Constitutionalism and separation of powers in South Africa after the promulgation of the 1996 constitution : a comparative perspective
- Authors: Ramatsekisa, Tsietsi Given
- Date: 2016
- Subjects: Separation of powers -- South Africa Constitutional law -- South Africa Democracy -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , LLD
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10353/12642 , vital:39295
- Description: Constitutionalism and separation of powers is the most dynamic topic worldwide. Montesquieu, the French philosopher is credited with the doctrine of separation of powers. Various countries adopted the doctrine and modified it, in order to fit their systems of governments. The reason behind is that there is no universally recognized model of separation of powers or one size fit all. Countries apply this doctrine differently in a fashion that fits their domestic laws and constitutional requirements. Montesquieu gave a classic exposition and the rationale for separation of powers in one of his well-celebrated work “The Spirit of Laws”. The concept of separation of powers emerged premised on the theory that the arms of state namely, the judiciary, the legislature and the executive, should operate within their providence without one interfering with the other. From the South African perspective, the Constitution of South Africa of 1996 requires separation of powers even though it is not explicitly so stated in the text. This research examines the unique South African model of separation of powers and how the courts have navigated through it from the time the Constitution was promulgated. It seeks to establish whether or not a South African model of separation of powers has come to the fore. The research further examines the problem of interference amongst the arms of state and mechanism of checks and balances which can be applied to prevent or minimise such interference. In doing so, the study pursued a desktop survey of primary and secondary materials, including scientific literature, legislation, courts’ jurisprudence, and official documents. A comparative perspective was also made in order to learn from the experiences of other jurisdictions where the doctrine is applied. The findings reveal that South Africa has a unique model of separation of powers. The model was learned and enriched from various foreign jurisdictions. The courts have contributed enormously to this model, which contrive to be fluid and living.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2016
The development of a green energy sector model for the Southern African Development Community (SADC)
- Authors: Ramagoma, Mbavhalelo Justice
- Date: 2016
- Subjects: Southern African Development Community , Clean energy industries , Climatic changes , Greenhouse gases
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , DBA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/5422 , vital:20839
- Description: The Southern African Development Community (SADC) region, like most parts of the African continent, faces significant modern energy services access challenges. It is estimated that less than 45% of the SADC region’s populace have access to reliable modern energy forms and the situation is worse in rural areas where access is approximately 30%. Poor energy security is exacerbated by electricity power cuts and load shedding in almost all of the member states in the region. With the advent of battery storage, all forms of green energy have the potential to contribute to the shortfall in the supply of peaking power required to meet the daily (morning and evenings) and seasonal (winter) peaks when most power is required on the grid network. The region is endowed with vast green (renewables/low carbon or clean) energy resources. The purpose of this study is to expand the empirical body of research and knowledge on factors that contribute to widespread access success to green energy in the SADC region. Investments into green energy resources require an understanding of the unique characteristics of the energy sector in the region. In order to achieve this, a conceptual theoretical model was developed and tested empirically. Factors that influence green energy access success were identified through literature reviews and discussions with energy practitioners. All identified factors were then operationalised by carefully defining them in the context of the study. In order to test the proposed theoretical model and the hypothesised relationships, a structured questionnaire was developed and sent to energy practitioners from various sections of the energy sector in the region. STATISTICA 12 was employed to analyse relationships between variables and responses between identified groups. Pearson Product Moment Correlation (Pearson r) was employed to determine correlations between variables. Conclusions about hypotheses six (6) to fifteen (15) were made based on correlations between variables. T-tests were employed to make inferences about the views of various categories of respondents with regard to the twelve (12) identified variables. Multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) and Analysis of variance (ANOVA) examined associations between the dependent and independent variables with the identified categories of respondents and conclusions about hypotheses one (1) to five (5) and sixteen (16) were also made. The study finds that policy and the regulatory environment are still the main driving force behind energy access in the region. Power generation is managed by authorities’ power utility companies. Unbundling of power utilities supported by new energy business and operating models to accommodate mini and off grid power plants is found to be a key to green energy access in the region. The energy market is transforming in favour of independent power producers (IPPs) and consumers will significantly influence energy access decisions in the future. Green energy power storage to overcome intermittency will feature prominently in the success of green energy access in the region. Widespread access success to green energy will be attained when green energy access is reliable, affordable, efficient, and socially acceptable, meet the demand and reduces environmental pollution. The study recommends that strategic green energy planning must incorporate green energy infrastructure development, projects finance and human capacity development as priorities amongst SADC region’s member countries. Regional energy access enabling institutions must be strengthened; energy policies implemented with vigour and private sector participation enhanced in an integrated energy market.
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- Date Issued: 2016
Against all odds: the effect of electoral violence on the political participation of citizens: a case study of voters in Nairobi
- Authors: Plata, Stephanie
- Date: 2016
- Subjects: Elections -- Kenya -- Nairobi , Political participation -- Kenya -- Nairobi , Political violence -- Kenya -- Nairobi
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/5589 , vital:20913
- Description: Competitive national elections can play a significant role in the consolidation process of developing and established democracies alike. Nevertheless, if not handled adequately, they have the potential to bring long-existing, existential conflict lines to the surface. This electoral conflict, becoming manifest in election violence, has the potential to shy people off from voting and negatively affect their attitude towards elections and democracy in general. The present study examined the ways in which violent electoral conflict affected the political participation and the personal attitudes towards democracy of ordinary Kenyan citizens. Kenya has experienced violent electoral conflict repeatedly since the re-introduction of competitive elections in 1992 and became one of its prime examples due to the devastating 2008 post-election clashes. In order to answer the research questions, 32 semi-structured interviews with 34 victims of electoral violence coming from four main ‘hotspot areas’ of the 2008 post-election violence as well as four expert interviews were conducted. The study finds that the experience of violent electoral conflict led to diametrically opposed reactions in the behaviour of political participation among respondents. About two-thirds of them indicated a change in their behaviour of political participation. With 33% of the respondents found to be “participating more”, this group even outnumbers its “participating less” counterpart (30%). This finding is rather surprising as the experience of electoral violence is usually associated with the tendency to shy off from political participation, not only in Kenya. Based on their attitudinal dispositions towards democracy in general and towards democracy in Kenya more specifically, as well as towards Kenyan elections, politics and politicians, a fourfold typology of Kenyan citizens was developed from the sample. It includes: the voting citizen, the resigned citizen, the passive citizen, and the active citizen. The voting citizen with no further interest in politics or political participation was found to be the most prevalent type of citizen in the sample. Attention needs to be taken towards the resigned citizen, which could, in case of further violent electoral conflict and the continuing marginalization of specific ethnic groups, cause a threat to the stabilization process of Kenya’s democracy. Contributions of this study were in designing a destination identity framework as well as in discovering the identity of the city of Nelson Mandela Bay. Directions for future studies include the possibility to conduct a qualitative study on place identity so as to obtain a more nuanced understanding of sub-identities in the city.
