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Empowering primary school educators with knowledge and skills for inclusive education in Capricorn District, Limpopo Province
Get PDFThesis (M.Dev. (Planning and Management)) -- University of Limpopo, 2023Majority children with learning barriers are taught in special schools that are few and far apart and as a result many of them end up leaving school without reaching their full potential. Learners with learning barriers can reach their full potential by attending education in ordinary school if Inclusive Education is adopted as the teaching philosophy. Government has developed policies and various initiatives for the implementation of Inclusive Education to provide education to all learners.
The study’s main aim was to assess the primary school educators’ knowledge and skills gaps for effective implementation of Inclusive Education. The aim is supported by objectives that are linked to research questions. A qualitative research approach and case study methodology were followed. A semi-structured interview guide was developed and subsequently face-to-face interviews were conducted with primary school educators and principals in the area. Thematic analysis was employed to analyse the data collected. The study shows that even though teachers understand Inclusive Education, challenges such as in adequate teachers’ skills, limited educator support and lack of enabling infrastructure hampers the effective implementation of Inclusive Education. Government should improve teacher support, teacher training programmes and provide enabling physical infrastructure.
The study concludes that most educators understand Inclusive Education. Challenges they face include limited educator support, inadequate educator skills to teach Inclusive Education
The role of employee motivation in promoting basic health care services : a case study of Department of Health, Greater Tzaneen Subdistrict, Limpopo Province
Get PDFThesis (MPAM.) -- University of Limpopo, 2023The Limpopo Department of Health (LDoH), particularly Greater Tzaneen Sub-district, as an organ of state is mandated to promote basic health care services to community members. In order to realise this obligation, clinics were built in communities with the purpose of improving access to the basic health care services. The development and implementation of 24 hours policy, building of nurses home, security provision and introduction of call system were designed to promote basic health care services during throughout the day. Despite the measures put in place, Greater Tzaneen Sub-district has a problem of rendering 24 hours services. Basically, Greater Tzaneen Primary Health Care is faced with the challenge of not achieving the departmental goals due to the fact that some of the health care facilities are not effective in the provision of health care services. This situation is exacerbated by the low morale of health care professionals due to poor incentives and rewards. In this regard, the study attempts to investigate the role of motivation on employees in the Department of Health, particularly, at Greater Tzaneen Sub-district. The study employed qualitative research method in order to solicit data to answer the study’s question for achievement of study objectives. The study found that employees were motivated by performance incentives and rewards especially for the
employees who performed 24 hours services in the selected sub-district. The study also found that employees were motivated by the quality of infrastructure development and staff accommodation. The flexible working hours were found to be enhancing the motivation of employees in the Department of Health. The study further suggested strategies to enhance motivation of employees. These strategies include salary increase, performance incentives, and better working environment, suitable infrastructure which include staff accommodation, adequate and necessary working equipment and efficient systems. Additional human resources should be recruited in order to ensure that there is fair workload for all health workers at different health care facilitie
A legal analysis of the employers' duty to provide a safe and health working environment in the mining sector in South Africa
Get PDFThesis (LLM. (Labour Law) -- University of Limpopo, 2023This study discusses a legal analysis of the employer’s duty to provide a safe and
health working environment in the mining sector in South Africa. The employer’s duty
refers to the obligations and responsibilities which the employer has towards their
employees in the workplace. Employer must adopt reasonable and practicable
measures to ensure the safety and health of employees. Employer has a duty to
ensure that the mode in which employees conduct their work obligations is safe and
does not detrimentally affect their health. Safe and health working environment
entails that mine workers perform their work obligations free from harm, risks or
death. Sadly, in South Africa, the implementation, compliance, and enforcement of
this duty has been done on a slow pace, and there is need to accelerate it, to
mitigate the risks involved in the mining sector. The mining sector is a dangerous
workplace which requires strict compliance to health and safety standards.
Measures, policies, and legislation can curb safety and health in the mining sector.
