- Date: 2009
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/182646 , vital:43850 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1080/13504620902807550"
- Description: This paper responds to a keynote paper presented by William Scott at the 2007 World Environmental Education Congress held in Durban, South Africa. The keynote address reviewed 30 years of environmental education research. In this response to William Scott's paper I contemplate the way in which environmental education research may enable reflexivity in modernity and develop knowledge that can serve as cultural mediator between individual and society. Through emphasizing ontology, I consider the reality of global knowledge production in relation to the way in which ontology may influence the reasons how and why we come to do particular forms of research, providing an ontological reference for the ever‐expanding pluralism that characterizes the field of environmental education research. The paper comments on various aspects of the Scott paper, but presents an argument for not only valuing pluralism, methodological experimentation and ‘reaching out’, but for embracing the cosmopolitan implications of wider ontological referents of environmental concerns in environmental education research. The paper argues that research in environmental education ought to become ontologically defensible at both local and global scales.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2009
- Authors: Lotz-Sisitka, Heila
- Date: 2009
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/182646 , vital:43850 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1080/13504620902807550"
- Description: This paper responds to a keynote paper presented by William Scott at the 2007 World Environmental Education Congress held in Durban, South Africa. The keynote address reviewed 30 years of environmental education research. In this response to William Scott's paper I contemplate the way in which environmental education research may enable reflexivity in modernity and develop knowledge that can serve as cultural mediator between individual and society. Through emphasizing ontology, I consider the reality of global knowledge production in relation to the way in which ontology may influence the reasons how and why we come to do particular forms of research, providing an ontological reference for the ever‐expanding pluralism that characterizes the field of environmental education research. The paper comments on various aspects of the Scott paper, but presents an argument for not only valuing pluralism, methodological experimentation and ‘reaching out’, but for embracing the cosmopolitan implications of wider ontological referents of environmental concerns in environmental education research. The paper argues that research in environmental education ought to become ontologically defensible at both local and global scales.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2009
Who uses the fishery resources in South Africa’s largest impoundment? Characterising subsistence and recreational fishing sectors on Lake Gariep
- Ellender, Bruce R, Weyl, Olaf L F, Winker, A Henning
- Authors: Ellender, Bruce R , Weyl, Olaf L F , Winker, A Henning
- Date: 2009
- Language: English
- Type: Article
- Identifier: vital:6778 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1008088
- Description: The African Union’s prioritisation of inland fisheries as an investment area for poverty alleviation and regional economic development will require the development of management plans. These should be based on sound knowledge of the social dynamics of the resource users. In South Africa the social dynamics of resource users of inland fisheries have never been assessed. The purpose of this study was to assess the human dimensions of the anglers utilising the fishery in Lake Gariep, South Africa’s largest impoundment. The study was based on 357 first-time interviews conducted on the lakeshore between October 2006 and December 2007. Anglers were categorised as recreational (39%) or subsistence (61%) based on their residency, occupation, primary motivation for angling, mode of transport and gear use. Subsistence anglers were local (99%), residing within 10 km of the place where they were interviewed, while recreational anglers included both local resident and non-resident members. The racial composition of anglers was dependent on user group and differed significantly (p ≤ 0.05) from the demographic composition of the regional population. Recreational anglers were predominantly White (≥ 60% of interviews) and Coloured (≥ 25%), while 84% of subsistence anglers were Coloured and 16% Black African. Most recreational anglers had permanent employment or were pensioners while <30% of subsistence anglers were permanently employed. Most recreational users (82%) accessed the lake with their own vehicle while subsistence anglers mainly walked (63%) or used a bicycle (28%). Recreational interviewees either consumed (59%), sold (11%), gave away (10%) or released (20%) some of their catch. Subsistence anglers either ate their catch (53%) and/or sold (41%) their catch. Within the subsistence sector no anglers released fish after capture or gave some of the catch away. We conclude that this inland fishery contributes to the livelihood of the rural poor who use the lake on a subsistence basis and that recreational-angler based tourism may contribute to increased income and employment opportunities through related service industries.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2009
- Authors: Ellender, Bruce R , Weyl, Olaf L F , Winker, A Henning
- Date: 2009
- Language: English
- Type: Article
- Identifier: vital:6778 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1008088