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- Date Issued: 2016
Phylogenetics and historical biogeography of the Teloganodidae (Ephemeroptera)
- Authors: Pereira da Conceicoa, Lyndall Louise
- Date: 2016
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/64900 , vital:28629
- Description: The Teloganodidae are a mayfly family endemic to the southwestern Cape (South Africa), with relatives in Madagascar and Asia. Like many other aquatic invertebrates in Africa, they have been considerably understudied. Research into biodiversity and biogeography allows an understanding of the earth’s biota, producing knowledge which can be used to develop strategies to preserve and monitor this biota. Mismanagement of water systems places biodiversity of river fauna under an ever-increasing extinction threat. This investigation explores rivers in under-collected areas to determine how well teloganodids have been represented in the literature, with four genera and five species described at the onset of this study. A lectotype for Lestagella penicillata Barnard (1940) has been elected and described in detail, setting “benchmark” characters for future descriptions. Standard DNA sequencing methods provide portions of three mitochondrial genes; cytochrome oxidase subunit I (COI), small subunit ribosomal 16S RNA (16S), 12S ribosomal DNA (12S) and two nuclear genes, Histone 3 (H3) and 28S ribosomal DNA (28S) for up to 255 specimens. Fore and hind wings of 79 teloganodid adults were used to examine phylogenetic signal and evolutionary divergence using geometric morphometrics. A multi-faceted approach is used to investigate relationships between clades and the effects of deep-time climatic and landform changes which have influenced the diversity and distribution seen today. Tree (Bayesian Inference and Maximum Likelihood) and network (parsimony) phylogenies, ancestral reconstruction, historical biogeography and wingevolution of the Teloganodidae are investigated. Species tree analyses discovered 27 species and six genera. Distinct lineages are restricted to catchments, and strong phylogeographic structure was found within most genera. Southern African Teloganodidae are shown to have originated in the Cretaceous, with divergence and dispersal of lineages depended on their established locality at the time of tectonic events (uplift) and climatic changes (sea level regressions and transgressions). Geographic clines in wing-shape of Lestagella across its range imply evolutionary adaptations to specific catchment landscape and environment. A detailed analysis of biodiversity has many valuable contributions, from directing future research, understanding adaptive processes, fine-tuning phylogeographical and evolutionary hypotheses, to improving management and conservation decisions in order to preserve endemic biodiversity hotspots.
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- Date Issued: 2016
Diversity and ecological role of true crabs (crustacea, brachyura) in the St Lucia Estuary, iSimangaliso Wetland Park, in response to global change
- Authors: Peer, Nasreen
- Date: 2016
- Subjects: Crustacea -- South Africa -- KwaZulu-Natal Crustacea -- South Africa -- Saint Lucia, Lake , Global environmental change
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/45558 , vital:38669
- Description: This work has explored novel concepts of crab vulnerability, recovery and resilience under unprecedented climatic changes in South Africa’s first UNESCO World Heritage Site. By showing how large salinity shifts and prolonged interruption of the marine connection can drastically affect brachyuran diversity and community structure in St. Lucia Lake, the potential cascading effects on ecosystem functioning were estimated. Only 15 crab species were recorded within the system during this study, compared to the 26 species that were known to occur prior to the recent environmental shift (i.e. 58% decline). The impact of this biodiversity collapse has negatively affected the associated mangrove ecosystem in particular, with the entire community of fiddler crabs persisting only in a small area near the estuary mouth. Gut fluorescence measurements have shown that, due to a lack of tidal Influence, their grazing impact on microphytobenthic biomass may become unsustainable. However, although adults are able to survive in this environment, the larvae require a marine connection; and they are thus unable to tolerate the wide fluctuations in salinity currently prevailing in the system. The study concludes that brachyurans are key factors to consider during conservation planning, as they are crucial to maintaining ecosystem function in the face of environmental change. This research is of global relevance, as many similar estuarine and coastal lakes around the world are currently experiencing similar state shifts. All six chapters included in the thesis have already been published in the peer-reviewed literature; and the project results have also earned Nasreen the NRF award of Next-Generation Researcher of the Year for 2015.
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- Date Issued: 2016
An evaluation of sampling and statistical methods for long-term monitoring of subtidal reef fishes : a case study of Tsitsikamma National Park marine protected area
- Authors: Parker, Denham
- Date: 2016
- Subjects: Reef fishes -- South Africa -- Monitoring , Tsitsikamma National Park (South Africa)
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: vital:5385 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1019991
- Description: Tsitsikamma National Park (TNP) possesses the oldest (established 1954), and one of the largest (350 km2) ‘no-take’ marine protected areas (MPA) in South Africa. A long-term monitoring (LTM) programme to observe the subtidal reef fishes in the TNP MPA was established in 2007. To date, 243 angling replicates have been completed, and a total of 2,751 fish belonging to 41 different species have been caught and released. In an era of unprecedented global biodiversity loss, data that can be used to monitor ecosystems and gauge changes in biodiversity through time are essential. This thesis aims to improve the methodological and statistical processes currently available for LTM of subtidal reef fish by providing an evaluation of the TNP MPA LTM programme. Angling data revealed definitive spatial structuring, in the form of spatial autocorrelation, and a shift in viewing spatial dependency as a statistical obstacle to a source of ecological information created a new avenue of data inference. Species-specific distribution maps identified localized habitat as the main predictor variable for species abundance, emphasizing the need for accurate a priori bathymetric information for subtidal monitoring. ‘Random forest’ analyses confirmed spatial variables are more important than temporal variables in predicting species abundance. The effectiveness of Generalized Linear Mixed Models (GAMMs) to account for spatial autocorrelation was highlighted, and evidence that disregarding spatial dependencies in temporal analyses can produce erroneous results was illustrated in the case of dageraad (Chrysoblephus cristiceps). Correlograms indicated that the current sampling strategy produced spatially redundant data and the sampling unit size (150 m2) could be doubled to optimize sampling. Temporal analyses demonstrated that after 50 years of ‘no take’ protection the TNP MPA ichthyofauna exhibits a high level of stability. Species-specific size structure was also found to be highly stable. Dageraad was the only species to exhibit a definitive temporal trend in their size structure, which was attributed to recruitment variation and the possibility that large individuals may migrate out of the study area. The inadequacy of angling as a method for monitoring a broad spectrum of the fish species was highlighted, particularly due to its selectivity towards large predators. As a result, a new sampling technique known as Stereo Baited Remote Underwater Videos (stereo-BRUVs) was introduced to the LTM programme in 2013. Stereo-BRUVs enabled sampling of 2640 fish belonging to 52 different species, from 57 samples collected in less than two years. A comparison of the sampling methods concluded that, compared to angling, stereo-BRUVs provide a superior technique that can survey a significantly larger proportion of the ichthyofauna with minimal length-selectivity biases. In addition, stereo-BRUVs possess a higher statistical power to detect changes in population abundance. However, a potential bias in the form of ‘hyperstability’ in sites with unusually high fish densities was identified as a possible flaw when using stereo-BRUVs. In an attempt to provide a more rigorous method evaluation, simulation testing was employed to assess the ability of angling and stereo-BRUVs to accurately describe a decreasing population. The advantage of this approach is that the simulated population abundances are known, so that each sampling method can be tested in terms of how well it tracks known abundance trends. The study established that stereo- BRUVs provided more accurate data when describing a distinct population decline of roman (Chrysoblephus laticeps) over 10- and 20-year periods. In addition, spawner-biomass was found to be a more accurate population estimate than relative abundance estimates (CPUE and MaxN) due to the inclusion of population size structure information, highlighting the importance of length-frequency data. The study illustrated that an evaluation framework that utilizes simulation testing has the potential to optimize LTM sampling procedures by addressing a number of methodological questions. This includes developing a procedure that aligns data collected from different sampling methods by applying correction factors, thus ensuring LTM programmes are able to adapt sampling strategies without losing data continuity.