This study will benefit the law, the government of South Africa and employers in the
mining sector to prioritize safety and health in the mining sector to mitigate harm and
fatalities in the mining sector.National Research Foundation (NRF
Computational modelling study on phase stability of Li2MnO3 cathode material for lithium-ion batteries
Get PDFThesis (M.Sc. (Physics)) -- University of Limpopo, 2023Li2MnO3 has been identified as a promising cathode material for secondary lithium-ion batteries due to its high theoretical capacity, nontoxicity and low cost. However, its application is hindered by structural transformations that lead to poor cycle capabilities. Cationic dopants have been used to reduce the collapse of the structure and they tend to improve the performance of cathode materials. As such, it is highly desirable to identify new doped structures as a remedial technique to optimize the properties of Li2MnO3.
Firstly, the structural, electronic and mechanical properties of pristine Li2MnO3 were investigated. All calculations were carried out using VASP and PHONON codes as implemented in MedeA software, employing the density functional theory with Hubbard correction (DFT+U). The equilibrium lattice parameters were obtained by performing full structure optimization of Li2MnO3 and the results agreed well with those reported experimentally and in literature. The predicted heat of formation was negative indicating that the structure is thermodynamically stable. Furthermore, phonon dispersion curves showed no negative vibrations suggesting dynamic stability. The elastic constants revealed that the Li2MnO3 structure is mechanically stable.
Secondly, the cluster expansion formalism was used for the generation of Li2Mn1-xNixO3, Li2Mn1-xCoxO3, Li2Mn1-xCrxO3 and Li2Mn1-xRuxO3 new phases with different concentrations and symmetries. The binary phase diagram predicted Li2Mn0.83Ni0.17O3, Li2Mn0.5Co0.5O3, Li2Mn0.5Cr0.5O3 and Li2Mn0.5Ru0.5O3 as the most stable phases of doped Li2MnO3. Lastly, Monte Carlo simulations were used to identify the ordered to disordered transition temperatures. Monte Carlo simulations produced thermodynamic properties for Li2Mn1-xNixO3, Li2Mn1-xCoxO3, Li2Mn1-xCrxO3 and Li2Mn1-xRuxO3 systems for the entire range of transition metals concentrations obtained from cluster expansion and it demonstrated that Li2Mn1-xNixO3, Li2Mn1-xCoxO3, Li2Mn1-xCrxO3 and Li2Mn1-xRuxO3 systems are phase separating systems at 0 K but changes to mixed systems at approximately 700 K-1700 K range which was confirmed by constructing the phase diagrams of all the four mixed systems. This validation will provide valuable insights which will guide experiments on where phase separation and mixed phases tend to occur in Li2Mn1-xNixO3, Li2Mn1-xCoxO3, Li2Mn1-xCrxO3 and Li2Mn1-xRuxO3 systems. The findings show the usefulness of combing CE and MC simulations when searching for new stable multi-component materials. The structures generated in this study may be useful in future as electrode materials in lithium-ion materialsNational Research Foundation (NRF
The effectiveness of community policing forum : a case of Ritavi Policing Area, Limpopo Province, South Africa
Get PDFThesis (M.A. (Criminology)) -- University of Limpopo, 2023The native residents of Dan and Petanenge villages under Ritavi Policing Area often witness increasing manifestations of contact crimes [Murder, Assault with the intention to inflict Grievous Bodily Harm (GBH), Gangsterism Rape and Sexual offences and property-related crime, such as burglary at residential premises. The inhabitants in question, together with the surrounding villages are currently living in fear since 2018-to-date (2022). Therefore, this study explores the effectiveness of CPF, using RPA as a case study under Limpopo Province. This study was guided by this study aim (To explore the effectiveness of the CPF in combatting selected crimes at the RPA) and the following Five (05) objectives:
1. To highlight the nature of the most dominant selected crimes occurring at the RPA.
2. To establish factors instigating the selected crime within the RPA.
3. To understand the roles and responsibilities in ensuring adequate CPF in the RPA.
4. To offer challenges faced by RPA in inducting CPF.
5. To offer theoretical [Broken Windows Theory - BTW] foundations on effectiveness of CPF in the RPA.
This qualitative study employed the case study research design, aided by the exploratory research objective. About Twenty-five (25) participants, involving SAPS uniform members and past and present CPF members who were selected using the non-probability: Purposive sampling. They were all subjected to the semi-structured face-to-face interviews, this was supported by direct naturalistic observations and literature/documentary studies reviews. For data analysis, the Eight (08) steps of the inductive Textual Content Analysis (TCA) were adopted in this study.
