Teacher educators' interpretation and practice of learner-centred pedagogy : a case study
- Authors: Nyambe, Kamwi John
- Date: 2013-07-16
- Subjects: Bernstein, Basil B Education -- Philosophy Education (Higher) -- Namibia Teacher educators -- Namibia -- Case studies Universities and colleges -- Namibia -- Case studies Teachers -- Traning of -- Namibia -- Case studies Teachers -- In-service training -- Namibia Student-centered learning -- Namibia
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: vital:1954 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1008260
- Description: The objective of this study was to understand how teacher educators in a Namibian college of education interpret and practice the learner-centred pedagogy underpinning the Basic Education Teachers Diploma (BETD) program. In order to achieve this objective, a case study approach was adopted, qualitative-interpretive in orientation and drawing upon interviews, naturalistic non-participant observation and document analysis. Bernstein's theory of pedagogy - in particular his notion ofrecontextualization - offered ideas and concepts that were used to generate and analyse data. The data indicated that, at the level of description, teacher educators interpreted leamercentred pedagogy as a pedagogic practice based on weak rules of regulative discourse, or a weak power relation between themselves and their student teachers. The weakening of the rules of regulative discourse and the waning of educator authority were indicated in the interview narratives, which evoked a pedagogic context characterized by a repositioning of the student teacher from the margins to the centre of the classroom, where he or she enjoyed a more active and visible pedagogic position. Contrary to the dis empowering dynamic within classroom practice under the apartheid dispensation, the repositioning of the student teacher suggested a shift of power towards him or her. Similarly, the identification of the teacher educator as afacilitator, which featured prominently in the interview narratives, further suggested a weakening or diminishing of the pedagogic authority of the teacher educator. With regard to rules pertaining to the instructional discourse, the data revealed an interpretation of leamer-centred pedagogy as a pedagogic practice based on strong framing over the selection of discourses, weak framing over pacing, and strong framing over sequencing and criteria for evaluation. When correlated with the interview data, the data generated through lesson observation and teacher educator prepared documents such as lesson plans revealed a disjuncture between teacher educators' ideas about leamer-centred pedagogy and their practice of it. Contrary to the interviews, lesson observation data revealed that teacher educators implemented leamer-centred pedagogy as a pedagogic practice based on strong internal framing over rules of the regulative discourse. Data further indicated strong internal framing over the selection, sequencing, pacing and evaluation. The study concluded that while some teacher educators could produce an accurate interpretation oflearner-centred pedagogy at the level of description, most of them did not do so at the level of practice. Findings revealed structural and personal-psychological factors that constrained teacher educators' recontextualization of the new pedagogy. A narrow understanding of leamercentred pedagogy that concentrated only on changing teacher educators' pedagogical approaches from teacher-centred to learner-centred, while ignoring structural and systematic factors, tended to dominate not only the interview narratives but also official texts. Learner-centred pedagogy was understood as a matter of changing from teachercentredness to leamer-centredness while frame factors, for instance regarding the selection, pacing or sequencing of discourses, still followed the traditional approach. The study recommends the adoption of a systematic and deliberate approach to address the multiplicity of factors involved in enabling teacher educators to interpret and implement leamer-centred pedagogy at the micro-level of their classrooms. , KMBT_363 , Adobe Acrobat 9.54 Paper Capture Plug-in
- Full Text:
- Authors: Nyambe, Kamwi John
- Date: 2013-07-16
- Subjects: Bernstein, Basil B Education -- Philosophy Education (Higher) -- Namibia Teacher educators -- Namibia -- Case studies Universities and colleges -- Namibia -- Case studies Teachers -- Traning of -- Namibia -- Case studies Teachers -- In-service training -- Namibia Student-centered learning -- Namibia
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: vital:1954 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1008260
- Description: The objective of this study was to understand how teacher educators in a Namibian college of education interpret and practice the learner-centred pedagogy underpinning the Basic Education Teachers Diploma (BETD) program. In order to achieve this objective, a case study approach was adopted, qualitative-interpretive in orientation and drawing upon interviews, naturalistic non-participant observation and document analysis. Bernstein's theory of pedagogy - in particular his notion ofrecontextualization - offered ideas and concepts that were used to generate and analyse data. The data indicated that, at the level of description, teacher educators interpreted leamercentred pedagogy as a pedagogic practice based on weak rules of regulative discourse, or a weak power relation between themselves and their student teachers. The weakening of the rules of regulative discourse and the waning of educator authority were indicated in the interview narratives, which evoked a pedagogic context characterized by a repositioning of the student teacher from the margins to the centre of the classroom, where he or she enjoyed a more active and visible pedagogic position. Contrary to the dis empowering dynamic within classroom practice under the apartheid dispensation, the repositioning of the student teacher suggested a shift of power towards him or her. Similarly, the identification of the teacher educator as afacilitator, which featured prominently in the interview narratives, further suggested a weakening or diminishing of the pedagogic authority of the teacher educator. With regard to rules pertaining to the instructional discourse, the data revealed an interpretation of leamer-centred pedagogy as a pedagogic practice based on strong framing over the selection of discourses, weak framing over pacing, and strong framing over sequencing and criteria for evaluation. When correlated with the interview data, the data generated through lesson observation and teacher educator prepared documents such as lesson plans revealed a disjuncture between teacher educators' ideas about leamer-centred pedagogy and their practice of it. Contrary to the interviews, lesson observation data revealed that teacher educators implemented leamer-centred pedagogy as a pedagogic practice based on strong internal framing over rules of the regulative discourse. Data further indicated strong internal framing over the selection, sequencing, pacing and evaluation. The study concluded that while some teacher educators could produce an accurate interpretation oflearner-centred pedagogy at the level of description, most of them did not do so at the level of practice. Findings revealed structural and personal-psychological factors that constrained teacher educators' recontextualization of the new pedagogy. A narrow understanding of leamercentred pedagogy that concentrated only on changing teacher educators' pedagogical approaches from teacher-centred to learner-centred, while ignoring structural and systematic factors, tended to dominate not only the interview narratives but also official texts. Learner-centred pedagogy was understood as a matter of changing from teachercentredness to leamer-centredness while frame factors, for instance regarding the selection, pacing or sequencing of discourses, still followed the traditional approach. The study recommends the adoption of a systematic and deliberate approach to address the multiplicity of factors involved in enabling teacher educators to interpret and implement leamer-centred pedagogy at the micro-level of their classrooms. , KMBT_363 , Adobe Acrobat 9.54 Paper Capture Plug-in
- Full Text:
Integrating spirituality and psychotherapy : experiences of a sample of terminally ill patients
- Chemane, Bonginkosi Reginald
- Authors: Chemane, Bonginkosi Reginald
- Date: 2013-07-15
- Subjects: Psychotherapy Terminal care -- South Africa -- Grahamstown Hospices (Terminal care) Terminally ill -- Psychology Spiritual care (Medical care)
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:3183 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1008217
- Description: The general aim of this study was to determine the experiences of a sample of terminally ill patients in using spiritually focused psychotherapy. This was a qualitative study conducted to a sample of 2 terminally ill patients from hospice in Grahamstown, South Africa. The research was conducted in 3 phases: an initial in-depth interview conducted to determine the participants' level of spirituality as well as the extent to which their terminal illnesses had affected their functioning. This was followed by a minimum of 6 spiritually focused therapy (SFT) sessions as a second phase of the research. To determine the participants' experiences of SFT, 2-3 in-depth interviews were conducted during the 3m phase of the research study. The research revealed that a belief in a higher power helps terminally ill patients cope better with their illness and that social disconnectedness is related to HIV / AIDS stigma. It also revealed that terminal illness is co-morbid with other psychiatric symptoms such as depression, evokes existential concerns, results in a change in the level of spirituality and affects the whole family. Participants blamed themselves for their illness, but found that engaging in the process of forgiveness of self and others brought about psychological healing for them. They experienced SFT as a coping resource that assisted them to deal with the fear of death as well as increased insight into the development of psychopathology and spiritual blockages. It is recommended that a comprehensive and holistic assessment during intake be undertaken so that where spiritual needs are available, therapy can be spiritually augmented to ensure that such needs/ struggles are addressed. , KMBT_363 , Adobe Acrobat 9.54 Paper Capture Plug-in
- Full Text:
- Authors: Chemane, Bonginkosi Reginald
- Date: 2013-07-15
- Subjects: Psychotherapy Terminal care -- South Africa -- Grahamstown Hospices (Terminal care) Terminally ill -- Psychology Spiritual care (Medical care)
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:3183 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1008217
- Description: The general aim of this study was to determine the experiences of a sample of terminally ill patients in using spiritually focused psychotherapy. This was a qualitative study conducted to a sample of 2 terminally ill patients from hospice in Grahamstown, South Africa. The research was conducted in 3 phases: an initial in-depth interview conducted to determine the participants' level of spirituality as well as the extent to which their terminal illnesses had affected their functioning. This was followed by a minimum of 6 spiritually focused therapy (SFT) sessions as a second phase of the research. To determine the participants' experiences of SFT, 2-3 in-depth interviews were conducted during the 3m phase of the research study. The research revealed that a belief in a higher power helps terminally ill patients cope better with their illness and that social disconnectedness is related to HIV / AIDS stigma. It also revealed that terminal illness is co-morbid with other psychiatric symptoms such as depression, evokes existential concerns, results in a change in the level of spirituality and affects the whole family. Participants blamed themselves for their illness, but found that engaging in the process of forgiveness of self and others brought about psychological healing for them. They experienced SFT as a coping resource that assisted them to deal with the fear of death as well as increased insight into the development of psychopathology and spiritual blockages. It is recommended that a comprehensive and holistic assessment during intake be undertaken so that where spiritual needs are available, therapy can be spiritually augmented to ensure that such needs/ struggles are addressed. , KMBT_363 , Adobe Acrobat 9.54 Paper Capture Plug-in
- Full Text:
Crossing the border : constructions of borderline personality disorder within the South African context: a discourse analytic study
- Authors: Elphick, Marie-Clair
- Date: 2013-07-12
- Subjects: Borderline personality disorder -- South Africa Borderline personality disorder -- Diagnosis
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:3184 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1008307
- Description: This research aims to open up for critical discussion the effects of the discourses employed by mental health professionals in relation to the diagnosis of BPO, with a view of questioning the discursive practices available within a South African context. This discussion will situate identified discourses in relation to the subjects and objects to which it refers in an attempt to identify and interrogate dominant discourses which circulate to oppress and discriminate against female 'others' within the mental health setting. This discussion will serve to challenge mainstream, traditional psychology by questioning the utility of deploying these concepts within a South African context as well as the effects this deployment may have. A discourse analytic methodology is employed to identify the constructions of BPO by five mental health professionals working within a government setting. The analysis aims at interrogating the broader role of the identified discourses in supporting institutions, preserving power relations and transmitting ideological practices. Ultimately the aim of the research is to open up for critical debate, through the example of psychology and psychiatry's treatment of BPO; constituted as 'other', the possibility that there may be deleterious consequences for the wholesale acceptance of traditional psychological understandings by mental health professionals working within a South African context. , KMBT_363 , Adobe Acrobat 9.54 Paper Capture Plug-in