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- Date Issued: 2016
Life history of the maritime platygastrid Echthrodesis lamorali Masner 1968 (Hymenoptera: Platygastridae: Scelioninae)
- Authors: Owen, Candice Ann
- Date: 2016
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/837 , vital:19995 , 10.21504/10962/837
- Description: Echthrodesis lamorali Masner 1968 (Hymenoptera: Platygastridae, Scelioninae) is an intertidal parasitoid wasp that uses the eggs of the maritime spider, Desis formidabilis O.P. Cambridge 1890 (Araneae: Desidae), as a host. This species is one of only three known maritime parasitoids globally, and is the only known spider egg parasitoid that attacks its host within the intertidal region in southern Africa. Originally described from ‘The Island’, Kommetjie (Western Cape, South Africa), this shore was the only known locality of the species at the commencement of this thesis. Furthermore, the extent of the parasitism pressure the wasp exerts on D. formidabilis was largely unknown, along with its basic biology (drivers of its broad-scale and fine-scale distribution patterns; parasitism incidence; and sex ratios) and morphological and physiological adaptations for living within the frequently saltwater-inundated environment. This thesis unravelled these aspects, as well as experimentally provided data for many components of the life history of E. lamorali that had only been hypothesized by other authors, at a variety of scales, from the country-wide ecosystem, to single shores, and finally to the scale of the individual. While the distribution of E. lamorali was found to be much wider than previously thought, it remained restricted to the shores of the Cape Peninsula (Western Cape, South Africa). The host spiders were located throughout a much wider distributional range than the wasp, from East London in the east to the Peninsula, but some behavioural and morphological differences were found between those within and outside of the range of the parasitoid, suggesting range-limitation imposed by the host on E. lamorali. This limitation may be strengthened by the general lack of suitable shore types within the close vicinity of the Peninsula. Modelling using macro-climatic conditions suggested that maximum temperatures and humidities were also largely limiting to E. lamorali, although these patterns were not observable in the micro-climates in which the species survives. The wasp populations and spiders within the range of E. lamorali as identified in Chapter 2 were assessed to determine any preferences for local conditions, including location along the Peninsula, nesting sites and intertidal zones within single shores, using AICc modelling, which detected parasitism patterns in D. formidabilis and E. lamorali populations, as well as the sex ratios in the latter species. The models showed that the spider population size and distribution was more influenced by bottom-up factors such as abiotic components of the shore than by parasitism, which only showed density dependence with the host at certain scales. Both host and parasitoid populations illustrated a preference for the middle zone on single shores. Observed spider nest characteristics suggested opportunistic nesting behaviour in the species, although preference was shown for construction along an east-west orientation and in locations with low sun exposure. Along with larger population sizes on the west coast over the east coast (not reflected by E. lamorali), these observations suggest that D. formidabilis prefers cooler environments. Spider brood success was 50% in unparasitized egg-sacs, but this figure halved when E. lamorali gained access to the eggs (of which 100% within a single compartment were parasitized each time). Encapsulation of the embryo was found to be positively correlated with parasitism, indicating some form of host resistance. Resultant parasitoid broods illustrated a strong female bias in the species, as is common for this group of insects. The life history of E. lamorali was then assessed at a smaller scale, that of the individual. Scanning electron microscopy of whole E. lamorali specimens and light microscopy of sectioned specimens demonstrated no morphological adaptations in the trachea and spiracles to cope with saltwater inundation. On the other hand, respirometry experiments categorically demonstrated that the species copes with inundation through the formation of a physical gill over the full habitus, and the induction of a state of torpor to reduce metabolic needs, when submerged. This precludes the need for any further morphological adaptations. Determination of the wasp’s critical thermal tolerance illustrated a wide temperature range with a particularly cold lower limit of -1.1ºC ± 0.16, suggesting the presence of related genera or ancestors in much colder environments. With a much broader distribution than previously thought, and the inclusion of the distributional range of E. lamorali within the Table Mountain National Park, this species is being effectively conserved and managed through the umbrella-conservation of the park. Links to the host proved to vary at differing scales, proving the need for scale considerations to be included in other similar biological and ecological studies. Finally, the species showed physiological adaptation to its intertidal existence. Echthrodesis lamorali, the only discovered maritime spider egg parasitoid in Southern Africa, displayed unusual characteristics at every scale of its life history and as such, warrants further investigation.
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- Date Issued: 2016
Synthesis and characterization of group 12 dithiolate complexes as single source precursors for the preparation of hexadecylamine capped metal sulfide nanoparticles and polymer
- Authors: Osuntokun, Jejenija
- Date: 2016
- Subjects: Nanotechnology Nanoparticles Semiconductors
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10353/14060 , vital:39801
- Description: A series of heteroleptic mixed ligand complexes of some alkyl substituted thiourea, tetramethyl thiuram disulfide and 1-cyano-1-carboethoxy-2,2 ditholate of Zn(II) Cd(II) and Hg(II) have been synthesized by stoichiometry reactions of the ligands with respective metal salts. They have been characterized with analytical and spectroscopic techniques. Seven out of the 19 complexes synthesized are pyridine 2, 2 bipyridine and 1, 10 phenanthroline adducts of dissopropyl parent adducts of Zn(II) and Cd(II) complexes. All the complexes are proposed as four coordinate except the pyridine adducts, 2, 2’ bipyridine and 1, 10 phenanhroline adducts that are proposed as five and six coordinate respectively. All the complexes are solid, air stable and moisture stable for a many months. They are not soluble in common organic solvents but partially soluble in coordinating solvents like DMF and DMSO and due to their insolubility problems all attempts to grow single crystal of the complexes proved abortive. The complexes gave respective metal sulfide on thermal decomposition in TGA and this makes them to be potentially useful single source precursor for the synthesis of metal sulfide. All the complexes were invariably thermolysed in HDA to synthesis a series of HDA-capped ZnS, CdS and HgS nanoparticles. The optical properties of the nanoparticles reveal that they are all blue-shifted from the absorbance edge and this confirms quantum confinement of the nanoparticles. The transmittance electron microscope showed that the nanoparticles are in nanodimension. ZnS nanoparticles from the pyridine adducts gave HDA-capped ZnS nanoparticles with a mixture of hexagonal and cubic phases while the HDA capped CdS from the 2, 2 bipyridine and 1,10 phenanthroline gave anisotropic nanoparticles. The sizes of the CdS from the 1,10 phenanthroline adducts were also found to be biggest while CdS nanoparticles from 2,2 bipyridine adduct were also revealed to be bigger than the particle sizes obtained from the parent complex, (1-cyano-1 carboethoxyethylene-2,2-dithiolato- κ,S’S)-bis(N, N’-diisopropylthiourea -κS)cadmium(II). ZnS and CdS polymer encapsulated nanocomposites were also synthesized using a solution casting method. The polymers employed were; Polymethyl metharcrylate (PMMA), Poly(vinly alcohol) (PVA), and poly vinyl pyrrolidone (PVP). The structural and thermal properties of the pure polymers and the respective nanocomposites were investigated. It was observed that the ZnS/PVA and CdS/PVA were the most thermally stable composites when the thermal stability of the pure polymers were compared relative to the nanocomposites using data obtained from thermal decomposition results of the TGA.