- Description: The African Union’s prioritisation of inland fisheries as an investment area for poverty alleviation and regional economic development will require the development of management plans. These should be based on sound knowledge of the social dynamics of the resource users. In South Africa the social dynamics of resource users of inland fisheries have never been assessed. The purpose of this study was to assess the human dimensions of the anglers utilising the fishery in Lake Gariep, South Africa’s largest impoundment. The study was based on 357 first-time interviews conducted on the lakeshore between October 2006 and December 2007. Anglers were categorised as recreational (39%) or subsistence (61%) based on their residency, occupation, primary motivation for angling, mode of transport and gear use. Subsistence anglers were local (99%), residing within 10 km of the place where they were interviewed, while recreational anglers included both local resident and non-resident members. The racial composition of anglers was dependent on user group and differed significantly (p ≤ 0.05) from the demographic composition of the regional population. Recreational anglers were predominantly White (≥ 60% of interviews) and Coloured (≥ 25%), while 84% of subsistence anglers were Coloured and 16% Black African. Most recreational anglers had permanent employment or were pensioners while <30% of subsistence anglers were permanently employed. Most recreational users (82%) accessed the lake with their own vehicle while subsistence anglers mainly walked (63%) or used a bicycle (28%). Recreational interviewees either consumed (59%), sold (11%), gave away (10%) or released (20%) some of their catch. Subsistence anglers either ate their catch (53%) and/or sold (41%) their catch. Within the subsistence sector no anglers released fish after capture or gave some of the catch away. We conclude that this inland fishery contributes to the livelihood of the rural poor who use the lake on a subsistence basis and that recreational-angler based tourism may contribute to increased income and employment opportunities through related service industries.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2009
White Guys Can't Beg
- Authors: Krueger, Anton
- Date: 2009
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/229796 , vital:49711 , xlink:href="https://hdl.handle.net/10520/EJC47812"
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2009
- Authors: Krueger, Anton
- Date: 2009
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/229796 , vital:49711 , xlink:href="https://hdl.handle.net/10520/EJC47812"
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2009
What's wrong with Walden Two?
- Authors: Tabensky, Pedro
- Date: 2009
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/305791 , vital:58612 , xlink:href="https://hdl.handle.net/10520/EJC96066"
- Description: Despite being eminently forgettable from the literary point of view, B. F. Skinner's novel, Walden Two, provides us with an excellent opportunity, not so much to show what is wrong with mainstream accounts of free will, as Robert Kane thinks, but rather to explore another key and importantly neglected condition for genuine agency; namely, that properly lived human lives are those that are and must continue to be vulnerable to unforseable reversals, as Aldous Huxley speculates in his Brave New World. In short, I argue, perhaps scandalously, that one of the central conditions for genuine agency is that our lives are and must continue to be, to a large extent, out of our personal control. The promise of too much personal control, not too little (as Kane thinks), is what is wrong with Skinner's social utopia.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2009
- Authors: Tabensky, Pedro
- Date: 2009
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/305791 , vital:58612 , xlink:href="https://hdl.handle.net/10520/EJC96066"
- Description: Despite being eminently forgettable from the literary point of view, B. F. Skinner's novel, Walden Two, provides us with an excellent opportunity, not so much to show what is wrong with mainstream accounts of free will, as Robert Kane thinks, but rather to explore another key and importantly neglected condition for genuine agency; namely, that properly lived human lives are those that are and must continue to be vulnerable to unforseable reversals, as Aldous Huxley speculates in his Brave New World. In short, I argue, perhaps scandalously, that one of the central conditions for genuine agency is that our lives are and must continue to be, to a large extent, out of our personal control. The promise of too much personal control, not too little (as Kane thinks), is what is wrong with Skinner's social utopia.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2009
What services and supports are needed to enable trauma survivors to rebuild their lives? Implications of a systematic case study of cognitive therapy with a township adolescent girl with PTSD following rape
- Payne, Charmaine, Edwards, David J A
- Authors: Payne, Charmaine , Edwards, David J A
- Date: 2009
- Language: English
- Type: Article
- Identifier: vital:6278 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1008279
- Description: This systematic clinical case study describes the psychological assessment and treatment with cognitive therapy of Zanele, a Xhosa-speaking adolescent rape survivor with major depressive disorder and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). A case narrative was developed to document the main features of the therapy process and progress was monitored using scales measuring symptoms of depression and PTSD. The narrative documents the operation in a local context of factors that maintain PTSD that have been identified in the international literature and, with the self-report scales, provides evidence for Zanele’s recovery from PTSD and the transportability to this context of an evidence-based psychological treatment. The narrative also documents the lack of safety for young women and girls in a South African township as well as significant limitations in the professional services available: in this case, Zanele was infected with HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases but medical management had not been followed through, and criminal charges against the rapist were dropped, and dropped again even after he had committed another rape on a six-year-old girl. This provides a basis for examining the complementary roles that can be played by psychologists and other professionals in empowering trauma survivors to regain a sense of dignity and control over their lives.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2009