- Full Text:
- Authors: Elphick, Marie-Clair
- Date: 2013-07-12
- Subjects: Borderline personality disorder -- South Africa Borderline personality disorder -- Diagnosis
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:3184 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1008307
- Description: This research aims to open up for critical discussion the effects of the discourses employed by mental health professionals in relation to the diagnosis of BPO, with a view of questioning the discursive practices available within a South African context. This discussion will situate identified discourses in relation to the subjects and objects to which it refers in an attempt to identify and interrogate dominant discourses which circulate to oppress and discriminate against female 'others' within the mental health setting. This discussion will serve to challenge mainstream, traditional psychology by questioning the utility of deploying these concepts within a South African context as well as the effects this deployment may have. A discourse analytic methodology is employed to identify the constructions of BPO by five mental health professionals working within a government setting. The analysis aims at interrogating the broader role of the identified discourses in supporting institutions, preserving power relations and transmitting ideological practices. Ultimately the aim of the research is to open up for critical debate, through the example of psychology and psychiatry's treatment of BPO; constituted as 'other', the possibility that there may be deleterious consequences for the wholesale acceptance of traditional psychological understandings by mental health professionals working within a South African context. , KMBT_363 , Adobe Acrobat 9.54 Paper Capture Plug-in
- Full Text:
Modelling daily return variations in developing market currencies
- Authors: Howarth, Grant
- Date: 2013-07-12
- Subjects: Dollar, American , Currency questions , Foreign exchange market , Foreign exchange rates , Rate of return -- Developing countries , Money market , Prices
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MCom
- Identifier: vital:1076 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1008365 , Dollar, American , Currency questions , Foreign exchange market , Foreign exchange rates , Rate of return -- Developing countries , Money market , Prices
- Description: This study examines the American Dollar (USD) denominated currency returns of five developing market currencies for the presence of the day-of-the-week effect. Daily data from January 1995 to February 2008 is examined, and is split into two subperiods, SP1 (1995 - 2002) and SP2 (2003 - February 2008). Currency returns are non-normally distributed across the full data set and SP1 , but tend towards normality in SP2. As such non-parametric tests are used to test the equality of the first four moments across days of the week. Tests on the first moment show that two of the currencies do not show any evidence of the day-of-the-week effect. However, evidence of the day-of-the-week effect is found in the other three currencies in SP1, although the effect disappears or weakens significantly in SP2. Little evidence of the day-of-the-week effect is found in tests on the second moment. The hypothesis of equal higher moments across currency returns is rejected for almost all of the weekday pairs for all five currencies in SP1 , but in SP2 the hypothesis of equal higher moments can only be rejected for a single pair of weekdays for one currency. This indicates the disappearance of the day-of-the-week effect across higher moments in SP2. Thus, the study finds that the day-of-the-week effect is present across the first moment and higher moments in the returns to most currencies in SP1 , but has disappeared for all five currencies in SP2. , KMBT_363 , Adobe Acrobat 9.54 Paper Capture Plug-in
- Full Text:
- Authors: Howarth, Grant
- Date: 2013-07-12
- Subjects: Dollar, American , Currency questions , Foreign exchange market , Foreign exchange rates , Rate of return -- Developing countries , Money market , Prices
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MCom
- Identifier: vital:1076 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1008365 , Dollar, American , Currency questions , Foreign exchange market , Foreign exchange rates , Rate of return -- Developing countries , Money market , Prices
- Description: This study examines the American Dollar (USD) denominated currency returns of five developing market currencies for the presence of the day-of-the-week effect. Daily data from January 1995 to February 2008 is examined, and is split into two subperiods, SP1 (1995 - 2002) and SP2 (2003 - February 2008). Currency returns are non-normally distributed across the full data set and SP1 , but tend towards normality in SP2. As such non-parametric tests are used to test the equality of the first four moments across days of the week. Tests on the first moment show that two of the currencies do not show any evidence of the day-of-the-week effect. However, evidence of the day-of-the-week effect is found in the other three currencies in SP1, although the effect disappears or weakens significantly in SP2. Little evidence of the day-of-the-week effect is found in tests on the second moment. The hypothesis of equal higher moments across currency returns is rejected for almost all of the weekday pairs for all five currencies in SP1 , but in SP2 the hypothesis of equal higher moments can only be rejected for a single pair of weekdays for one currency. This indicates the disappearance of the day-of-the-week effect across higher moments in SP2. Thus, the study finds that the day-of-the-week effect is present across the first moment and higher moments in the returns to most currencies in SP1 , but has disappeared for all five currencies in SP2. , KMBT_363 , Adobe Acrobat 9.54 Paper Capture Plug-in
- Full Text:
The development of a parental alienation syndrome interview protocol
- Authors: De Jager, Melissa
- Date: 2013-07-12
- Subjects: Parental alienation syndrome Custody of children -- Psychological aspects Child abuse
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:3182 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1008212
- Description: Parental Alienation Syndrome (PAS) is a childhood disorder that arises almost exclusively in child custody disputes. Its primary manifestation is the unjustified rejection of a once-loved parent by a child due to a combination of the 'programming' parent's alienating techniques and the child's own contributions to the vilification of the targeted parent. Parental Alienation (PA) is differentiated from PAS as in the case of the former the child's rejection is justified and may be explained either by normal developmental behaviours or by child abuse that involves no form of programming. The purpose of this study is to develop a preliminary interview protocol to aid in the detection of PAS, with a special emphasis on differentiating false allegations of abuse, which usually accompany severe PAS, from true abuse. The aim of the study is to develop a protocol to enhance diagnostic clarity and facilitate appropriate custody-related recommendations. The interview protocol is based on an extensive thematic literature analysis in conjunction with existing guidelines for conducting a child custody and visitation interview. The interview protocol comprises a child and parent section, which both have their own reference tables with supporting corresponding information. The protocol 's administration instructions are outlined in a covering information page. Rigour was added to the protocol by having it assessed for clarity and accessibility by four medico-legal professionals with custody-related experience, and their opinions regarding the protocol's structure, sections, questions and reference tables were taken into consideration in the revision of the protocol. , KMBT_363 , Adobe Acrobat 9.54 Paper Capture Plug-in
- Full Text:
- Authors: De Jager, Melissa
- Date: 2013-07-12
- Subjects: Parental alienation syndrome Custody of children -- Psychological aspects Child abuse
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:3182 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1008212
- Description: Parental Alienation Syndrome (PAS) is a childhood disorder that arises almost exclusively in child custody disputes. Its primary manifestation is the unjustified rejection of a once-loved parent by a child due to a combination of the 'programming' parent's alienating techniques and the child's own contributions to the vilification of the targeted parent. Parental Alienation (PA) is differentiated from PAS as in the case of the former the child's rejection is justified and may be explained either by normal developmental behaviours or by child abuse that involves no form of programming. The purpose of this study is to develop a preliminary interview protocol to aid in the detection of PAS, with a special emphasis on differentiating false allegations of abuse, which usually accompany severe PAS, from true abuse. The aim of the study is to develop a protocol to enhance diagnostic clarity and facilitate appropriate custody-related recommendations. The interview protocol is based on an extensive thematic literature analysis in conjunction with existing guidelines for conducting a child custody and visitation interview. The interview protocol comprises a child and parent section, which both have their own reference tables with supporting corresponding information. The protocol 's administration instructions are outlined in a covering information page. Rigour was added to the protocol by having it assessed for clarity and accessibility by four medico-legal professionals with custody-related experience, and their opinions regarding the protocol's structure, sections, questions and reference tables were taken into consideration in the revision of the protocol. , KMBT_363 , Adobe Acrobat 9.54 Paper Capture Plug-in
- Full Text:
An investigation of issues of privacy, anonymity and multi-factor authentication in an open environment
- Authors: Miles, Shaun Graeme
- Date: 2012-06-20
- Subjects: Electronic data processing departments -- Security measures , Electronic data processing departments , Privacy, Right of , Computer security , Data protection , Computers -- Access control
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: vital:4656 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1006653 , Electronic data processing departments -- Security measures , Electronic data processing departments , Privacy, Right of , Computer security , Data protection , Computers -- Access control
- Description: This thesis performs an investigation into issues concerning the broad area ofIdentity and Access Management, with a focus on open environments. Through literature research the issues of privacy, anonymity and access control are identified. The issue of privacy is an inherent problem due to the nature of the digital network environment. Information can be duplicated and modified regardless of the wishes and intentions ofthe owner of that information unless proper measures are taken to secure the environment. Once information is published or divulged on the network, there is very little way of controlling the subsequent usage of that information. To address this issue a model for privacy is presented that follows the user centric paradigm of meta-identity. The lack of anonymity, where security measures can be thwarted through the observation of the environment, is a concern for users and systems. By an attacker observing the communication channel and monitoring the interactions between users and systems over a long enough period of time, it is possible to infer knowledge about the users and systems. This knowledge is used to build an identity profile of potential victims to be used in subsequent attacks. To address the problem, mechanisms for providing an acceptable level of anonymity while maintaining adequate accountability (from a legal standpoint) are explored. In terms of access control, the inherent weakness of single factor authentication mechanisms is discussed. The typical mechanism is the user-name and password pair, which provides a single point of failure. By increasing the factors used in authentication, the amount of work required to compromise the system increases non-linearly. Within an open network, several aspects hinder wide scale adoption and use of multi-factor authentication schemes, such as token management and the impact on usability. The framework is developed from a Utopian point of view, with the aim of being applicable to many situations as opposed to a single specific domain. The framework incorporates multi-factor authentication over multiple paths using mobile phones and GSM networks, and explores the usefulness of such an approach. The models are in tum analysed, providing a discussion into the assumptions made and the problems faced by each model. , Adobe Acrobat Pro 9.5.1 , Adobe Acrobat 9.51 Paper Capture Plug-in
- Full Text:
- Authors: Miles, Shaun Graeme
- Date: 2012-06-20
- Subjects: Electronic data processing departments -- Security measures , Electronic data processing departments , Privacy, Right of , Computer security , Data protection , Computers -- Access control
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: vital:4656 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1006653 , Electronic data processing departments -- Security measures , Electronic data processing departments , Privacy, Right of , Computer security , Data protection , Computers -- Access control