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- Date Issued: 2016
The role of transformative mediation in post-electoral violence: the case of Kenya 2007-2008
- Authors: Ondigo, Anne Achieng Oyier
- Date: 2016
- Subjects: Political violence -- Kenya Conflict management -- Kenya
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/12962 , vital:27138
- Description: Free and fair elections, accompanied by smooth transitions of democratically elected leaders, constitute one of the key pillars of democracy. The dawn of democratisation and advent of multi-party politics after the end of the Cold War in 1991, seemingly held great promise for Africa. However, in recent years, many elections in Africa have consistently become a source of violence. Electoral violence is threatening to become an intractable source of conflict on the African continent, making it hard for emerging democracies to consolidate their status as free democratic societies. Many remain largely autocratic or semi-democratic. African leaders are all too often not ready to relinquish political power, while political elites are ‘power hungry’ and use violence to skew the outcomes of elections in their favour. Hence, electoral violence is employed in order to manipulate civilian election choices and outcomes. Election violence is often deliberately used to target civilians, and in countries like Kenya involves inter-ethnic clashes. These “new wars” are fought unconventionally using ‘crude weapons’, (Kaldor 2013). Kaldor describes how these ‘new wars’ are fought as intra-state (within the state) wars in developing countries. Often, they are waged via state or county networks based on identity or ethnicity. The consequences of electoral violence include the destruction of property, reversed development, injuries, rape, death, internally displaced persons and refugees. Electoral violence persists despite attempts to contain it and measures to effectively manage these processes often prove to be inadequate. The study utilises an exploratory case study of Kenya during 2007-2008 Post-Election violence. The causes, the immediate steps that were initiated to mitigate violence and the reforms undertaken to generate peace structures and prevent future occurrences of post-election violence were explored. Forty-five participants representing involved citizens, negotiators and mediators were interviewed. The research was triangulated via the interview process, together with the use of primary document analysis and an extensive review of the literature. The data was analysed via the use of grounded theory. The research findings reveal that the causes of electoral violence are multi-faceted and multi-layered, with deep underlying issues. The causes include weak institutions, corruption, a non-representational electoral system, ethnicity and ethnic militia. Further causes include statelessness as experienced by certain groups, abuse of state resources and human rights violations. The role of political elites who withhold crucial information, thus denying the public the opportunity to make informed choices during elections was also found to contribute to electoral violence. Other information-related causes include biased media and sensational reporting. Findings also show that socio-economic issues such as poverty, unemployment, scarce resources and unmet basic human needs cannot be underestimated. Lastly, the causes of electoral violence included diverse interests of internal and external actors at play during elections. The findings revealed that although the Kenyan mediation process included the signing of a peace agreement, the root causes of electoral violence such as corruption, weak institutions, abuse of state resources and the unjust electoral system were not adequately addressed. A model for mediation for electoral violence which was explored and developed sought to build on the strengths of the Kenyan mediation process and address its inherent weaknesses, thus making this a significant contribution flowing from the study. The election model for mediation proposes certain key phases which include a pre-mediation process that will ensure a cessation of all hostilities; the mapping of the root causes of electoral violence and electoral reforms that provide resolutions that are acceptable to all the parties. Training of personnel at all levels of government to implement these reforms is also proposed. These measures can ensure the integrity and independence of electoral institutions from political manipulation. Training constitutes a crucial stage in the process of consolidating the emerging democracies. The model for mediation developed is therefore not only meant to mitigate electoral violence but is also intended to serve as a preventive measure. Many African states currently experience structural weaknesses similar to those that existed in Kenya before the 2007-2008 elections (and still persist). These fault lines include corruption, weak institutions, human rights violations, and lack of information. The proposed model for mediation which aims to counter these problems can thus be applied and adapted for implementation in Africa and globally. Several recommendations with implications for policy development are proposed to curb electoral violence. They include constitutional reforms, training of government and electoral officials and the introduction of a properly representational election system. This study, which focuses specifically on post-election violence, recommends further research investigating the pre-election phase, and ‘voting day’ causes of electoral violence for a more comprehensive approach to electoral violence research.
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- Date Issued: 2016
Synthesis and biological evaluation of novel thiazole-based compounds
- Authors: Olawode, Emmanual Oladayo
- Date: 2016
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/62955 , vital:28325
- Description: Thesis embargoed for one-year period. Expected date of release: April 2019
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2016
The cultural practice of child marriage as a challenge to the realisation of the human rights of the girl –child: a comparative study of South Africa and Nigeria
- Authors: Olaborede, Adebola Olufunmi
- Date: 2016
- Subjects: Forced marriage Teenage marriage Children's rights Rites and ceremonies
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , Law
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10353/2578 , vital:27898
- Description: This study primarily sets out to examine the cultural practice of child marriage in Africa with a focus on the comparative study of South Africa and Nigeria. This practice has been prohibited in a number of international human rights instruments such as the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child, and the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Right on the Rights of Women in Africa. However, overwhelming statistics show that the overall prevalence of child marriage in Africa is still very high and if current trends continue, Africa will become a region with the largest number of the global share of child marriages, by 2050. Different interconnecting factors promote and reinforce child marriage which makes this practice very complex. The challenge of cultural traditional practices and religious beliefs that promote child marriage in Africa are evaluated in this study. The complexities surrounding these cultural practices mainly relate to the conflict that exists between adhering to customs and traditional practices, and promoting the practical implementations and enforcement of human rights standards within communities. In particular, the age at which most girls are given out in marriage conflicts with the minimum legal age of marriage, lack of free and full consent to marriage and the mixed legal system, which mainly comprises of customary law, Islamic law and common or civil law and legislation, that often conflict with one another in most African States. Discussions on these contradictions, as in the case of child marriage, often lead to a seemingly endless debate between the universality of human rights and cultural relativism within African societies. Therefore, this study bears heavily on the debate and relationship between culture and human rights, and the extent to which they can be reconciled in order to achieve a realisation of the fundamental rights of the girl-child. A qualitative research method based on an extensive literature analysis from different disciples is adopted. In addition, is a comparative study of South Africa and Nigeria which seeks to provide insight into the nature and extent of the practice of child marriage, as well as evaluate the adequacy, effectiveness and shortcomings of national legislations that relate to the rights of a girl-child in the context of child marriage, in both jurisdictions.