- Authors: Payne, Charmaine , Edwards, David J A
- Date: 2009
- Language: English
- Type: Article
- Identifier: vital:6278 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1008279
- Description: This systematic clinical case study describes the psychological assessment and treatment with cognitive therapy of Zanele, a Xhosa-speaking adolescent rape survivor with major depressive disorder and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). A case narrative was developed to document the main features of the therapy process and progress was monitored using scales measuring symptoms of depression and PTSD. The narrative documents the operation in a local context of factors that maintain PTSD that have been identified in the international literature and, with the self-report scales, provides evidence for Zanele’s recovery from PTSD and the transportability to this context of an evidence-based psychological treatment. The narrative also documents the lack of safety for young women and girls in a South African township as well as significant limitations in the professional services available: in this case, Zanele was infected with HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases but medical management had not been followed through, and criminal charges against the rapist were dropped, and dropped again even after he had committed another rape on a six-year-old girl. This provides a basis for examining the complementary roles that can be played by psychologists and other professionals in empowering trauma survivors to regain a sense of dignity and control over their lives.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2009
Wealth differentiation in household use and trade in non-timber forest products in South Africa
- Paumgarten, Fiona, Shackleton, Charlie M
- Authors: Paumgarten, Fiona , Shackleton, Charlie M
- Date: 2009
- Language: English
- Type: Article
- Identifier: vital:6646 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1006892
- Description: Findings from southern Africa and internationally indicate the local use and trade of NTFPs to be significant however most present a composite picture, failing to account for intra-community socio-economic differences. These differences may have implications for policy and practice related to poverty alleviation and sustainable use. This paper reports on a study in South Africa which explored the relationship between household wealth and the use, procurement and sale of NTFPs in two villages. There was no influence of wealth on the proportion of households using or purchasing most of the NTFPs, or the number used. However, wealthier households bought significantly more resources per household, and poor households (at one village) sold significantly more. These results are discussed within the context of local conditions and poverty alleviation debates.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2009
- Authors: Paumgarten, Fiona , Shackleton, Charlie M
- Date: 2009
- Language: English
- Type: Article
- Identifier: vital:6646 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1006892
- Description: Findings from southern Africa and internationally indicate the local use and trade of NTFPs to be significant however most present a composite picture, failing to account for intra-community socio-economic differences. These differences may have implications for policy and practice related to poverty alleviation and sustainable use. This paper reports on a study in South Africa which explored the relationship between household wealth and the use, procurement and sale of NTFPs in two villages. There was no influence of wealth on the proportion of households using or purchasing most of the NTFPs, or the number used. However, wealthier households bought significantly more resources per household, and poor households (at one village) sold significantly more. These results are discussed within the context of local conditions and poverty alleviation debates.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2009
We need a conversation about development
- Authors: Pithouse, Richard, 1970-
- Date: 2009
- Language: English
- Type: Article
- Identifier: vital:6199 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1008563
- Description: [From the introduction] From the Communist Party across to the corporate spin-doctors and down to the Development Committees in the shack settlements, more or less everybody in South Africa speaks the language of development. In some ways this is a good thing. It indicates a hard won agreement that the realities of inequality in our society are so cruel and perverse that any social project can only be credible if it will ameliorate these divisions and the suffering they cause.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2009
- Authors: Pithouse, Richard, 1970-
- Date: 2009
- Language: English
- Type: Article
- Identifier: vital:6199 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1008563
- Description: [From the introduction] From the Communist Party across to the corporate spin-doctors and down to the Development Committees in the shack settlements, more or less everybody in South Africa speaks the language of development. In some ways this is a good thing. It indicates a hard won agreement that the realities of inequality in our society are so cruel and perverse that any social project can only be credible if it will ameliorate these divisions and the suffering they cause.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2009