- Description: This thesis performs an investigation into issues concerning the broad area ofIdentity and Access Management, with a focus on open environments. Through literature research the issues of privacy, anonymity and access control are identified. The issue of privacy is an inherent problem due to the nature of the digital network environment. Information can be duplicated and modified regardless of the wishes and intentions ofthe owner of that information unless proper measures are taken to secure the environment. Once information is published or divulged on the network, there is very little way of controlling the subsequent usage of that information. To address this issue a model for privacy is presented that follows the user centric paradigm of meta-identity. The lack of anonymity, where security measures can be thwarted through the observation of the environment, is a concern for users and systems. By an attacker observing the communication channel and monitoring the interactions between users and systems over a long enough period of time, it is possible to infer knowledge about the users and systems. This knowledge is used to build an identity profile of potential victims to be used in subsequent attacks. To address the problem, mechanisms for providing an acceptable level of anonymity while maintaining adequate accountability (from a legal standpoint) are explored. In terms of access control, the inherent weakness of single factor authentication mechanisms is discussed. The typical mechanism is the user-name and password pair, which provides a single point of failure. By increasing the factors used in authentication, the amount of work required to compromise the system increases non-linearly. Within an open network, several aspects hinder wide scale adoption and use of multi-factor authentication schemes, such as token management and the impact on usability. The framework is developed from a Utopian point of view, with the aim of being applicable to many situations as opposed to a single specific domain. The framework incorporates multi-factor authentication over multiple paths using mobile phones and GSM networks, and explores the usefulness of such an approach. The models are in tum analysed, providing a discussion into the assumptions made and the problems faced by each model. , Adobe Acrobat Pro 9.5.1 , Adobe Acrobat 9.51 Paper Capture Plug-in
- Full Text:
"A dark revolt of being" abjection, sacrifice and the real in performance art, with reference to the works of Peter van Heerden and Steven Cohen
- Authors: Balt, Christine
- Date: 2009
- Subjects: Cohen, Steven, 1962- Van Heerden, Peter Phelan, Peggy Kristeva, Julia Lacan, Jacques Performance art -- South Africa Abject art
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:2132 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002364
- Description: This thesis is an exploration of some of the defining characteristics of performance art, and an investigation of how such characteristics relate to ritual. It highlights some key notions, such as that of the “Real” and the live, which are introduced in the first chapter. This chapter explores the theories of Peggy Phelan, Julia Kristeva and Jacques Lacan in its attempts to conceptualize the Real. It assesses how performance art as ritual attempts to revise traditional apparatuses of representation. It argues that, through a transgression of representation, performance art has the potential to challenge and revise established discourses on identity, culture and violence. The second chapter of this study is an attempt to provide a history and subsequent conceptualization of performance art, based on its exposition of the live. I have taken into consideration certain strategies that performance artists employ to evoke the live, referring specifically to the manipulation of the body. It is through abject encounters with the unsymbolizable “Real” that the performance artist reaches the borders of his/her subjective constitution, and performs a transformation of his/her identity that transcends the mechanisms of representation. The third chapter of this study attempts to find the connections that exist between performance art and sacrificial ritual. I will refer specifically to the theories of Rene Girard. Girard‟s notion of the “violent sacred” and its significance within sacrifice as an antidote to community crises will be explored in relation to collective transformation within the performance event. I choose to focus specifically on the role of the performer as surrogate victim/pharmakon, and the spectators/witnesses as part of the community. The fourth chapter explores how two South African performance artists, Steven Cohen (1961) and Peter van Heerden (1973), perform the abject body as the monster. Kristeva‟s notion of the abject will be examined in terms of the transformation of the individual performer as subject within performance art, and how, through the assumption of an “othered,” monstrous identity, the performer becomes the surrogate victim. The fifth chapter will entail an examination of Peter van Heerden‟s 6 Minutes. I will attempt to draw parallels between performance art and ritual through using this performance piece as a case study. I will focus on the strategies that Van Heerden implements to resist theatrical representation. 6 Minutes will be observed in terms of its link to sacrificial ritual, and it presentation of the live, and the Real. In light of these discoveries, I aim to locate performance art within politically-driven modes of art-making, and how such an endeavour relates to South African modes of theatre and performance.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2009
- Authors: Balt, Christine
- Date: 2009
- Subjects: Cohen, Steven, 1962- Van Heerden, Peter Phelan, Peggy Kristeva, Julia Lacan, Jacques Performance art -- South Africa Abject art
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:2132 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002364
- Description: This thesis is an exploration of some of the defining characteristics of performance art, and an investigation of how such characteristics relate to ritual. It highlights some key notions, such as that of the “Real” and the live, which are introduced in the first chapter. This chapter explores the theories of Peggy Phelan, Julia Kristeva and Jacques Lacan in its attempts to conceptualize the Real. It assesses how performance art as ritual attempts to revise traditional apparatuses of representation. It argues that, through a transgression of representation, performance art has the potential to challenge and revise established discourses on identity, culture and violence. The second chapter of this study is an attempt to provide a history and subsequent conceptualization of performance art, based on its exposition of the live. I have taken into consideration certain strategies that performance artists employ to evoke the live, referring specifically to the manipulation of the body. It is through abject encounters with the unsymbolizable “Real” that the performance artist reaches the borders of his/her subjective constitution, and performs a transformation of his/her identity that transcends the mechanisms of representation. The third chapter of this study attempts to find the connections that exist between performance art and sacrificial ritual. I will refer specifically to the theories of Rene Girard. Girard‟s notion of the “violent sacred” and its significance within sacrifice as an antidote to community crises will be explored in relation to collective transformation within the performance event. I choose to focus specifically on the role of the performer as surrogate victim/pharmakon, and the spectators/witnesses as part of the community. The fourth chapter explores how two South African performance artists, Steven Cohen (1961) and Peter van Heerden (1973), perform the abject body as the monster. Kristeva‟s notion of the abject will be examined in terms of the transformation of the individual performer as subject within performance art, and how, through the assumption of an “othered,” monstrous identity, the performer becomes the surrogate victim. The fifth chapter will entail an examination of Peter van Heerden‟s 6 Minutes. I will attempt to draw parallels between performance art and ritual through using this performance piece as a case study. I will focus on the strategies that Van Heerden implements to resist theatrical representation. 6 Minutes will be observed in terms of its link to sacrificial ritual, and it presentation of the live, and the Real. In light of these discoveries, I aim to locate performance art within politically-driven modes of art-making, and how such an endeavour relates to South African modes of theatre and performance.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2009
A case study of strategic leadership in the creation and development of a privately owned newspaper in Zambia
- Authors: Mungonge, Goliath
- Date: 2009
- Subjects: Newspapers -- Zambia Strategic planning -- Zambia -- Case studies Mass media -- Zambia -- Case studies Journalism -- Zambia -- Case studies Newspaper publishing -- Zambia -- Case studies Press -- Zambia -- Case studies
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MBA
- Identifier: vital:734 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1003854
- Description: Roles of various constituent elements of Strategic Leadership address deep and continuing issues relating to the creation and development of any organization. What is required to help firms successfully navigate the dynamics and uncertain environment in which they compete today to be successful is addressed. The founding in July 1991 of The Post, a privately owned Zambian newspaper, provided a unique opportunity to investigate the roles that various constituent elements of strategic leadership have played in its success. This is largely because much is already known about how state-owned media are managed, financed, and sustained by the state itself, which is fully involved in their re-capitalization and operating costs. The themes identified are at the heart of current debates about the capacity of private organizations to respond to new expectations, market realities, no state funding, globalization, technology, and a long list of other challenges so as to become market driven enterprises. The case of The Post is seen to present a story of an enduring publication in times of political, financial, social and other adversities and the research participants have no illusions about the success of the publication. The case study of The Post also gives useful insight into the many challenges and obstacles faced by the newspaper. It offers examples of determination, focused courage and innovation, complemented by strategic leadership. This was done by means of what emerged from the insight and experiences of the six research participants that were part of the founders of the newspaper and those associated with the development of the newspaper since its inception.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2009
- Authors: Mungonge, Goliath
- Date: 2009
- Subjects: Newspapers -- Zambia Strategic planning -- Zambia -- Case studies Mass media -- Zambia -- Case studies Journalism -- Zambia -- Case studies Newspaper publishing -- Zambia -- Case studies Press -- Zambia -- Case studies
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MBA
- Identifier: vital:734 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1003854
- Description: Roles of various constituent elements of Strategic Leadership address deep and continuing issues relating to the creation and development of any organization. What is required to help firms successfully navigate the dynamics and uncertain environment in which they compete today to be successful is addressed. The founding in July 1991 of The Post, a privately owned Zambian newspaper, provided a unique opportunity to investigate the roles that various constituent elements of strategic leadership have played in its success. This is largely because much is already known about how state-owned media are managed, financed, and sustained by the state itself, which is fully involved in their re-capitalization and operating costs. The themes identified are at the heart of current debates about the capacity of private organizations to respond to new expectations, market realities, no state funding, globalization, technology, and a long list of other challenges so as to become market driven enterprises. The case of The Post is seen to present a story of an enduring publication in times of political, financial, social and other adversities and the research participants have no illusions about the success of the publication. The case study of The Post also gives useful insight into the many challenges and obstacles faced by the newspaper. It offers examples of determination, focused courage and innovation, complemented by strategic leadership. This was done by means of what emerged from the insight and experiences of the six research participants that were part of the founders of the newspaper and those associated with the development of the newspaper since its inception.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2009
A case study of strategy implementation at a major Eastern Cape component supplier company in the automotive industry
- Authors: Koyana, Gwyneth Puseletso
- Date: 2009
- Subjects: Automobile industry and trade -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape Automobile industry workers -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape Industrial organization -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape -- Case studies Strategic planning -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape -- Case studies
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MBA
- Identifier: vital:735 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1003855
- Description: A review of the literature on strategy implementation reveals that there is limited knowledge on how strategies should be implemented. This thesis focuses on a case study of strategy implementation at a major Eastern Cape component supplier company in the automotive industry, for purposes of establishing how the company implemented its strategies to become one of the best cost leaders in the manufacture of automotive pressed metal body components in South Africa. Data collated from the company is analysed and discussed with a resultant description of how the research participants understood the process of strategy implementation within the research company during the period January 2006 to December 2007. Interviews were undertaken within the levels of top management, middle management and the operational employees. Interpretations were made of the constructs made by the research participants in their understanding of how the research company implemented its strategy to become one of the best cost leaders in the manufacture of automotive pressed metal body components. It transpired from the findings of the research that the research company manufactured 70% of its products for one major client. During the manufacture of its products, the research company had to conform to the quality standards required by the main client. The main client was therefore offered the desired service at the best price. The strategy of the research company was to strive to be one of the best cost leaders in the manufacture of its products. It sought to do this by producing high quality products. Analysis is made of the strategic content, strategic context, operational processes and outcomes for the research company after the implementation of its strategy. It emerges in the case study that the strategy implementation factors cannot be considered separately in linear models but holistically, since one implementation factor may influence the others, resulting in a context and process based approach.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2009