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- Date Issued: 2016
Evaluation of flocculating potentials and charecterization of bioflocculants produced by three bacterial isolates from Algoa Bay, South Africa
- Authors: Okaiyeto, Kunle
- Date: 2016
- Subjects: Flocculation Water -- Purification -- Flocculation Water quality management
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , DPhil
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10353/2633 , vital:27947
- Description: Flocculation has been widely adopted as one of the most effective methods to remove colloidal particles in water or wastewater treatment. Synthetic flocculants are conventionally used because of their high flocculating efficiency and cost-effectiveness. However, they have been reported to have hazardous properties and implicated in some serious health problems including senile dementia and neuro-toxicity, as well as being recalcitrant in the environment. Consequently, efforts are being geared away from the use of synthetic flocculants in water and wastewater treatment. Hence, the need for safe and eco-friendly flocculants has become imperative. Compared with synthetic flocculants, bioflocculants have special advantages such as safety, biodegradability and harmlessness to the environment and humans; attributes which make them potential alternatives in water treatment, downstream as well as fermentation processes. In the current study, the potentials of bacterial isolates recovered from Algoa Bay in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa for bioflocculant production were investigated. The bacterial isolates were identified by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) as belonging to the Bacillus genus. The analysis of 16S ribosomal deoxyribonucleic acid (rDNA) nucleotide sequence of isolate M72 showed 99 percent similarity to Bacillus toyonensis strain BCT-7112 and was deposited in the GenBank as Bacillus toyonensis strain AEMREG6 with accession number KP406731. Likewise, the 16S rDNA nucleotide sequences of isolates M69 and M67 showed 98 percent sequence similarity to Bacillus licheniformis strain W7 and Bacillus algicola strain QD43 respectively; and M67 isolate was subsequently deposited in the GenBank as Bacillus sp. AEMREG7 with accession number KF933697.1. The results of the nutritional requirements and fermentation conditions revealed that optimum inoculum size for REG-6 production was 4 percent (v/v), while 5 percent (v/v) and 3 percent (v/v) were most favourable for MBF-W7 and MBF-UFH production respectively. Glucose was the best carbon source for the production of bioflocculants (REG-6 and MBF-UFH) by Bacillus toyonensis AEMREG6 and Bacillus sp. AEMREG7 respectively, while maltose supported optimum bioflocculant (MBF-W7) production by Bacillus specie. Inorganic nitrogen (NH4NO3) was the favoured nitrogen source for both REG-6 and MBF-W7 production, while mixed nitrogen sources [yeast extract + urea + (NH4)2SO4] supported the maximum production of MBF-UFH. The initial medium pH for REG-6 was 5, while MBF-W7 and MBF-UFH were both maximally produced at the initial pH of 6. After a 96 h cultivation period under optimal culture conditions, 3.2 g of purified REG-6 with a maximum flocculating activity of 77 percent was recovered from 1 L fermented broth of Bacillus toyonensis AEMREG6. Yields of 3.8 g and 1.6 g pure bioflocculants with the respective highest flocculating activities of 94.9 percent and 83.2 percent were also obtained from 1 L, 72 h-fermented broths of Bacillus licheniformis and Bacillus sp. AEMREG7 respectively. Furthermore, all the three bioflocculants (REG-6, MBF-W7 and MBF-UFH), displayed thermal stability within the temperature range of 50 to 100 oC, with strong flocculating activities of over 80 percent against kaolin suspension over a wide range of pH range (3–11) and relatively low dosage requirements of 0.1-03 mg/ml in the presence of divalent cations in the treatment of kaolin clay suspension and Thyme River waters. Chemical composition analyses of the bioflocculants showed them to be glycoproteins with a predominantly polysaccharide backbones as shown by the following carbohydrate/protein (w/w) ratios: 77.8 percent:11.5 percent (REG-6); 73.7 percent:6.2 percent (MBF-W7) and 76 percent:14 percent (MBF-UFH).
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2016
Leonotis leonurus: understanding the mechanism of anti-diabetic action and investigating a nano drug delivery system
- Authors: Odei-Addo, Frank , Levendal, Ruby-Ann
- Date: 2016
- Subjects: Diabetes Plant extracts
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/13116 , vital:27153
- Description: Diabetes mellitus is a metabolic disease characterised by hyperglycaemia resulting from defects in insulin secretion, insulin action, or both. The leaf extract of Leonotis leonurus and its active compound marrubiin, have been shown to possess anti-diabetic, antiplatelet, anti-inflammatory and anti-coagulation activity. In the present study, the mechanism by which L. leonurus and marrubiin exert their anti-diabetic properties, the cross-talk between the peripheral tissues and a nano drug delivery system were investigated. Marrubiin in the plant extract was effectively quantified by an optimised reversed phase highperformance liquid chromatography (HPLC) protocol using a pentafluorophenyl (PFP) column with water and acetonitrile (50:50) as mobile phase, and a flow rate of 1ml/min. The chemical structure was determined using liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectroscopy LC-MS/MS. Real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) gene expression of selected adipokines and proteins implicated in Type-2 diabetes (T2D) were investigated in specific peripheral tissues isolated from an in vivo obese rat model. An in vitro cell culture model was used to determine the crosstalk between the peripheral tissues and pancreatic (INS-1E) β-cells. Various nanoformulations of L. leonurus extract were prepared and their effect on cytotoxicity (in Chang liver and INS-1 cells), insulin-mediated glucose uptake (Change liver cells) and insulin secretion (INS-1) were investigated. The average yield of marrubiin from the plant extract was 10% (n=3), with a molecular mass of 333.20Da and a molecular formula of C20H29O4 +. Results from the in vivo study showed that the L. leonurus extract significantly (p<0.05) enhanced the gene expression of adiponectin, peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma (PPAR-γ), glucokinase (GK), uncoupling protein-2 (UCP-2) and reduced leptin in adipose tissue, but resistin, glucose transporters (GLUT), fatty acid synthase (FAS), insulin receptor substrate -1 (IRS-1) and phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase (PEPCK) gene expression were not affected. Marrubiin decreased gene expression of leptin and resistin, and increased IRS-1 and glucokinase in adipose tissue. In liver and muscle tissues, marrubiin and the L. leonurus extract reduced gene expression of PPAR-γ, IRS-1, glucokinase and PEPCK. In the in vitro crosstalk study (under normoglycaemic and hyperglycaemic conditions), conditioned medium from 3T3-L1 cells significantly (p<0.01) enhanced insulin secretion. This was not observed in INS-1E cells exposed to muscle- and liver-conditioned medium, respectively. The in vitro studies using a nanostructured lipid formulation (NLC) of the plant extract was not cytotoxic to either INS-1 and Chang liver cells. The NLC formulation significantly (p<0.05) enhanced glucose uptake in Chang liver cells and improved chronic insulin release in INS-1 cells (p<0.05). Based on the above findings from the in vivo and in vitro studies, both L. leonurus and marrubiin exerted an insulinotropic effect via adipose tissue on pancreatic β-cells. The findings in the in vivo study showed that marrubiin and the L. leonurus extract were employing their major anti-diabetic action via the adipose tissue.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2016