We are all the public
- Authors: Pithouse, Richard, 1970-
- Date: 2009
- Language: English
- Type: Article
- Identifier: vital:6198 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1008562
- Description: [from introduction]: Across the country the most vulnerable people in our society are being subject to brazenly unlawful and often violent action at the hands of the state. Homeless people, refugees, sex workers, street traders and shack dwellers are all being taught, in the most literal sense of the term, to know their place. But state illegality is not only aimed at the segregation of physical space. It is also about ensuring that the people on the margins of society know their political place.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2009
- Authors: Pithouse, Richard, 1970-
- Date: 2009
- Language: English
- Type: Article
- Identifier: vital:6198 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1008562
- Description: [from introduction]: Across the country the most vulnerable people in our society are being subject to brazenly unlawful and often violent action at the hands of the state. Homeless people, refugees, sex workers, street traders and shack dwellers are all being taught, in the most literal sense of the term, to know their place. But state illegality is not only aimed at the segregation of physical space. It is also about ensuring that the people on the margins of society know their political place.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2009
Water-soluble phthalocyanines mediated photodynamic effect on mesothelioma cells
- Saydan, Nil, Durmus, Mahmut, Dizge, Meltem G, Yaman, Hanif, Gürek, Ayşe G, Antunes, Edith M, Nyokong, Tebello, Ahsen, Vefa
- Authors: Saydan, Nil , Durmus, Mahmut , Dizge, Meltem G , Yaman, Hanif , Gürek, Ayşe G , Antunes, Edith M , Nyokong, Tebello , Ahsen, Vefa
- Date: 2009
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/263480 , vital:53631 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1142/S1088424609000863"
- Description: The new peripherally 2-mercaptopyridine tetrasubstituted zinc phthalocyanine (2) and its quaternized derivative (3) have been synthesized and characterized by elemental analysis, IR, 1H NMR spectroscopy, electronic spectroscopy and mass spectra. The quaternized compound (3) shows excellent solubility in water, which makes it a potential photosensitizer for use in photodynamic therapy (PDT) of cancer. Fluorescence and singlet oxygen quantum yield measurements were conducted on 2-mercaptopyridine appended zinc phthalocyanines in dimethylsulphoxide (DMSO) for both the non-ionic (2) and quaternized (3) derivatives, and in aqueous media for the water-soluble complex 3. General trends are described for fluorescence and singlet oxygen quantum yields of these compounds. In this study, the cells were incubated with a novel water-soluble zinc phthalocyanine derivative (3) and thereafter the cells were illuminated using broad-band incoherent light source of various energy levels. Cytotoxicity of PDT on two pleural malign mesothelioma cell lines was determined by colorimetric proliferation assay. In addition, after PDT treatment, determination of activity matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) were evaluated using gelatine zymography.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2009
- Authors: Saydan, Nil , Durmus, Mahmut , Dizge, Meltem G , Yaman, Hanif , Gürek, Ayşe G , Antunes, Edith M , Nyokong, Tebello , Ahsen, Vefa
- Date: 2009
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/263480 , vital:53631 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1142/S1088424609000863"
- Description: The new peripherally 2-mercaptopyridine tetrasubstituted zinc phthalocyanine (2) and its quaternized derivative (3) have been synthesized and characterized by elemental analysis, IR, 1H NMR spectroscopy, electronic spectroscopy and mass spectra. The quaternized compound (3) shows excellent solubility in water, which makes it a potential photosensitizer for use in photodynamic therapy (PDT) of cancer. Fluorescence and singlet oxygen quantum yield measurements were conducted on 2-mercaptopyridine appended zinc phthalocyanines in dimethylsulphoxide (DMSO) for both the non-ionic (2) and quaternized (3) derivatives, and in aqueous media for the water-soluble complex 3. General trends are described for fluorescence and singlet oxygen quantum yields of these compounds. In this study, the cells were incubated with a novel water-soluble zinc phthalocyanine derivative (3) and thereafter the cells were illuminated using broad-band incoherent light source of various energy levels. Cytotoxicity of PDT on two pleural malign mesothelioma cell lines was determined by colorimetric proliferation assay. In addition, after PDT treatment, determination of activity matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) were evaluated using gelatine zymography.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2009
Warthog as an introduced species in the Eastern Cape
- Authors: Nyafu, Kanyisa
- Date: 2009
- Subjects: Warthog -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: vital:10701 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/1058 , Warthog -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