- Authors: Koyana, Gwyneth Puseletso
- Date: 2009
- Subjects: Automobile industry and trade -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape Automobile industry workers -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape Industrial organization -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape -- Case studies Strategic planning -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape -- Case studies
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MBA
- Identifier: vital:735 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1003855
- Description: A review of the literature on strategy implementation reveals that there is limited knowledge on how strategies should be implemented. This thesis focuses on a case study of strategy implementation at a major Eastern Cape component supplier company in the automotive industry, for purposes of establishing how the company implemented its strategies to become one of the best cost leaders in the manufacture of automotive pressed metal body components in South Africa. Data collated from the company is analysed and discussed with a resultant description of how the research participants understood the process of strategy implementation within the research company during the period January 2006 to December 2007. Interviews were undertaken within the levels of top management, middle management and the operational employees. Interpretations were made of the constructs made by the research participants in their understanding of how the research company implemented its strategy to become one of the best cost leaders in the manufacture of automotive pressed metal body components. It transpired from the findings of the research that the research company manufactured 70% of its products for one major client. During the manufacture of its products, the research company had to conform to the quality standards required by the main client. The main client was therefore offered the desired service at the best price. The strategy of the research company was to strive to be one of the best cost leaders in the manufacture of its products. It sought to do this by producing high quality products. Analysis is made of the strategic content, strategic context, operational processes and outcomes for the research company after the implementation of its strategy. It emerges in the case study that the strategy implementation factors cannot be considered separately in linear models but holistically, since one implementation factor may influence the others, resulting in a context and process based approach.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2009
A case study: exploring students' experiences of a participative assessment approach on a professionally-orientated postgraduate programme
- Authors: du Toit, Peter
- Date: 2009
- Subjects: Education, Higher -- South Africa Graduate students -- Study and teaching -- South Africa -- Case Studies Action research in education -- South Africa -- Case Studies Universities and colleges -- Graduate work -- South Africa -- Case Studies
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: vital:1432 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1003313
- Description: The study was undertaken as the first cycle of an action research project. It presents a case study that explores the potential of the combined use of self-, peer-, and tutor-driven assessment in enhancing students’ learning in a professionally orientated postgraduate media management course. The study also explores how such a process can contribute to students developing the skills and dispositions required by autonomous learners and professionals. In approaching these questions the study draws directly on students’ own accounts of their experiences and contrasts these accounts with the growing body of literature on participative assessment in higher education that has emerged over the past decade. The study begins by exploring how action research can aid in the development of valuable insights into educational practice. It draws on educational theorists’ use of Habermas’s (1971, 1972 and 1974 in Grundy, 1987: 8) theory of knowledge constitutive interests in developing a conceptual framework against which assessment practice can be understood and argues against instrumental approaches to assessment. Set against a background of outcomes-based education, the study presents an argument for privileging the role of assessment in promoting learning above its other function. It contends that this function is undermined if students are excluded from direct involvement in assessment practice. Informed by research into participative assessment, the study presents a thick description of a particular approach used during the action research cycle and explores how students experienced this process. The findings of the study support theories favouring the involvement of students in their own assessment and suggest that such processes can contribute to meeting students’ present and future learning needs.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2009
- Authors: du Toit, Peter
- Date: 2009
- Subjects: Education, Higher -- South Africa Graduate students -- Study and teaching -- South Africa -- Case Studies Action research in education -- South Africa -- Case Studies Universities and colleges -- Graduate work -- South Africa -- Case Studies
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: vital:1432 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1003313
- Description: The study was undertaken as the first cycle of an action research project. It presents a case study that explores the potential of the combined use of self-, peer-, and tutor-driven assessment in enhancing students’ learning in a professionally orientated postgraduate media management course. The study also explores how such a process can contribute to students developing the skills and dispositions required by autonomous learners and professionals. In approaching these questions the study draws directly on students’ own accounts of their experiences and contrasts these accounts with the growing body of literature on participative assessment in higher education that has emerged over the past decade. The study begins by exploring how action research can aid in the development of valuable insights into educational practice. It draws on educational theorists’ use of Habermas’s (1971, 1972 and 1974 in Grundy, 1987: 8) theory of knowledge constitutive interests in developing a conceptual framework against which assessment practice can be understood and argues against instrumental approaches to assessment. Set against a background of outcomes-based education, the study presents an argument for privileging the role of assessment in promoting learning above its other function. It contends that this function is undermined if students are excluded from direct involvement in assessment practice. Informed by research into participative assessment, the study presents a thick description of a particular approach used during the action research cycle and explores how students experienced this process. The findings of the study support theories favouring the involvement of students in their own assessment and suggest that such processes can contribute to meeting students’ present and future learning needs.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2009
A changing didacticism : the development of South African young adult fiction from 1985 to 2006
- Authors: Williams, Jenna Elizabeth
- Date: 2009 , 2013-07-16
- Subjects: Didactic fiction, English -- History and criticism Young adult fiction, South African -- History and criticism South Africa -- In literature South Africa -- Politics and government
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:2255 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1004293
- Description: This thesis endeavours to establish how political transformation in South Africa has impacted on the didactic function of locally produced young adult fiction between the years of 1985 and 2006. To this end, a selection of young adult novels and short stories are examined in relation to the time period during which they were written or are set, namely the final years of apartheid (from 1985 to the early 1990s), the period of transition from apartheid to democracy (approximately 1991 to 1997), and the early years of the twenty-first century (2000 to 2006). Chapter One provides a brief overview of publishing for the juvenile market in South Africa over the last century, noting how significant historical and political events affected both the publishing industry itself and the content of children's and young adult literature. This chapter also adumbrates the theoretical foundations of the study. The second chapter examines a selection of texts either written or set during the final years of the apartheid regime. This chapter establishes how authors during this period challenged notions of racial inequality and undermined the policies of the apartheid government, with varying degrees of success. The authors' methods in encouraging their (predominantly white) readers to question apartheid ideology are also interrogated. Those novels written after, but set during, the apartheid era are examined with the aim of determining their authors' didactic objectives in revisiting this period in their novels. Chapter Three explores how authors writing during the transition period aimed to encourage readers to participate in the building of a 'rainbow nation,' by portraying idealised modes of relating to the racial 'other.' While some of the authors examined in this chapter are optimistic, and even naïve, in their celebration of a newly established democracy, others are more cautious in suggesting that decades of oppression and separation can so easily be overcome. Chapter Four demonstrates how the freedoms afforded by a democratic society have prompted young adult authors to explore the possibilities of adapting the sub-genre of the teenage problem novel to suit a distinctly South African context. While some of these texts are not overtly didactic in nature, they confront the unique issues faced by a generation of South African teenagers raised in a democratic society, and in some cases challenge readers to reconsider their approach to such issues.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2009
- Authors: Williams, Jenna Elizabeth
- Date: 2009 , 2013-07-16
- Subjects: Didactic fiction, English -- History and criticism Young adult fiction, South African -- History and criticism South Africa -- In literature South Africa -- Politics and government
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:2255 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1004293
- Description: This thesis endeavours to establish how political transformation in South Africa has impacted on the didactic function of locally produced young adult fiction between the years of 1985 and 2006. To this end, a selection of young adult novels and short stories are examined in relation to the time period during which they were written or are set, namely the final years of apartheid (from 1985 to the early 1990s), the period of transition from apartheid to democracy (approximately 1991 to 1997), and the early years of the twenty-first century (2000 to 2006). Chapter One provides a brief overview of publishing for the juvenile market in South Africa over the last century, noting how significant historical and political events affected both the publishing industry itself and the content of children's and young adult literature. This chapter also adumbrates the theoretical foundations of the study. The second chapter examines a selection of texts either written or set during the final years of the apartheid regime. This chapter establishes how authors during this period challenged notions of racial inequality and undermined the policies of the apartheid government, with varying degrees of success. The authors' methods in encouraging their (predominantly white) readers to question apartheid ideology are also interrogated. Those novels written after, but set during, the apartheid era are examined with the aim of determining their authors' didactic objectives in revisiting this period in their novels. Chapter Three explores how authors writing during the transition period aimed to encourage readers to participate in the building of a 'rainbow nation,' by portraying idealised modes of relating to the racial 'other.' While some of the authors examined in this chapter are optimistic, and even naïve, in their celebration of a newly established democracy, others are more cautious in suggesting that decades of oppression and separation can so easily be overcome. Chapter Four demonstrates how the freedoms afforded by a democratic society have prompted young adult authors to explore the possibilities of adapting the sub-genre of the teenage problem novel to suit a distinctly South African context. While some of these texts are not overtly didactic in nature, they confront the unique issues faced by a generation of South African teenagers raised in a democratic society, and in some cases challenge readers to reconsider their approach to such issues.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2009
A common analysis framework for simulated streaming-video networks
- Authors: Mulumba, Patrick
- Date: 2009
- Subjects: Computer networks -- Management , Streaming video , Mass media -- Technological innovations
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: vital:4590 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1004828 , Computer networks -- Management , Streaming video , Mass media -- Technological innovations