Benzoyl isothiocyanates derived ligands as potential HIV-1 protease inhibitors and their reactions with gold ions
- Authors: Odame, Felix
- Date: 2016
- Subjects: HIV (Viruses) -- Enzymes Enzyme inhibitors -- Research , Pharmaceutical chemistry Biochemistry
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , DPhil
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/33228 , vital:32585
- Description: The synthesis and evaluation of benzoyl isothiocyanate derivatives as potential HIV-1 protease inhibitors is presented. The ligands were first designed to fit the protease active site using Autodock 4.2. The design was based on the deNOVO method of drug design in which the active site coordinates from the crystal structure of protease bound to ritonavir was used. An attempt to access the scaffolds designed initially led to the formation of 2,2,4-trimethyl 2,3-dihydro-1H-1,5-benzodiazepin-5-ium isophthalate and 2-2-(3-methylphenyl-1Hbenzimidazole which could not be converted to the desired intermediate. A further attempt led to formation of amino acid and amino acid ester derivatives of benzoyl isothiocyanates which have been fully characterized and the reasons why the desired intermediates were not readily accessible explained. Scaffolds based on the benzoyl isothiocyanate derivatives of structurally diverse diamines were then screened. Sixty compounds have been synthesized and fully characterized using elemental analysis, spectroscopy, GC-MS and twenty-six crystal structures have been discussed. The DFT transition state studies of 11-phenyl- 1,8,10,12-tetraazatricyclo[7.4.0.02,7]trideca-2(7),3,5,9,11-pentaene-13-thione (20), N-(1Hbenzimidazol-2-yl)benzamide (21), 3-(1,3-benzothiazol-2-yl)-1-(benzoyl)thiourea (23), and N-[(9E)-8,10,17-triazatetracyclo[8.7.0.02,7.011,16]heptadeca-1(17),2,4,6,11(16),12,14-heptaen-9-ylidene] benzamide (39), have been carried out and their detailed density functional theory reaction mechanism have be computed. The Bernly algorithm was used in the determination of saddle points (transtions states), and the intrinsic reaction coordinates leading to the determination of intermediates were traced and optimized to a global minimum or in some cases a local minimum was obtained. The cell viability tests of diamine derivatives which was done by exposing white blood cells to the compounds (inhibitors) at 37 °C and a pH of 7.4 showed that 1-(4-bromobenzoyl)-3-[2- ({[(4-bromophenyl)formamido]methanethioyl}amino)phenyl]thiourea (46), 1-(3-chloro benzoyl)-3-[2-({[(3-chlorophenyl)formamido]methanethioyl}amino)phenyl]thiourea (48), 1- (3-bromobenzoyl)-3-[2-({[(3-bromophenyl)formamido]methanethioyl}amino)phenyl] thiourea (49) and 3-benzoyl-1-(4-{[(phenylformamido)methanethioyl]amino}butyl)thiourea (54), in that group of compounds were cytotoxic with EC50 values of 17.04 ± 9.75 μM, 69.20± 38.16 μM, 35.90 ± 20.55 μM and 68.37 ± 26.45 μM, respectively. 4-Bromo-N-[(9E)-8,10,17-triazatetracyclo[8.7.0.02,7.011,16]heptadeca-1(17),2,4,6,11(16),12,14-heptaen-9-ylidene] benzamide (32), 4-methoxy-N-[(9E)-8,10,17-triazatetracyclo[8.7.0.02,7.011,16]heptadeca-1(17),2,4,6,11(16),12,14-heptaen-9-ylidene]benzamide (33) and 3-chloro-N-[(9E)-8,10,17-triazatetracyclo[8.7.0.02,7.011,16]heptadeca-1(17),2,4,6,11(16),12,14-heptaen-9-ylidene] benzamide (37) were also cytotoxic giving EC50 values of 45.47 ± 21.92, 45.09 ±13.79 and 74.94 ± 13.17 μM, respectively. 3-(1,3-Benzothiazol-2-yl)-1-(3-bromobenzoyl)thiourea (31) and 3-(1,3-benzothiazoyl-2-yl)-1-(4-nitrobenzoyl)thiourea (30) derivatives were also found to be cytotoxic with EC50 values of 1.207 ± 0.58 and 24.08 ±13.14 nM, respectively. 11-(4-Chlorophenyl-1,8,10, 12-tetraazatricyclo[7.4.0.02,7]trideca-2(7),3,5,9,11-pentaene-13-thione (12), 11-(4-methoxyphenyl)-1,8,10,12-tetraazatricyclo[7.4.0.02,7]trideca-2(7),3,9,1-pentaene-13-thione (14), and 11-phenyl-1,8,10,12-tetraazatricyclo[7.4.0.02,7]trideca-2(7),3,5,9,11-pentaene-13-thione (20), were found to be cytotoxic giving EC50 values of 0.152 ± 0.051, 37.96 ± 21.87 and 5.28 ± 2.95 μM, respectively. In the enzyme inhibition studies compound 49 gave a percentage inhibition of 97.03 ± 10.61% at 100 μM, but the fact that it is cytoxic might make it less useful, whilst compounds 19 and 16 had a percentage inhibition of 59.57 ± 13.59% (4-nitro derivative) and 79.97 ± 11.97% (3-nitro derivative) respectively at 100 μM of inhibitor and 20 μM of enzyme (HIV-1 protease). The results suggests that the presence of the nitro group at position 3 (16) and 4 (19) leads to an increase in activity against HIV-1 protease.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2016
Nanocomposites of carbon nanomaterials and metallophthalocyanines : applications towards electrocatalysis
- Authors: Nyoni, Stephen
- Date: 2016
- Subjects: Nanocomposites (Materials) , Nanostructured materials , Electrocatalysis
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: vital:4561 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1020846
- Description: Nanohybrid materials have been prepared and examined for their electrocatalytic activity. The nanocomposites have been prepared from carbon nanomaterials (multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) and graphene nanosheets), cadmium selenide quantum dots and metallophthalocyanines (MPcs). The MPcs used in this work are cobalt tetraamino-phthalocyanine (CoTAPc) and tetra (4-(4,6-diaminopyrimidin-2-ylthio) phthalocyaninatocobalt (II)) (CoPyPc). Their activity has also been explored in different forms; polymeric MPcs, iodine doped MPcs and covalently linked MPcs. The premixed drop-dry, sequential drop-dry and electropolymerisation electrode modification techniques were used to prepare nanocomposite catalysts on the glassy carbon electrode (GCE) surface. The sequential drop dry technique for MPc and MWCNTs gave better catalytic responses in terms of limit of detection, catalytic and electron transfer rate constants relative to the premixed. MWCNTs and CdSe-QDs have been used as intercalating agents to reduce restacking of graphene nanosheets during nanocomposite preparation. Voltammetry, chronoamperometry, scanning electrochemical microscopy and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy methods are used for electrochemical characterization modified GCE. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, X-ray diffractometry, transmission electron microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, infra-red spectroscopy, Raman spectroscopy were used to explore surface functionalities, morphology and topography of the nanocomposites. Electrocatalytic activity and possible applications of the modified electrodes were tested using oxygen reduction reaction, l-cysteine oxidation and paraquat reduction. Activity of nanocomposites was found superior over individual nanomaterials in these applications.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2016
Preparation and application of plasmon metal enhanced titanium dioxide photocatalyst for the removal of organics in water
- Authors: Nyamukamba, Pardon
- Date: 2016
- Subjects: Water -- Purification -- Photocatalysis Titanium dioxide Water chemistry
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10353/2765 , vital:28074