Based on the noted study aim and objectives, this study revealed that the nature of the selected crimes is high, and their prevalence does not have effective CPF initiatives to policing them adequately, moreover, the notable factors contributing to the identified crimes are worrying, further offering different behavioural patterns and the attempt in addressing the associated challenges are limited. Equally, the assessment of methods to effectively implement the CPFs structures in the study locations are currently ineffective. This study recommends that the selected study areas should urgently avoid paying for the crime prevention private services to provide detailed crime information to the local SAPS. The local ‘Private Security Companies’ should collaborate with the CPFs and SAPS to aid to the failing crime prevention responsibilities geared towards the selected crimes, moreover, while efficiently working on the restoration of SAPS’s trust by the local community members. The SAPS management should consider persuasive strategies such as frequent education and training of community members and SAPS members [Undergoing refresher courses – Training and workshops], relating to community safety initiatives and implementations of legislative frameworks and policies.
To this end, the technological induction should also be prioritised to accelerating prosecutions of the selected crimes and enhance CPF operations in Dan and Petanenge villages. Closer collaborations, interactions and information exchange among relevant stakeholders (CPFs, SAPS and other public and private stakeholders) should be commonly practiced promoting greater awareness about the selected crimes and the importance of CPFs in attempting to combat, prevent and investigate the mentioned crimes
Perceived organisational support, work-life balance, and employee retention : an exploratory study of academic staff members in selected higher education institution
Get PDFThesis (M. Com.) -- University of Limpopo, 2023Given the new competitive demands created by globalisation, internationalisation and technological advances, and the need to accommodate the socio-economic, cultural, and intellectual life of a rapidly changing society, new challenges are emerging for Higher Education Institutions (HEI) in South Africa. The purpose of the study is to investigate the relationship between perceived organisational support (POS), work-life balance (WLB), and employee retention (ER) at selected HEIs. The lack of retention of academic staff in HEIs due to the challenges faced by the institutions motivated the need for the study. The study adopted a deductive approach in studying what others have done, reviewed existing theories, and tested the hypotheses of the study. The study used the quantitative research design and data were collected through the distribution of closed-ended questionnaires to 332 participants (academic staff) in the selected HEI. The data collected were captured on the Statistical Procedure for Social Science (IBM-SPSS) version 25 software and analysed using the Pearson Product Moment to determine the relationship between the variables. The study reveals that there is a relationship between POS, WLB, and ER. It recommends improving organisational support for academics as there is a relationship between POS, WLB, and ER. It further recommends the adoption of Human Resource policies such as employee’s assist programs to improve employees’ WLB
Detecting news bias in the emerging market using transformed model
No full textThesis (M.Sc. (e-Science)) -- University of Limpopo, 2023The news readers from western countries are exposed to news reports from the global news media outlets that focus fundamentally on the conflicts happening in third-world countries such as those in South Africa and Nigeria. Many financial institutions from western countries provide financial opportunities to emerging markets in Africa. For this purpose, an important source of information used by those institutions is the global media outlets reporting the financial news. Therefore, there is a need to assess the credibility of global news outlets in covering financial news for African countries. This study focuses on detecting financial news bias in the emerging markets countries such as South Africa and Nigeria using a transformer model called BERT. The transformer model for sentiment classification was developed using the pre-trained model to achieve this goal. The financial news titles from the local and global news media outlets about South Africa and Nigeria were downloaded from the online news database called Global Database of Events, Language, and Tone project, and they were injected into the BERT model to compute the sentiment scores and labels for each news title. The pretrained BERT model achieved a good accuracy of 89.76% after being fine-tuned with a sample of 5000 movie review dataset. We found that both the local and global news media outlets report more positive financial news than negative news for both countries based on the results from the sentiment scores and labels. To assess news bias between the local and global news media outlets for South Africa and Nigeria, the average monthly sentiment scores were compared with the average monthly exchange rates for each country to determine the correlation between them and test if that correlation is significant or not. It was found that only the Nigerian global news coverage correlates with the exchange rates. Therefore, it was concluded that there is no evidence to suggest that the global news media outlets are biased in reporting the financial news in emerging markets countries since it was seen that the sentiment scores from the local news outlets for both countries do not correlate with their respective exchanges rates. It is evident that the transformer model can be used to accurately compute the sentiment in the financial news articles for the purpose of detecting news bias
Prevalence of bacterial opportunistic infection and associated socio-demographic factors in Human Immunodeficiency Virus infected patients initiated on antiretroviral treatment in Moses Kotane Sub-District, North West Province
Get PDFThesis (MPH.) -- University of Limpopo, 2023Background: Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) is a virus that destroys the immune system by weakening the body’s defense (immune cells) against many infections (Anon, 2021). This study was about prevalence of bacterial opportunistic infections and associated socio-demographic factors in human immunodeficiency virus infected patients initiated on antiretroviral treatment in Moses Kotane Sub-District, North West Province.