- Description: Distributed media streaming has been driven by the combination of improved media compression techniques and an increase in the availability of bandwidth. This increase has lead to the development of various streaming distribution engines (systems/services), which currently provide the majority of the streaming media available throughout the Internet. This study aimed to analyse a range of existing commercial and open-source streaming media distribution engines, and classify them in such a way as to define a Common Analysis Framework for Simulated Streaming-Video Networks (CAFSS-Net). This common framework was used as the basis for a simulation tool intended to aid in the development and deployment of streaming media networks and predict the performance impacts of both network configuration changes, video features (scene complexity, resolution) and general scaling. CAFSS-Net consists of six components: the server, the client(s), the network simulator, the video publishing tools, the videos and the evaluation tool-set. Test scenarios are presented consisting of different network configurations, scales and external traffic specifications. From these test scenarios, results were obtained to determine interesting observations attained and to provide an overview of the different test specications for this study. From these results, an analysis of the system was performed, yielding relationships between the videos, the different bandwidths, the different measurement tools and the different components of CAFSS-Net. Based on the analysis of the results, the implications for CAFSS-Net highlighted different achievements and proposals for future work for the different components. CAFSS-Net was able to successfully integrate all of its components to evaluate the different streaming scenarios. The streaming server, client and video components accomplished their objectives. It is noted that although the video publishing tool was able to provide the necessary compression/decompression services, proposals for the implementation of alternative compression/decompression schemes could serve as a suitable extension. The network simulator and evaluation tool-set components were also successful, but future tests (particularly in low bandwidth scenarios) are suggested in order to further improve the accuracy of the framework as a whole. CAFSS-Net is especially successful with analysing high bandwidth connections with the results being similar to those of the physical network tests.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2009
- Authors: Mulumba, Patrick
- Date: 2009
- Subjects: Computer networks -- Management , Streaming video , Mass media -- Technological innovations
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: vital:4590 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1004828 , Computer networks -- Management , Streaming video , Mass media -- Technological innovations
- Description: Distributed media streaming has been driven by the combination of improved media compression techniques and an increase in the availability of bandwidth. This increase has lead to the development of various streaming distribution engines (systems/services), which currently provide the majority of the streaming media available throughout the Internet. This study aimed to analyse a range of existing commercial and open-source streaming media distribution engines, and classify them in such a way as to define a Common Analysis Framework for Simulated Streaming-Video Networks (CAFSS-Net). This common framework was used as the basis for a simulation tool intended to aid in the development and deployment of streaming media networks and predict the performance impacts of both network configuration changes, video features (scene complexity, resolution) and general scaling. CAFSS-Net consists of six components: the server, the client(s), the network simulator, the video publishing tools, the videos and the evaluation tool-set. Test scenarios are presented consisting of different network configurations, scales and external traffic specifications. From these test scenarios, results were obtained to determine interesting observations attained and to provide an overview of the different test specications for this study. From these results, an analysis of the system was performed, yielding relationships between the videos, the different bandwidths, the different measurement tools and the different components of CAFSS-Net. Based on the analysis of the results, the implications for CAFSS-Net highlighted different achievements and proposals for future work for the different components. CAFSS-Net was able to successfully integrate all of its components to evaluate the different streaming scenarios. The streaming server, client and video components accomplished their objectives. It is noted that although the video publishing tool was able to provide the necessary compression/decompression services, proposals for the implementation of alternative compression/decompression schemes could serve as a suitable extension. The network simulator and evaluation tool-set components were also successful, but future tests (particularly in low bandwidth scenarios) are suggested in order to further improve the accuracy of the framework as a whole. CAFSS-Net is especially successful with analysing high bandwidth connections with the results being similar to those of the physical network tests.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2009
A comparative analysis of the divisia index and the simple sum monetary aggregates for South Africa
- Authors: Moyo, Solomon Simbarashe
- Date: 2009
- Subjects: Monetary policy -- South Africa , Money supply -- South Africa , Inflation finance -- South Africa , Index numbers (Economics)
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MCom
- Identifier: vital:945 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002679 , Monetary policy -- South Africa , Money supply -- South Africa , Inflation finance -- South Africa , Index numbers (Economics)
- Description: The effectiveness of monetary policy in achieving its macroeconomic objectives such as price stability and economic growth depend on the monetary policy tools that are implemented by the Central Bank. Monetary aggregates are one of the tools that have been used as indicators of economic activity and as intermediate targets to achieve these economic objectives. Until recently, monetary aggregates have been questioned and criticised on their usefulness in monetary policy. This has been attributed to the economic, financial and technological developments that have distorted the relationship between monetary aggregates and major macroeconomic variables. This study investigates the relevance of monetary aggregation by comparing the traditional simple sum and Divisia index monetary aggregates which was constructed for the first time for South Africa using the Tornquist-Theil method. The Polynomial Distributed Lag model is employed to compare the performance of these monetary aggregates using their relationship with inflation and manufacturing index. Furthermore, the aggregates are compared in terms of their controllability and information content. Overall, the study found a very strong relationship between inflation and all the monetary aggregates. However, more specifically the results suggested that the Divisia indices are superior to the simple sum in terms of predicting inflation. The evidence further suggests that the Divisia aggregates provide higher information about inflation than the simple sum aggregates. Regarding the controllability of the monetary aggregates, the findings suggest that the monetary authorities can hardly control the monetary aggregates using monetary base. Finally, the relationship between manufacturing index and all the monetary aggregates was very weak.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2009
- Authors: Moyo, Solomon Simbarashe
- Date: 2009
- Subjects: Monetary policy -- South Africa , Money supply -- South Africa , Inflation finance -- South Africa , Index numbers (Economics)
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MCom
- Identifier: vital:945 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002679 , Monetary policy -- South Africa , Money supply -- South Africa , Inflation finance -- South Africa , Index numbers (Economics)
- Description: The effectiveness of monetary policy in achieving its macroeconomic objectives such as price stability and economic growth depend on the monetary policy tools that are implemented by the Central Bank. Monetary aggregates are one of the tools that have been used as indicators of economic activity and as intermediate targets to achieve these economic objectives. Until recently, monetary aggregates have been questioned and criticised on their usefulness in monetary policy. This has been attributed to the economic, financial and technological developments that have distorted the relationship between monetary aggregates and major macroeconomic variables. This study investigates the relevance of monetary aggregation by comparing the traditional simple sum and Divisia index monetary aggregates which was constructed for the first time for South Africa using the Tornquist-Theil method. The Polynomial Distributed Lag model is employed to compare the performance of these monetary aggregates using their relationship with inflation and manufacturing index. Furthermore, the aggregates are compared in terms of their controllability and information content. Overall, the study found a very strong relationship between inflation and all the monetary aggregates. However, more specifically the results suggested that the Divisia indices are superior to the simple sum in terms of predicting inflation. The evidence further suggests that the Divisia aggregates provide higher information about inflation than the simple sum aggregates. Regarding the controllability of the monetary aggregates, the findings suggest that the monetary authorities can hardly control the monetary aggregates using monetary base. Finally, the relationship between manufacturing index and all the monetary aggregates was very weak.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2009
A critical analysis of the management of climate change risk among short-term insurers in South Africa: evidence from company annual reports
- Authors: Banda, Musale Hamangaba
- Date: 2009
- Subjects: Insurance companies -- South Africa -- Case studies Risk (Insurance) -- South Africa Risk management -- Evaluation -- South Africa Insurance companies -- South Africa -- Management South Africa -- Economic conditions -- 1991 -- Environmental aspects Climatic changes -- Risk assessment -- South Africa Disaster insurance -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MBA
- Identifier: vital:792 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1003943
- Description: This study investigates the extent to which South African short-term insurance companies manage climate change risk, as evidenced in their annual and sustainability reporting. The study context takes into account the fact that the world’s climate has been changing at a more accelerated rate since the early 1970s, causing disasters that have negatively affected world economies in the last ten years. Insurers, due to their huge financial resource base, long history of spurring innovation around risk and encouraging loss-reducing behaviour as well as high levels of vulnerability, have been identified as one industry that could lead societies in finding solutions to climate change risk. A key element of such a corporate resolve involves taking a leadership position which makes business sense for insurers. As such, this research analyses how innovative solutions to change-related problems could result in reduced exposure to climate change in line with corporate triple bottom line objectives. Based on a purposive sampling of short-term insurance companies operating in the South African market during the 2007 financial year, the study uses the companies’ annual and sustainability reports in order to critically assess evidence of climate change-related performance. The assessment is undertaken against the best practice indicators of climate change risk management, as defined by Ceres – a global researcher on climate change management in the business context. The data analysis is largely qualitative, consisting of a narrative presentation of the results and a conceptual application of the results to the triple bottom line which forms the theoretical framework of this study. The study finds that the South African short-term insurers were generally not living up to the climate change management ideals, in comparison to their multinational counterparts. For the South African short-term insurers, corporate strategic product innovation and planning was insignificant. Also negligible was board involvement, as well as CEO involvement, though in at least one case of the 4 local short-term insurance, there was evidence of extensive CEO involvement in climate change risk management. On the whole, these findings represent a lapse in corporate governance inasmuch as climate change risk management is concerned. Local short-term insurers generally performed well in the area of public disclosure, with their scores ranging from insignificant to extensive. In contrast, multinational short-term insurers’ performance with regard to climate change risk intervention ranged from insignificant tointegrated, across the five governance areas of board oversight, management execution, public disclosure, emissions accounting and strategic planning. As such, the study broadly recommends that short-term insurers in South Africa should make climate change part of their overall risk management strategies in order for them to remain competitive in an environment of increased climate change-related risk. More specifically, the research project recommends that the local insurers should proactively lead climate change mitigation measures through, for instance, investing in clean energy projects and incentivising their clients’ participation in the carbon market to prepare themselves for possible regulatory restrictions after the Copenhagen climate change conference planned for December 2009. This study also challenges insurers to help communities and as well as other businesses in their value chain to reduce their negative impacts on the world’s climate and to be more resilient against disasters which may arise from the high levels of greenhouse gases already in the atmosphere. Further, it recommends that insurers should create internal board and executive level climate change-related structures, as these will facilitate the integration of the proposed initiatives into their overall sustainability strategies. Above all, the study recommends that insurers should enhance the reporting of their climate change-related risk, opportunities and initiatives to improve their integrity.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2009