- Description: Advanced oxidation processes are capable of removing organic compounds that cannot be removed by conventional water treatment methods. Among the oxidation processes, photo-catalysis using titanium dioxide (TiO2) is a promising method but suffers from rapid electron-hole recombination rates and only absorbs UV light which is a small percentage (5 percent) of the total solar radiation. Therefore there is a need to reduce the recombination rates and also extend the absorption of the photo-catalyst into the visible region which constitutes 55 percent of the total solar radiation. The major aims of this study were to prepare plasmon metal decorated and doped TiO2 photo-catalysts immobilized on quartz substrates and test their photo-catalytic and antimicrobial activities. The effect of film thickness (loading) and use of different shapes of plasmon metal nanostructures was investigated. TiO2 thin films were prepared by a sputter coating technique while plasmon metal (Au & Ag)/carbon co-doped TiO2 by a simple sol gel process and plasmon metal films were prepared by the thermal evaporation technique. Different plasmon metal nanostructures (nanorods, dendrites, nanowires and spherical nanoparticles) were prepared using a wet chemical technique using sodium borohydride as the reducing agent. Nanocomposites of co-doped TiO2 photo-catalyst and plasmon elements of different proportions were also prepared. The prepared photo-catalysts were coated onto etched and MPTMS (3-Mercaptopropyl trimethoxysliane) treated quartz glass substrate which is a stable support favouring easy recovery. The prepared materials were characterized by XRD, HRTEM, TEM, HRSEM, FT-IR, SEM, PIXE and TGA while the doped TiO2 was characterized by XPS, BET, CHNS and Raman Spectroscopy. The effect of pH of solution, presence of other contaminants and salts in solution, initial concentration of the model pollutant and type of the plasmonic elements on the photocatalytic activity of TiO2 towards 4-(4-sulfophenylazo)-N,N-dimethyl aniline (methyl orange) were also investigated. The selected TiO2 photo-catalyst films were tested for antimicrobial properties. The effect of different types of plasmon elements on the antimicrobial activity of TiO2 against E. coli ATCC 3695 was evaluated under both sunlight and weak UV light. Under UV light, Ag showed the highest enhancement in photo-catalytic activity of TiO2 than Au and Cu. The photo-catalytic activity of TiO2 increased with an increase in Ag content to an optimum loading and then started to decrease with a further increase in loading. For Cu and Au, photo-activity activity increased with an increase in plasmon metal content. Under sunlight, Cu showed the highest enhancement of TiO2 photocatalytic compared to Ag and Au. The change in order of deposition showed that Au films enhanced the photo-activity better when they were deposited underneath rather than on top of TiO2 on quartz supports but Ag films performed better in enhancing photo-activity when they were deposited on top of TiO2. The use of bimetallic layers and three layer systems of different plasmon elements enhanced photo-catalytic activity better than the use of a monometallic layer. The presence of other organic contaminants and salts in solutions was found to reduce the photo-degradation of methyl orange due to preferential adsorption of other contaminants. When the pH was increased, the photocatalytic activity of TiO2 towards methyl orange was reduced. In antimicrobial studies, it was found that the plasmon elements greatly improved the antibacterial action of TiO2 against Escherichia coli ATCC 3695 in water and the best antibacterial action was observed with silver/carbon co-doped TiO2 photo-catalyst under sunlight The doped samples consisted of polydisperse nanoparticles which were found to be beneficial for photo-catalytic activity enhancement under sunlight.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2016
Relationships between cash management and growth of informal businesses in Uganda
- Authors: Nuwagaba, Geoffrey , Struwig, Miemie
- Date: 2016
- Subjects: Cash management -- Uganda , Informal sector (Economics) -- Uganda , Small business -- Uganda
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/12319 , vital:27054
- Description: This study investigates the relationships between cash management and growth of informal businesses in Uganda. Whereas anecdotal evidence has for some time revealed that informal businesses in Uganda are faced with the challenge of cash management, no specific studies have been conducted to investigate how this relates to the growth of businesses where evidence has also indicated that most of these businesses do not exist for very long. In particular, the study assesses and explores the growth levels of informal businesses in terms of sales volume, growth in employment and length of existence. The study investigates the various ways in which informal businesses manage their cash and investigates the various internal and external factors that moderate cash management and the growth of the informal businesses. Furthermore, the study proposes a possible framework to manage cash in informal businesses and makes recommendations to informal business owners and managers on how to effectively manage cash in order to stimulate business growth. In order to investigate the relationships between the variables, an empirical investigation was undertaken. Based on the literature review, the primary objective of the study was formulated to investigate the relationships between cash management and growth of informal businesses amidst the external and internal environment in Uganda in order to suggest a framework for effective management of cash by informal businesses that would enhance their growth. A positivistic research paradigm was adopted in this study. A sample of 383 informal businesses was drawn from the five divisions of Kampala district namely; Central, Kawempe, Makindye, Nakawa and Rubaga. To ensure validity and reliability, EFA and Cronbach’s alpha coefficient were computed. Six hypotheses were developed to test the relationships between cash management and growth of informal businesses. The empirical results revealed that there is a significant relationship between cash management and the external environment in which informal businesses operate, a significant relationship between the external environment and the growth of informal businesses and a significant relationship between cash management and growth of informal businesses where the external environment will have a moderating influence on the relationship. The empirical results did not establish a significant relationship between cash management and the internal environment in which informal businesses operate, the internal environment and growth of informal businesses and cash management and growth of informal businesses where internal environment will have a moderating influence on the relationship. The results of this study show that the growth of informal businesses is largely hampered by poor cash management practices and challenges such as the lack of cash planning, lack of cash forecasting and budgeting, lack of financial controls and reporting, the tendency to invest largely in short-term assets which limits their profitability, the employment of less competent and skilled staff and lack of formal accounting information systems. The magnitude of the impact of these is accelerated by the external environment such as competition and the legal and regulatory environment which put pressure on the little cash resources owned by these businesses. Based on the study results, several strategies based on individual cash components of cash planning, cash forecasting and budgeting, financial controls and reporting, short-term investment of cash surplus, competence and skills of staff and accounting information systems were recommended for implementation. It was further recommended that these strategies should be implemented while giving due attention to the external environment if informal businesses are to effectively manage cash and enhance their growth.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2016
GPU Accelerated protocol analysis for large and long-term traffic traces
- Authors: Nottingham, Alastair Timothy
- Date: 2016
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/910 , vital:20002