- Description: The introduced common warthog, Phacochoerus africanus, in the Eastern Cape is increasing rapidly both in numbers and distribution, despite attempts by landowners to reduce numbers and exclude warthogs. These control attempts are motivated by concerns over the impacts of warthogs, on vegetation, soil and other animal species. This expansion of warthog populations is paradoxical given that a species of warthog occurred historically in this part of the world, apparently at low densities and was wiped out in the mid-1800s. The question therefore arises as to why warthogs are able to overcome population regulation attempts now, and this becomes an invasive species issue as the species now occurring in the Eastern Cape is in fact an introduced species. The objectives of the study were to investigate the status of warthogs as an introduced invasive species in the Eastern Cape by documenting the rate and direction of population expansion, ecological impacts and possible dietary shift of the introduced species, P. africanus compared to the extinct species P. aethiopicus. The research approach adapted here was to test the hypotheses that, (1) the success of P. africanus in the Eastern Cape reflects dietary differences of the two species based on observations of different dental adaptations, as P. africanus has functional incisors, which are absent in P. aethiopicus. Stable carbon isotope analysis of the tooth enamel was used to determine the diet of the two species. (2) Common warthogs are specialized grazers and will impact on a limited range of grass species, this hypothesis was addressed by describing the diet of common warthogs in one site in the Eastern Cape to identify plant species at risk due to invasion by P. africanus, and microhistological faecal analysis was used. (3) Common warthogs have successfully expanded their range in the Eastern Cape since their introduction and are now showing impact, this was addressed by describing the range of expansion of P. africanus in the Eastern Cape, as well as reviewing landowner perceptions of the impacts of warthogs, this was based on questionnaire surveys distributed in the Sundays and the Fish River valleys. The results of the study showed that there are differences in the diet of Cape warthog P. aethiopicus and common warthog P. africanus. The Cape warthog was largely a grazer (86 percent C4 grasses in their diet), while P. africanus is also a grazer (71 percent of C4 grasses in their diet), but with a larger proportion of browse in their diet. These results support the hypothesis that the presence of functional incisors in the common warthog might provide the common warthog with foraging advantages over the Cape warthog. This might be a contributing factor to the success of this invasive species in the Eastern Cape, and might explain the rapid disappearance of Cape warthogs in the 1800s, which coincided with rapid expansion of herds of domestic grazers. A total of twelve grass species are used by common warthogs and are therefore most vulnerable to impacts of this invasive species. Common warthogs are rapidly expanding their range particularly around the Sundays and the Great Fish River valleys and they are perceived by landowners to have impacts on grass cover, soils and fencing. This spread of warthog in the Eastern Cape exhibits characteristics of an invasive species. In light of the findings of this study, it is therefore important that government authorities and other parties concerned recognize that common warthogs are invasive in the Eastern Cape.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2009
- Authors: Nyafu, Kanyisa
- Date: 2009
- Subjects: Warthog -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: vital:10701 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/1058 , Warthog -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
- Description: The introduced common warthog, Phacochoerus africanus, in the Eastern Cape is increasing rapidly both in numbers and distribution, despite attempts by landowners to reduce numbers and exclude warthogs. These control attempts are motivated by concerns over the impacts of warthogs, on vegetation, soil and other animal species. This expansion of warthog populations is paradoxical given that a species of warthog occurred historically in this part of the world, apparently at low densities and was wiped out in the mid-1800s. The question therefore arises as to why warthogs are able to overcome population regulation attempts now, and this becomes an invasive species issue as the species now occurring in the Eastern Cape is in fact an introduced species. The objectives of the study were to investigate the status of warthogs as an introduced invasive species in the Eastern Cape by documenting the rate and direction of population expansion, ecological impacts and possible dietary shift of the introduced species, P. africanus compared to the extinct species P. aethiopicus. The research approach adapted here was to test the hypotheses that, (1) the success of P. africanus in the Eastern Cape reflects dietary differences of the two species based on observations of different dental adaptations, as P. africanus has functional incisors, which are absent in P. aethiopicus. Stable carbon isotope analysis of the tooth enamel was used to determine the diet of the two species. (2) Common warthogs are specialized grazers and will impact on a limited range of grass species, this hypothesis was addressed by describing the diet of common warthogs in one site in the Eastern Cape to identify plant species at risk due to invasion by P. africanus, and microhistological faecal analysis was used. (3) Common warthogs have successfully expanded their range in the Eastern Cape since their introduction and are now showing impact, this was addressed by describing the range of expansion of P. africanus in the Eastern Cape, as well as reviewing landowner perceptions of the impacts of warthogs, this was based on questionnaire surveys distributed in the Sundays and the Fish River valleys. The results of the study showed that there are differences in the diet of Cape warthog P. aethiopicus and common warthog P. africanus. The Cape warthog was largely a grazer (86 percent C4 grasses in their diet), while P. africanus is also a grazer (71 percent of C4 grasses in their diet), but with a larger proportion of browse in their diet. These results support the hypothesis that the presence of functional incisors