- Authors: Banda, Musale Hamangaba
- Date: 2009
- Subjects: Insurance companies -- South Africa -- Case studies Risk (Insurance) -- South Africa Risk management -- Evaluation -- South Africa Insurance companies -- South Africa -- Management South Africa -- Economic conditions -- 1991 -- Environmental aspects Climatic changes -- Risk assessment -- South Africa Disaster insurance -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MBA
- Identifier: vital:792 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1003943
- Description: This study investigates the extent to which South African short-term insurance companies manage climate change risk, as evidenced in their annual and sustainability reporting. The study context takes into account the fact that the world’s climate has been changing at a more accelerated rate since the early 1970s, causing disasters that have negatively affected world economies in the last ten years. Insurers, due to their huge financial resource base, long history of spurring innovation around risk and encouraging loss-reducing behaviour as well as high levels of vulnerability, have been identified as one industry that could lead societies in finding solutions to climate change risk. A key element of such a corporate resolve involves taking a leadership position which makes business sense for insurers. As such, this research analyses how innovative solutions to change-related problems could result in reduced exposure to climate change in line with corporate triple bottom line objectives. Based on a purposive sampling of short-term insurance companies operating in the South African market during the 2007 financial year, the study uses the companies’ annual and sustainability reports in order to critically assess evidence of climate change-related performance. The assessment is undertaken against the best practice indicators of climate change risk management, as defined by Ceres – a global researcher on climate change management in the business context. The data analysis is largely qualitative, consisting of a narrative presentation of the results and a conceptual application of the results to the triple bottom line which forms the theoretical framework of this study. The study finds that the South African short-term insurers were generally not living up to the climate change management ideals, in comparison to their multinational counterparts. For the South African short-term insurers, corporate strategic product innovation and planning was insignificant. Also negligible was board involvement, as well as CEO involvement, though in at least one case of the 4 local short-term insurance, there was evidence of extensive CEO involvement in climate change risk management. On the whole, these findings represent a lapse in corporate governance inasmuch as climate change risk management is concerned. Local short-term insurers generally performed well in the area of public disclosure, with their scores ranging from insignificant to extensive. In contrast, multinational short-term insurers’ performance with regard to climate change risk intervention ranged from insignificant tointegrated, across the five governance areas of board oversight, management execution, public disclosure, emissions accounting and strategic planning. As such, the study broadly recommends that short-term insurers in South Africa should make climate change part of their overall risk management strategies in order for them to remain competitive in an environment of increased climate change-related risk. More specifically, the research project recommends that the local insurers should proactively lead climate change mitigation measures through, for instance, investing in clean energy projects and incentivising their clients’ participation in the carbon market to prepare themselves for possible regulatory restrictions after the Copenhagen climate change conference planned for December 2009. This study also challenges insurers to help communities and as well as other businesses in their value chain to reduce their negative impacts on the world’s climate and to be more resilient against disasters which may arise from the high levels of greenhouse gases already in the atmosphere. Further, it recommends that insurers should create internal board and executive level climate change-related structures, as these will facilitate the integration of the proposed initiatives into their overall sustainability strategies. Above all, the study recommends that insurers should enhance the reporting of their climate change-related risk, opportunities and initiatives to improve their integrity.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2009
A critical assessment of the implementation of performance management in the Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality
- Authors: Ngcelwane, Mnikeli Jackson
- Date: 2009
- Subjects: Nelson Mandela Metropolitan Municipality (Eastern Cape, South Africa) -- Administration Performance -- Management -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape Industrial Management Teams in the workplace -- Management Municipal government -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MBA
- Identifier: vital:736 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1003856
- Description: The transformation of all spheres of South African government to a more effective and efficient administration became a priority after the election of the country's first democratic government in April 1994. An important aspect of South Africa's democratisation was the promise by the new government to improve the lives of the people of this country, and provide a better life for all the citizens of South Africa. One of the most effective ways of achieving this goal is generally accepted to be the proper management and strengthening of the local government sphere. Local government is the sphere of government that is closest to the people, and generally the performance of National Government is assessed through the performance of municipalities. In strengthening local government, various pieces of legislation were developed since 1994 to ensure that the objectives of Section 152 of the Constitution are achieved. As a result of these imperatives, the Department of Provincial and Local Government introduced a White Paper on Local Government on 9 March 1998, with a vision of working towards a new developmental local government system. Various statutes emanated from this strategic framework, such as the Local Government: Municipal Structures Act No. 117 of 1998, the Local Government: Municipal Systems Act No. 32 of 2000 and the Local Government: Municipal Finance Management Act No. 56 of 2003. These legislative enactments endeavour to ensure that the local sphere of government is managed more strategically than previously, and is responsive to the needs of communities. Municipalities are expected to deliver efficient and affordable services to the local communities, and failure to do so could result in the recent spate of violent protest that has been recently experienced in various parts of the country. In order to measure the extent of service delivery to the communities, and to assess whether the objectives named in the municipality's Integrated Development Plan (IDP) document are being achieved, municipalities are compelled to implement performance management for all members of staff, political office bearers and service providers, in terms of the Municipal Systems Act No. 32 of 2000. This thesis therefore looks at challenges faced by the Senior Management (i.e. Section 57 employees, Directors and Assistant Directors) in the implementation of performance management within the Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality, during the first five years of their term in office (i.e. Senior Management appointed after 6 December 2000 local government elections), and recommending performance management steps as well as performance management model that can be used to cascade performance management amongst all levels of staff. This thesis begins by introducing the subject of performance management, briefly discussing the demarcation of the research, the research method utilised, the historical background of performance management, as well as the current status of performance management within the municipality. The introduction of the topic is followed by a theoretical overview of the subject of performance management. This is followed by the discussion of the research methodology followed when conducting this research study. The findings are discussed in detail after the research methodology, giving a synopsis of what the interviewees disclosed during the interview process. The last chapter provides a brief discussion of the findings, and discusses the recommended performance management steps and performance management model, that can be used by the municipality to cascade performance amongst all members of staff.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2009
- Authors: Ngcelwane, Mnikeli Jackson
- Date: 2009
- Subjects: Nelson Mandela Metropolitan Municipality (Eastern Cape, South Africa) -- Administration Performance -- Management -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape Industrial Management Teams in the workplace -- Management Municipal government -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MBA
- Identifier: vital:736 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1003856
- Description: The transformation of all spheres of South African government to a more effective and efficient administration became a priority after the election of the country's first democratic government in April 1994. An important aspect of South Africa's democratisation was the promise by the new government to improve the lives of the people of this country, and provide a better life for all the citizens of South Africa. One of the most effective ways of achieving this goal is generally accepted to be the proper management and strengthening of the local government sphere. Local government is the sphere of government that is closest to the people, and generally the performance of National Government is assessed through the performance of municipalities. In strengthening local government, various pieces of legislation were developed since 1994 to ensure that the objectives of Section 152 of the Constitution are achieved. As a result of these imperatives, the Department of Provincial and Local Government introduced a White Paper on Local Government on 9 March 1998, with a vision of working towards a new developmental local government system. Various statutes emanated from this strategic framework, such as the Local Government: Municipal Structures Act No. 117 of 1998, the Local Government: Municipal Systems Act No. 32 of 2000 and the Local Government: Municipal Finance Management Act No. 56 of 2003. These legislative enactments endeavour to ensure that the local sphere of government is managed more strategically than previously, and is responsive to the needs of communities. Municipalities are expected to deliver efficient and affordable services to the local communities, and failure to do so could result in the recent spate of violent protest that has been recently experienced in various parts of the country. In order to measure the extent of service delivery to the communities, and to assess whether the objectives named in the municipality's Integrated Development Plan (IDP) document are being achieved, municipalities are compelled to implement performance management for all members of staff, political office bearers and service providers, in terms of the Municipal Systems Act No. 32 of 2000. This thesis therefore looks at challenges faced by the Senior Management (i.e. Section 57 employees, Directors and Assistant Directors) in the implementation of performance management within the Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality, during the first five years of their term in office (i.e. Senior Management appointed after 6 December 2000 local government elections), and recommending performance management steps as well as performance management model that can be used to cascade performance management amongst all levels of staff. This thesis begins by introducing the subject of performance management, briefly discussing the demarcation of the research, the research method utilised, the historical background of performance management, as well as the current status of performance management within the municipality. The introduction of the topic is followed by a theoretical overview of the subject of performance management. This is followed by the discussion of the research methodology followed when conducting this research study. The findings are discussed in detail after the research methodology, giving a synopsis of what the interviewees disclosed during the interview process. The last chapter provides a brief discussion of the findings, and discusses the recommended performance management steps and performance management model, that can be used by the municipality to cascade performance amongst all members of staff.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2009
A critical realist account of a mentoring programme in the Faculty of Pharmacy at Rhodes University
- Authors: Oltmann, Carmen
- Date: 2009
- Subjects: Rhodes University -- Academic Development Programme Pharmacy -- Study and teaching (Higher) -- South Africa Mentoring in education -- South Africa Mentoring in Science -- South Africa Critical realism Communities of practice
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: vital:3781 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1003259