- Description: This thesis describes the design and implementation of GPF+, a complete general packet classification system developed using Nvidia CUDA for Compute Capability 3.5+ GPUs. This system was developed with the aim of accelerating the analysis of arbitrary network protocols within network traffic traces using inexpensive, massively parallel commodity hardware. GPF+ and its supporting components are specifically intended to support the processing of large, long-term network packet traces such as those produced by network telescopes, which are currently difficult and time consuming to analyse. The GPF+ classifier is based on prior research in the field, which produced a prototype classifier called GPF, targeted at Compute Capability 1.3 GPUs. GPF+ greatly extends the GPF model, improving runtime flexibility and scalability, whilst maintaining high execution efficiency. GPF+ incorporates a compact, lightweight registerbased state machine that supports massively-parallel, multi-match filter predicate evaluation, as well as efficient arbitrary field extraction. GPF+ tracks packet composition during execution, and adjusts processing at runtime to avoid redundant memory transactions and unnecessary computation through warp-voting. GPF+ additionally incorporates a 128-bit in-thread cache, accelerated through register shuffling, to accelerate access to packet data in slow GPU global memory. GPF+ uses a high-level DSL to simplify protocol and filter creation, whilst better facilitating protocol reuse. The system is supported by a pipeline of multi-threaded high-performance host components, which communicate asynchronously through 0MQ messaging middleware to buffer, index, and dispatch packet data on the host system. The system was evaluated using high-end Kepler (Nvidia GTX Titan) and entry level Maxwell (Nvidia GTX 750) GPUs. The results of this evaluation showed high system performance, limited only by device side IO (600MBps) in all tests. GPF+ maintained high occupancy and device utilisation in all tests, without significant serialisation, and showed improved scaling to more complex filter sets. Results were used to visualise captures of up to 160 GB in seconds, and to extract and pre-filter captures small enough to be easily analysed in applications such as Wireshark.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2016
Complementary of Curriculum design and development process and Curriculum implementation in the South African education system: Teachers’ experiences in the Libode Education Mega-District
- Authors: Nobanda, Vusumzi Zwelandile
- Date: 2016
- Subjects: Curriculum design -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape Curriculum implementation -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape Education -- Curricula -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , D Ed
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/11260/834 , vital:29935
- Description: The dawn of democracy in South Africa necessitated some changes in many spheres of government including education. There was a dire need for educational transformation from the apartheid education system, which favoured white South Africans, to an inclusive education system. This transformation was crucial to address and/or redress the neglect and/or exclusion of certain learning areas and methods in the school curriculum, especially in South African rural schools. Furthermore, it was needed in order to provide a uniform education system for all South Africans under one Department of Education. The first South African curriculum restructuring innovation resulted in Curriculum 2000 which was later renamed Curriculum 2005 (C2005). The review of C2005, in an attempt to assess progress in its implementation, revealed enormous challenges. Thus, in an attempt to strengthen C2005 the Revised National Curriculum Statement (RNCS): grades R-9 and the National Curriculum Statement (NCS): grades 10-12 were introduced. These two curricula were followed by the National Curriculum Statement (NCS): grades R-12. There is, however, overwhelming evidence that C2005 and the curricula that followed thereafter faced huge problems in their implementation. The purpose of this study, therefore, was to examine the complementarity between curriculum design and development processes, and curriculum implementation in the South African education arena. This study was located within the pragmatic paradigm and used mixed methods research design. In this study complementarity of curriculum design and development and curriculum implementation refers to the ability of curriculum design and development processes to have comprehensive provisions for curriculum implementation. The investigation of this complementarity was conducted through the exploration of the main research question: What complementarity existed between the process of curriculum design and development, and curriculum implementation in South Africa? Other subsidiary questions were also derived from the above main research question.ii Thirty schools from the population of schools in the Libode Mega-District were randomly sampled from which sixty participants in the study had been selected. All data in the study were obtained from these participants. Questionnaires and in-depth interviews were the instruments used to collect data. In-depth interviews were conducted with fifteen participants after the researcher had collected all questionnaires. Data collected through the use of questionnaires were analysed using descriptive statistics obtained through the use of the Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS). Data collected through interviews were first coded to form units according to similarities and/or differences among units. Units were thereafter grouped into clusters to form domains in order to discover relationships between these domains. Challenges that faced curricula implementation, as per the findings of this study, included: inadequate teacher training, ineffective methods used in curricula dissemination, lack of infrastructure, lack of adequate support from other stakeholders, lack of teacher involvement in curricula design processes, and lack of teaching and learning material. The present study concluded that there was no complementarity in the curriculum design and development processes and curriculum implementation. This study recommended, among other things, that the DBE should provide effective programmes on teacher training in preparation for curricula implementation, ensure availability of human and material resources and infrastructure and also teacher involvement in the curricula designing processes.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2016
A combinatorial analysis of barred preferential arrangements
- Authors: Nkonkobe, Sithembele
- Date: 2016
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/36228 , vital:24530
- Description: For a non-negative integer n an ordered partition of a set Xn with n distinct elements is called a preferential arrangement (PA). A barred preferential arrangement (BPA) is a preferential arrangement with bars in between the blocks of the partition. An integer sequence an associated with the counting PA's of Xn has been intensely studied over a century and a half in many different contexts. In this thesis we develop a unified combinatorial framework to study the enumeration of BPAs and a special subclass of BPAs. The results of the study lead to a positive settlement of an open problem and a conjecture by Nelsen. We derive few important identities pertaining to the number of BPAs and restricted BPAs of an n element set using generating- functionology. Later we show that the number of restricted BPAs of Xn are intricately related to well-known numbers such as Eulerian numbers, Bell numbers, Poly-Bernoulli numbers and the number of equivalence classes of fuzzy subsets of Xn under some equivalent relation.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2016