in the common warthog might provide the common warthog with foraging advantages over the Cape warthog. This might be a contributing factor to the success of this invasive species in the Eastern Cape, and might explain the rapid disappearance of Cape warthogs in the 1800s, which coincided with rapid expansion of herds of domestic grazers. A total of twelve grass species are used by common warthogs and are therefore most vulnerable to impacts of this invasive species. Common warthogs are rapidly expanding their range particularly around the Sundays and the Great Fish River valleys and they are perceived by landowners to have impacts on grass cover, soils and fencing. This spread of warthog in the Eastern Cape exhibits characteristics of an invasive species. In light of the findings of this study, it is therefore important that government authorities and other parties concerned recognize that common warthogs are invasive in the Eastern Cape.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2009
Vocational language learning and teaching at a South African university: preparing professionals for multilingual contexts
- Maseko, Pamela, Kaschula, Russell H
- Authors: Maseko, Pamela , Kaschula, Russell H
- Date: 2009
- Subjects: Intercultural communication in education -- South Africa , African languages , Cultural awareness , Communication and culture , Multilingualism -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: article , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/59412 , vital:27597 , doi: 10.5842/38-0-60
- Description: This paper highlights the methodology that has been used at Rhodes University and other South African universities in implementing vocation-specific African language learning programmes. Essentially, the paper links the curriculum design to the theoretical paradigm of intercultural communication. Intercultural theory is used as a basis to develop vocation-specific courses where language and culture are taught, for example, to second language learners of isiXhosa at Rhodes University. These courses include courses for Pharmacy and Law students. This paper offers a new theoretical paradigm for intercultural language teaching. Furthermore, examples from specific courses are provided in order to illustrate how this theoretical paradigm can be implemented in a practical way. The impact of multilingualism and intercultural communication in the wider legal and healthcare work environment in South Africa is also discussed.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2009
- Authors: Maseko, Pamela , Kaschula, Russell H
- Date: 2009
- Subjects: Intercultural communication in education -- South Africa , African languages , Cultural awareness , Communication and culture , Multilingualism -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: article , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/59412 , vital:27597 , doi: 10.5842/38-0-60
- Description: This paper highlights the methodology that has been used at Rhodes University and other South African universities in implementing vocation-specific African language learning programmes. Essentially, the paper links the curriculum design to the theoretical paradigm of intercultural communication. Intercultural theory is used as a basis to develop vocation-specific courses where language and culture are taught, for example, to second language learners of isiXhosa at Rhodes University. These courses include courses for Pharmacy and Law students. This paper offers a new theoretical paradigm for intercultural language teaching. Furthermore, examples from specific courses are provided in order to illustrate how this theoretical paradigm can be implemented in a practical way. The impact of multilingualism and intercultural communication in the wider legal and healthcare work environment in South Africa is also discussed.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2009
Vocational language learning and how it relates to language policy issues
- Authors: Maseko, Pamela
- Date: 2009
- Subjects: Language policy -- South Africa Language and education -- South Africa Language and languages -- Study and teaching (Higher) -- South Africa Multilingualism -- South Africa Education, Higher -- South Africa Vocational education -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:3583 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002158
- Description: This research explores issues relating to language policy, and language learning and teaching. It further looks at the relationship that exists between language policy and language learning and teaching. In the research I argue that well-thought out and well-meaning language policies will fail to be implemented meaningfully if there is no clear and unambiguous implementation plan. I also note that the national vision and ideals which are often embodied in the language policy fail to take effect if, again, there is no comprehensive implementation plan. This view is held by many scholars and researchers in the areas of language policy and planning.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2009
- Authors: Maseko, Pamela
- Date: 2009
- Subjects: Language policy -- South Africa Language and education -- South Africa Language and languages -- Study and teaching (Higher) -- South Africa Multilingualism -- South Africa Education, Higher -- South Africa Vocational education -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:3583 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002158
- Description: This research explores issues relating to language policy, and language learning and teaching. It further looks at the relationship that exists between language policy and language learning and teaching. In the research I argue that well-thought out and well-meaning language policies will fail to be implemented meaningfully if there is no clear and unambiguous implementation plan. I also note that the national vision and ideals which are often embodied in the language policy fail to take effect if, again, there is no comprehensive implementation plan. This view is held by many scholars and researchers in the areas of language policy and planning.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2009