- Description: This study originates from experiences I had as supervisor of the mentoring programme for first year students in the Faculty of Pharmacy, at Rhodes University. Our mentoring programme is a strategy for first year students – specifically those from previously disadvantaged backgrounds – to succeed at Rhodes University. Using an ontological meta-theory - critical realism - as my analytical lens, discourse as my unit of analysis, and Invitational Learning Theory as a theoretical tool I developed a model of mentoring based on Bhaskar’s transformational model (1993). This model illustrates the relationship between structure, culture and agency. Whilst developing this model I focussed on determining how mentors construct mentoring, and how mentoring facilitates access to a Community of Practice (CoP). Mentoring involves providing a shared space that is safe, that the mentor and mentee feel comfortable in, and that supports and challenges both the mentor and the mentee. It is a reciprocal, developmental relationship for both the mentor and the mentee that deals with issues that the mentee deems as ‘real’. Mentoring is a process, not an outcome. The mentoring strategies that the mentors employed changed as the mentors mentored. Mentors help mentees by using structures and mechanisms that worked for them, and/or by helping mentees access these structures and mechanisms. Mentoring facilitates access to a CoP by providing opportunities for engagement. This involves sharing of experiences and knowledge, and promoting discussion. The mentor helps the mentee move from being a peripheral member of the CoP to becoming a main member, i.e., becoming active, learning with and from others within the CoP. CoPs develop social capital and knowledge management. My research suggests that the knowledge, skills and attitude developed by the mentors within this study may be transferable to other aspects in Pharmacy.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2009
- Authors: Oltmann, Carmen
- Date: 2009
- Subjects: Rhodes University -- Academic Development Programme Pharmacy -- Study and teaching (Higher) -- South Africa Mentoring in education -- South Africa Mentoring in Science -- South Africa Critical realism Communities of practice
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: vital:3781 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1003259
- Description: This study originates from experiences I had as supervisor of the mentoring programme for first year students in the Faculty of Pharmacy, at Rhodes University. Our mentoring programme is a strategy for first year students – specifically those from previously disadvantaged backgrounds – to succeed at Rhodes University. Using an ontological meta-theory - critical realism - as my analytical lens, discourse as my unit of analysis, and Invitational Learning Theory as a theoretical tool I developed a model of mentoring based on Bhaskar’s transformational model (1993). This model illustrates the relationship between structure, culture and agency. Whilst developing this model I focussed on determining how mentors construct mentoring, and how mentoring facilitates access to a Community of Practice (CoP). Mentoring involves providing a shared space that is safe, that the mentor and mentee feel comfortable in, and that supports and challenges both the mentor and the mentee. It is a reciprocal, developmental relationship for both the mentor and the mentee that deals with issues that the mentee deems as ‘real’. Mentoring is a process, not an outcome. The mentoring strategies that the mentors employed changed as the mentors mentored. Mentors help mentees by using structures and mechanisms that worked for them, and/or by helping mentees access these structures and mechanisms. Mentoring facilitates access to a CoP by providing opportunities for engagement. This involves sharing of experiences and knowledge, and promoting discussion. The mentor helps the mentee move from being a peripheral member of the CoP to becoming a main member, i.e., becoming active, learning with and from others within the CoP. CoPs develop social capital and knowledge management. My research suggests that the knowledge, skills and attitude developed by the mentors within this study may be transferable to other aspects in Pharmacy.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2009
A difficult equilibrium: torture narratives and the ethics of reciprocity in apartheid South Africa and its aftermath
- Authors: Pett, Sarah
- Date: 2009
- Subjects: Apartheid -- South Africa -- History Torture -- South Africa Post-apartheid era -- South Africa Apartheid in literature Torture in literature
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:2194 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002236
- Description: This thesis takes the form of an enquiry into the development of the ―generic contours (Bakhtin 4) for the narration of torture in South Africa during apartheid and its aftermath. The enquiry focusses on the ethical determinations that underlie the conventions of this genre. My theoretical framework uses Adam Zachary Newton‘s conceptualization of narrative ethics to supplement Paul Ricoeur‘s writings on narrative identity and the ethical intention, thus facilitating the transfer of Ricoeur‘s abstract philosophy to the realm of literary criticism. Part I presents torture as a disruption of narrative identity and a defamiliarization of the intersubjective encounter. The existence of torture narratives thus attests to the critical role of narration in the reconstruction of the tortured person‘s identity and the re-establishment of benign frameworks of intersubjective communication. Literature‘s potential to act as a laboratory for the testing of the limitations of narrative identity and the resilience of ethical mores suggests that the fictional representation of torture also has an important role to play in this attempt at rehabilitation. Part II takes the form of a comparative analysis of non-fictional and fictional accounts of torture originating from apartheid South Africa. This shows that the ethical determinations underlying the narration of torture in South Africa range from intersubjective estrangement to a ―solicitude of reciprocity (Bourgeois 109). However, because the majority of these texts used the presentation of human rights abuses to galvanize international opposition to apartheid, the scope for experimentation was limited by the political exigencies of the time. Part III examines the stylistic and generic shifts in the narration of torture that accompanied South Africa‘s transition to democracy. It suggests that the discursive dominance of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission replaced the fruitful—in literary terms—dialogue between authoritarianism and resistance that characterized the apartheid era with a monologic grand narrative of emotional catharsis, reconciliation and nation building. It also suggests that the ―truth-and-reconciliation genre of writing (Quayson 754) that shaped the literary milieu of the post-TRC period be seen in terms of a resurgence of the apartheid–era paradigms for the narration of human rights abuses that were repressed during the initial phase of democratic transition. By framing the TRC as a catalyst for individual journeys of self-discovery, these novels raise important questions about what it means to be a part of the ―new South Africa. In contrast to the majority of apartheid era literature, the novels of the post-TRC period privilege the literary prerogative over the political, and thus bring to fruition the experimental potential of the previous paradigm. In doing so, they not only go beyond solicitude to achieve an ―authentic reciprocity in exchange (Ricoeur, Oneself 191), but also initiate a process of long-awaited literary expansion, in which authors look beyond the limits of apartheid and begin to critically engage with the region‘s pre-apartheid history and its post-apartheid present.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2009
- Authors: Pett, Sarah
- Date: 2009
- Subjects: Apartheid -- South Africa -- History Torture -- South Africa Post-apartheid era -- South Africa Apartheid in literature Torture in literature
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:2194 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002236
- Description: This thesis takes the form of an enquiry into the development of the ―generic contours (Bakhtin 4) for the narration of torture in South Africa during apartheid and its aftermath. The enquiry focusses on the ethical determinations that underlie the conventions of this genre. My theoretical framework uses Adam Zachary Newton‘s conceptualization of narrative ethics to supplement Paul Ricoeur‘s writings on narrative identity and the ethical intention, thus facilitating the transfer of Ricoeur‘s abstract philosophy to the realm of literary criticism. Part I presents torture as a disruption of narrative identity and a defamiliarization of the intersubjective encounter. The existence of torture narratives thus attests to the critical role of narration in the reconstruction of the tortured person‘s identity and the re-establishment of benign frameworks of intersubjective communication. Literature‘s potential to act as a laboratory for the testing of the limitations of narrative identity and the resilience of ethical mores suggests that the fictional representation of torture also has an important role to play in this attempt at rehabilitation. Part II takes the form of a comparative analysis of non-fictional and fictional accounts of torture originating from apartheid South Africa. This shows that the ethical determinations underlying the narration of torture in South Africa range from intersubjective estrangement to a ―solicitude of reciprocity (Bourgeois 109). However, because the majority of these texts used the presentation of human rights abuses to galvanize international opposition to apartheid, the scope for experimentation was limited by the political exigencies of the time. Part III examines the stylistic and generic shifts in the narration of torture that accompanied South Africa‘s transition to democracy. It suggests that the discursive dominance of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission replaced the fruitful—in literary terms—dialogue between authoritarianism and resistance that characterized the apartheid era with a monologic grand narrative of emotional catharsis, reconciliation and nation building. It also suggests that the ―truth-and-reconciliation genre of writing (Quayson 754) that shaped the literary milieu of the post-TRC period be seen in terms of a resurgence of the apartheid–era paradigms for the narration of human rights abuses that were repressed during the initial phase of democratic transition. By framing the TRC as a catalyst for individual journeys of self-discovery, these novels raise important questions about what it means to be a part of the ―new South Africa. In contrast to the majority of apartheid era literature, the novels of the post-TRC period privilege the literary prerogative over the political, and thus bring to fruition the experimental potential of the previous paradigm. In doing so, they not only go beyond solicitude to achieve an ―authentic reciprocity in exchange (Ricoeur, Oneself 191), but also initiate a process of long-awaited literary expansion, in which authors look beyond the limits of apartheid and begin to critically engage with the region‘s pre-apartheid history and its post-apartheid present.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2009
A feasibility study into the possibility of ionospheric propagation of low VHF (30-35 MHZ) signals between South Africa and Central Africa
- Authors: Coetzee, Petrus Johannes
- Date: 2009
- Subjects: Communications, Military -- South Africa , Communications, Military -- Africa, Central , Digital communications -- South Africa , Digital communications -- Africa, Central , Signals and signaling -- South Africa , Signals and signaling -- Africa, Central , Artificial satellites in telecommunication -- South Africa , Artificial satellites in telecommunication -- Africa, Central , Shortwave radio
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: vital:5465 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1005250 , Communications, Military -- South Africa , Communications, Military -- Africa, Central , Digital communications -- South Africa , Digital communications -- Africa, Central , Signals and signaling -- South Africa , Signals and signaling -- Africa, Central , Artificial satellites in telecommunication -- South Africa , Artificial satellites in telecommunication -- Africa, Central , Shortwave radio
- Description: The role of the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) has changed considerably in the last decade. The emphasis has moved from protecting the country's borders to peacekeeping duties in Central Africa and even further North. Communications between the peacekeeping missions and the military bases back in South Africa is vital to ensure the success of these missions. Currently use is made of satellite as well as High Frequency (HF) communications. There are drawbacks associated with these technologies (high cost and low data rates/interference respectively). Successful long distance ionospheric propagation in the low Very High Frequency (VHF) range will complement the existing infrastructure and enhance the success rate of these missions. This thesis presents a feasibility study to determine under what ionospheric conditions such low VHF communications will be possible. The International Reference Ionosphere (IRI) was used to generate ionospheric data for the reflection point(s) of the signal. The peak height of the ionospheric F2 layer (hmF2) was used to calculate the required antenna elevation angle. Once the elevation angle is known it is possible to calculate the required F2 layer critical frequency (foF2). The required foF2 value was calculated by assuming a Maximum Useable Frequency (MUF) of 20% higher than the planned operational frequency. It was determined that single hop propagation is possible during the daytime if the smoothed sunspot number (SSN) exceeds 15. The most challenging requirement for successful single hop propagation is the need of an antenna height of 23 m. For rapid deployment and semi-mobile operations within a jungle environment it may prove to be a formidable obstacle.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2009
- Authors: Coetzee, Petrus Johannes
- Date: 2009