Vincent van Gogh : a psychobiographical study
- Authors: Muller, Heather Ruby
- Date: 2009
- Subjects: Psychology -- Biographical methods
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:9880 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/1293 , Psychology -- Biographical methods
- Description: The aim of this study is to create a psychobiography of Vincent Van Gogh who was born in 1853 and died 1890. To Van Gogh art was not merely a means for an income, he converted all his aspirations and anguish into his art works. In doing so his art became the first example of a truly personal art, to him art was a deeply lived means of spiritual salvation, which he used as a means to transform himself. It was well known that Van Gogh was unstable and felt misunderstood in life, often asking “What is the use?” . He had a method of fusing what he saw in the world, and what he personally felt, into works of art that were revelations of himself. Van Gogh lived a lonely life, although for the last seventeen years of his life he wrote to his brother, Theo, almost daily. These letters give much insight to the thoughts and inner world of a much misunderstood individual. Most of these letters have been preserved and much else has been written about Van Gogh’s life and art. In our modern day he is deemed one of the most famous artists, yet in his lifetime he only sold one painting. This psychobiography employs a qualitative psychobiographical research method, which aims to describe Van Gogh’s psychological development in terms of Erik Erikson’s psychosocial developmental stages. Van Gogh was chosen as the research subject because of personal interest, his value as a famous artist, and because of the unique way in which he saw and related to the world.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2009
- Authors: Muller, Heather Ruby
- Date: 2009
- Subjects: Psychology -- Biographical methods
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:9880 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/1293 , Psychology -- Biographical methods
- Description: The aim of this study is to create a psychobiography of Vincent Van Gogh who was born in 1853 and died 1890. To Van Gogh art was not merely a means for an income, he converted all his aspirations and anguish into his art works. In doing so his art became the first example of a truly personal art, to him art was a deeply lived means of spiritual salvation, which he used as a means to transform himself. It was well known that Van Gogh was unstable and felt misunderstood in life, often asking “What is the use?” . He had a method of fusing what he saw in the world, and what he personally felt, into works of art that were revelations of himself. Van Gogh lived a lonely life, although for the last seventeen years of his life he wrote to his brother, Theo, almost daily. These letters give much insight to the thoughts and inner world of a much misunderstood individual. Most of these letters have been preserved and much else has been written about Van Gogh’s life and art. In our modern day he is deemed one of the most famous artists, yet in his lifetime he only sold one painting. This psychobiography employs a qualitative psychobiographical research method, which aims to describe Van Gogh’s psychological development in terms of Erik Erikson’s psychosocial developmental stages. Van Gogh was chosen as the research subject because of personal interest, his value as a famous artist, and because of the unique way in which he saw and related to the world.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2009
Variability analysis of a sample of potential southern calibration sources
- Authors: Hungwe, Faith
- Date: 2009
- Subjects: Southern sky (Astronomy) Radio sources (Astronomy) Active galactic nuclei Very Long Baseline Array (Telescopes) Calibration Radio telescopes -- Southern Hemisphere Radio astronomy -- Southern Hemisphere Radio interferometers Very long baseline interferometry Radio astronomy -- Observations Radio astronomy -- South Africa Radio telescopes -- South Africa Square Kilometer Array (Spacecraft)
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: vital:5495 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1005281
- Description: A considerable number of Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI) surveys have been conducted in the northern hemisphere and very few in the southern hemisphere mostly because of a lack of telescopes and therefore adequate baseline coverage. Thus there is a deficit of calibrator sources in the southern hemisphere. Further, some of the most interesting astronomical objects eg. the galactic centre and the nearest galaxies (the small and large Magellanic Clouds) lie in the southern hemisphere and these require high resolution studies. With a major expansion of radio astronomy observing capability on its way in the southern hemisphere (with the two SKA (Square Kilometre Array) precursors, meerKAT (Karoo Array Telescope) and ASKAP (Australian SKA Pathfinder), leading to the SKA itself) it is clear that interferometry and VLBI in the southern hemisphere need a dense network of calibration sources at different resolutions and a range of frequencies. This work seeks to help redress this problem by presenting an analysis of 31 southern sources to help fill the gaps in the southern hemisphere calibrator distribution. We have developed a multi-parameter method of classifying these sources as calibrators. From our sample of 31 sources, we have 2 class A sources (Excellent calibrators), 16 class B sources (Good calibrators), 9 class C sources (Poor calibrators) and 4 class D sources (Unsuitable calibrators).