- Subjects: Communications, Military -- South Africa , Communications, Military -- Africa, Central , Digital communications -- South Africa , Digital communications -- Africa, Central , Signals and signaling -- South Africa , Signals and signaling -- Africa, Central , Artificial satellites in telecommunication -- South Africa , Artificial satellites in telecommunication -- Africa, Central , Shortwave radio
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: vital:5465 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1005250 , Communications, Military -- South Africa , Communications, Military -- Africa, Central , Digital communications -- South Africa , Digital communications -- Africa, Central , Signals and signaling -- South Africa , Signals and signaling -- Africa, Central , Artificial satellites in telecommunication -- South Africa , Artificial satellites in telecommunication -- Africa, Central , Shortwave radio
- Description: The role of the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) has changed considerably in the last decade. The emphasis has moved from protecting the country's borders to peacekeeping duties in Central Africa and even further North. Communications between the peacekeeping missions and the military bases back in South Africa is vital to ensure the success of these missions. Currently use is made of satellite as well as High Frequency (HF) communications. There are drawbacks associated with these technologies (high cost and low data rates/interference respectively). Successful long distance ionospheric propagation in the low Very High Frequency (VHF) range will complement the existing infrastructure and enhance the success rate of these missions. This thesis presents a feasibility study to determine under what ionospheric conditions such low VHF communications will be possible. The International Reference Ionosphere (IRI) was used to generate ionospheric data for the reflection point(s) of the signal. The peak height of the ionospheric F2 layer (hmF2) was used to calculate the required antenna elevation angle. Once the elevation angle is known it is possible to calculate the required F2 layer critical frequency (foF2). The required foF2 value was calculated by assuming a Maximum Useable Frequency (MUF) of 20% higher than the planned operational frequency. It was determined that single hop propagation is possible during the daytime if the smoothed sunspot number (SSN) exceeds 15. The most challenging requirement for successful single hop propagation is the need of an antenna height of 23 m. For rapid deployment and semi-mobile operations within a jungle environment it may prove to be a formidable obstacle.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2009
A fluvial geomorphological study of river rehabilitation in the Kouga region, Eastern Cape
- Authors: Pietersen, Adrian
- Date: 2009
- Subjects: Fluvial geomorphology -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Alien plants -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Kouga Riparian Rehabilitation Project , Stream conservation -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Wattles (Plants) -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Riparian restoration -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Acacia mearnsii -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Kouga Region (South Africa) , Kouga River (South Africa)
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: vital:4887 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1015228
- Description: The Kouga Riparian Rehabilitation Project (KRRP) is seen as a pilot rehabilitation project in the Kouga region that is heavily invaded with Acacia mearnsii along the riparian zones of many mountain streams. Clearing of these black wattles and re-planting of indigenous vegetation are imperative to rehabilitation efforts. In this context, two invaded catchments were identified - the Baviaans and the Heuningnes. The aim of this research is to characterise the effects that the woody alien invasive Acacia mearnsii has had on the river channel morphology of the Baviaans and Heuningnes Rivers. A desktop and initial field analysis of the relevant study area catchments was completed. This was followed by a comparison of the channel morphology of the various study channel reaches using fixed channel transects. Ecological resource quality objectives (RQOs) for river rehabilitation from a fluvial geomorphological viewpoint were then established. A long-term monitoring protocol to assess whether or not these RQOs will be achieved was recommended. Follow-up channel transects were measured post wattle clearance in the Baviaans and short-term (<2yrs) changes in channel form were described. Differences in terms of the effect of Acacia mearnsii on channel form were then interpreted by direct comparison and through statistical analysis. Results indicate a number of significant differences between those channels impacted by black wattle infestation and those channels seen as unimpacted and natural. Short-term changes (<2yrs) that occurred within the study period post Baviaans wattle clearance were shown to be minimal for channel form as well as for bed material. The lack of any clear relationship or explanation between channel form and other channel controls suggests vegetation as the primary control. Vegetation, specifically the invasive alien vegetation, is the key controlling variable acting on channel form in the two study catchments.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2009
- Authors: Pietersen, Adrian
- Date: 2009
- Subjects: Fluvial geomorphology -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Alien plants -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Kouga Riparian Rehabilitation Project , Stream conservation -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Wattles (Plants) -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Riparian restoration -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Acacia mearnsii -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Kouga Region (South Africa) , Kouga River (South Africa)
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: vital:4887 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1015228
- Description: The Kouga Riparian Rehabilitation Project (KRRP) is seen as a pilot rehabilitation project in the Kouga region that is heavily invaded with Acacia mearnsii along the riparian zones of many mountain streams. Clearing of these black wattles and re-planting of indigenous vegetation are imperative to rehabilitation efforts. In this context, two invaded catchments were identified - the Baviaans and the Heuningnes. The aim of this research is to characterise the effects that the woody alien invasive Acacia mearnsii has had on the river channel morphology of the Baviaans and Heuningnes Rivers. A desktop and initial field analysis of the relevant study area catchments was completed. This was followed by a comparison of the channel morphology of the various study channel reaches using fixed channel transects. Ecological resource quality objectives (RQOs) for river rehabilitation from a fluvial geomorphological viewpoint were then established. A long-term monitoring protocol to assess whether or not these RQOs will be achieved was recommended. Follow-up channel transects were measured post wattle clearance in the Baviaans and short-term (<2yrs) changes in channel form were described. Differences in terms of the effect of Acacia mearnsii on channel form were then interpreted by direct comparison and through statistical analysis. Results indicate a number of significant differences between those channels impacted by black wattle infestation and those channels seen as unimpacted and natural. Short-term changes (<2yrs) that occurred within the study period post Baviaans wattle clearance were shown to be minimal for channel form as well as for bed material. The lack of any clear relationship or explanation between channel form and other channel controls suggests vegetation as the primary control. Vegetation, specifically the invasive alien vegetation, is the key controlling variable acting on channel form in the two study catchments.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2009
A GIS assessment of development and land use change in the coastal zone of the Ndlambe and Ngqushwa local municipalities, Eastern Cape, South Africa
- Authors: Palmer, Bronwyn Jane
- Date: 2009
- Subjects: Ndlambe Municipality , Ngqushwa Municipality , Local government -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Coastal zone management -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Geographic information systems -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Land use -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Rural development -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: vital:4836 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1005511 , Ndlambe Municipality , Ngqushwa Municipality , Local government -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Coastal zone management -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Geographic information systems -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Land use -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Rural development -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
- Description: The coastal zone accommodates some of the most diverse ecosystems in the world and offers a wide range of ecosystem goods and services; consequently it has become a focal point of human development. People are attracted to the coast because of access to resources, favourable climate, aesthetic appeal and potential for recreational activities. As pressure for utilisation and development increases, so does the need to manage the coastal system more effectively. This research focuses on the coastal zone of the Ndlambe and Ngqushwa local municipalities in the Eastern Cape, South Africa, which are physically and environmentally similar, yet have distinct demographic and socio-economic differences. The research integrates information using GIS, from three time epochs, to determine where development and land use change is occurring. The Ndlambe Local Municipality displays high levels of formal development, while the Ngqushwa Local Municipality exhibits little formal development. These differences in development and land use are related to economic, social and legislative ‘drivers’ based on an adapted Driver-Pressure-State- Impact-Response model. The model identifies that development and land use changes lead to increased pressure on the natural system, which in turn leads to shifts in the natural state of the coastal zone, resulting in adverse impacts on the coastal zone. Changes in the natural functioning of the coastal zone highlight the need for a response in terms of changes in legislation governing coastal management and spatial planning. This research concludes that pressure for development in the coastal zone within the research site is beginning to increase and will adversely affect the coastal zone if not managed effectively. These two local municipalities have the opportunity to move forward and develop in such a way that allows for conservation and sound management of the coastal zone, which will ensure long-term sustainability within the coastal zones of the Ndlambe and Ngqushwa local municipalities
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2009
- Authors: Palmer, Bronwyn Jane
- Date: 2009
- Subjects: Ndlambe Municipality , Ngqushwa Municipality , Local government -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Coastal zone management -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Geographic information systems -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Land use -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Rural development -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: vital:4836 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1005511 , Ndlambe Municipality , Ngqushwa Municipality , Local government -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Coastal zone management -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Geographic information systems -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Land use -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Rural development -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
- Description: The coastal zone accommodates some of the most diverse ecosystems in the world and offers a wide range of ecosystem goods and services; consequently it has become a focal point of human development. People are attracted to the coast because of access to resources, favourable climate, aesthetic appeal and potential for recreational activities. As pressure for utilisation and development increases, so does the need to manage the coastal system more effectively. This research focuses on the coastal zone of the Ndlambe and Ngqushwa local municipalities in the Eastern Cape, South Africa, which are physically and environmentally similar, yet have distinct demographic and socio-economic differences. The research integrates information using GIS, from three time epochs, to determine where development and land use change is occurring. The Ndlambe Local Municipality displays high levels of formal development, while the Ngqushwa Local Municipality exhibits little formal development. These differences in development and land use are related to economic, social and legislative ‘drivers’ based on an adapted Driver-Pressure-State- Impact-Response model. The model identifies that development and land use changes lead to increased pressure on the natural system, which in turn leads to shifts in the natural state of the coastal zone, resulting in adverse impacts on the coastal zone. Changes in the natural functioning of the coastal zone highlight the need for a response in terms of changes in legislation governing coastal management and spatial planning. This research concludes that pressure for development in the coastal zone within the research site is beginning to increase and will adversely affect the coastal zone if not managed effectively. These two local municipalities have the opportunity to move forward and develop in such a way that allows for conservation and sound management of the coastal zone, which will ensure long-term sustainability within the coastal zones of the Ndlambe and Ngqushwa local municipalities
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2009