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2009
- Authors: Hungwe, Faith
- Date: 2009
- Subjects: Southern sky (Astronomy) Radio sources (Astronomy) Active galactic nuclei Very Long Baseline Array (Telescopes) Calibration Radio telescopes -- Southern Hemisphere Radio astronomy -- Southern Hemisphere Radio interferometers Very long baseline interferometry Radio astronomy -- Observations Radio astronomy -- South Africa Radio telescopes -- South Africa Square Kilometer Array (Spacecraft)
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: vital:5495 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1005281
- Description: A considerable number of Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI) surveys have been conducted in the northern hemisphere and very few in the southern hemisphere mostly because of a lack of telescopes and therefore adequate baseline coverage. Thus there is a deficit of calibrator sources in the southern hemisphere. Further, some of the most interesting astronomical objects eg. the galactic centre and the nearest galaxies (the small and large Magellanic Clouds) lie in the southern hemisphere and these require high resolution studies. With a major expansion of radio astronomy observing capability on its way in the southern hemisphere (with the two SKA (Square Kilometre Array) precursors, meerKAT (Karoo Array Telescope) and ASKAP (Australian SKA Pathfinder), leading to the SKA itself) it is clear that interferometry and VLBI in the southern hemisphere need a dense network of calibration sources at different resolutions and a range of frequencies. This work seeks to help redress this problem by presenting an analysis of 31 southern sources to help fill the gaps in the southern hemisphere calibrator distribution. We have developed a multi-parameter method of classifying these sources as calibrators. From our sample of 31 sources, we have 2 class A sources (Excellent calibrators), 16 class B sources (Good calibrators), 9 class C sources (Poor calibrators) and 4 class D sources (Unsuitable calibrators).
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2009
Valuing preferences for freshwater inflows into selected Western and Southern Cape estuaries
- Authors: Akoto, William
- Date: 2009
- Subjects: Estuarine ecology -- South Africa , Freshwater ecology -- South Africa , Estuaries -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MCom
- Identifier: vital:8992 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/915 , Estuarine ecology -- South Africa , Freshwater ecology -- South Africa , Estuaries -- South Africa
- Description: An estuary is the last stage of a river. It is where the river meets the sea. Estuaries are one of the most significant features of the South African coastline. In recent years, South Africa has witnessed an increase in the demand for freshwater for both industrial and domestic purposes. At the same time, there has been a gradual deterioration of river systems and their catchments. To add to this, there has been a gradual reduction in the amount of recorded rainfall, which is the primary source of freshwater for rivers. This has resulted in decreased freshwater inflow into estuaries, a situation which poses a serious threat to the biological functioning of these estuaries and the services rendered to its recreational users. A deterioration of estuary services reduces the yield for subsistence households and their appeal for recration. This study uses the contingent valuation method as its primary methodology to elicit users' willingness-to-pay to reduce the negative impacts of reduced freshwater inflow into selected western and southern Cape estuaries. Eight estuaries were selected for this study; the Breede, Duiwenhoks, Great Berg, Kleinemond West, Mhlathuze, Swartvlei and Olifants estuaries. The contingent valuation (CV) method is widely used for studies of this nature because of its ability to capture active, passive and non-use values. The CV method involves directly asking people how much they would be willing to pay for specific environmental services. In this case, users were asked what they would be willing to pay to sustain freshwater inflows into selected estuaries in order to prevent the negative impacts of reduced inflows. The travel cost method (TCM) was uesed to generate an alternative comparative set of values for the purposes of convergence testing. This is because convergence testing is highly desirable as a validity test for CV estimates.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2009
- Authors: Akoto, William
- Date: 2009
- Subjects: Estuarine ecology -- South Africa , Freshwater ecology -- South Africa , Estuaries -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MCom
- Identifier: vital:8992 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/915 , Estuarine ecology -- South Africa , Freshwater ecology -- South Africa , Estuaries -- South Africa
- Description: An estuary is the last stage of a river. It is where the river meets the sea. Estuaries are one of the most significant features of the South African coastline. In recent years, South Africa has witnessed an increase in the demand for freshwater for both industrial and domestic purposes. At the same time, there has been a gradual deterioration of river systems and their catchments. To add to this, there has been a gradual reduction in the amount of recorded rainfall, which is the primary source of freshwater for rivers. This has resulted in decreased freshwater inflow into estuaries, a situation which poses a serious threat to the biological functioning of these estuaries and the services rendered to its recreational users. A deterioration of estuary services reduces the yield for subsistence households and their appeal for recration. This study uses the contingent valuation method as its primary methodology to elicit users' willingness-to-pay to reduce the negative impacts of reduced freshwater inflow into selected western and southern Cape estuaries. Eight estuaries were selected for this study; the Breede, Duiwenhoks, Great Berg, Kleinemond West, Mhlathuze, Swartvlei and Olifants estuaries. The contingent valuation (CV) method is widely used for studies of this nature because of its ability to capture active, passive and non-use values. The CV method involves directly asking people how much they would be willing to pay for specific environmental services. In this case, users were asked what they would be willing to pay to sustain freshwater inflows into selected estuaries in order to prevent the negative impacts of reduced inflows. The travel cost method (TCM) was uesed to generate an alternative comparative set of values for the purposes of convergence testing. This is because convergence testing is highly desirable as a validity test for CV estimates.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2009