Methodology: The study was a retrospective study design and the data collected included data from 2019-2021. The completed data collection resulted in 1682 records which were collected from five clinics which are Bakubung, Modderkail, Moruleng, Sandfontein and Sefikile. Data was analysed using the STATA statistical software version 12 for Windows (STATA Corporation, College Station, Texas).
Results: The prevalence of opportunistic infections in the current study was found to 7.4% which is very low however, this increased with increasing age. Occurrence of these opportunistic infections were significantly associated with age, gender, CD4 count and WHO clinical staging. Tuberculosis remained the number 1 OIs found in these patients and therefore, a significant concern that should be explored is the intervention that can reduce the burden of bacterial opportunistic infection with major focus on Tuberculosis. The current study revealed that there is a paucity of primary data on the contributory factors to opportunistic infections. The study strongly recommends future researchers to do an interventional study which could yield results to address factors influencing high rate of HIV infection amongst youth which will facilitate the development of better public health interventions to reduce the burden of prevalence of opportunistic infection in HIV infected patients. Therefore, it is recommended that clinics in Moses Kotane sub-district be provided with trained staff on screening and diagnose bacterial opportunistic infections early and correct to prevent misdiagnosis
Parasite diversity and health of chiloglanis pretoriae and amphilius uranoscopus from the Limpopo River System
Get PDFThesis (M.Sc. (Zoology)) -- University of Limpopo, 2023The African continent has rich freshwater fish fauna, but the parasite composition of only a few species is known. Chiloglanis pretoriae Van der Horst, 1931 and Amphilius uranoscopus (Pfeffer, 1889) are among African freshwater fish endemic to South Africa with limited information about their parasite composition and health status. A total of 171 fishes, C. pretoriae (n = 127) and A. uranoscopus (n = 44) from Nwanedi, Mutshundudi, Lutanandwa and Politsi rivers within the Limpopo River System, were collected to determine their parasite diversity and health. Both ecto- and endoparasites were recovered and preserved for identification. Scanning electron microscopy and morphological, morphometric and molecular analysis were used for parasite identification. Parasite infestation indices for all parasites were calculated and compared among the four rivers. The water quality of the rivers was investigated by measuring the selected physico-chemical parameters. Subsurface water samples were collected for analysis of selected metals and nutrients. The Health Assessment Index (HAI) in conjunction with the Inverted Parasite Index (IPI), condition factor (K) and regression analysis were calculated to determine the health of fish. Species richness and parasite diversity of C. pretoriae and A. uranoscopus from the four rivers were calculated using Margalef’s richness index and Shannon-Weiner diversity index, respectively. Parasite diversity and species richness of C pretoriae and A. uranoscopus were compared to the water quality of the four localities. Three parasitic groups (Monogenea, Digenea and Hirudinea) were found from C. pretoriae which comprised of two ectoparasite species [Dactylogyridae gen. sp. (n = 56) and a leech (n = 4)] and three endoparasite species [Clinostomum sp. (n = 4), Diplostomidae gen. sp. larva (n = 143) and Cephalogonimidae gen. sp. (n = 19)]. Ectoparasites were more abundant in the Lutanandwa River with a total of 54, while endoparasites were more abundant in the Mutshundudi River with a total of 106. Diplostomidae gen. sp. from C. pretoriae in the Mutshundudi River had the highest prevalence of 57.14%, and the leech from the Nwanedi River had the lowest prevalence of 0.25%. Chiloglanis pretoriae from Nwanedi River had the highest Shannon-Weiner and Margalef’s index values of 0.53 and 0.54, respectively, indicating a healthy ecosystem. Two endoparasite groups, digeneans (Clinostomum sp., Uvulifer sp. and Cephalogonimidae gen. sp.) and nematodes (Labeonema sp., Contracaecum sp., Rhabdochona sp., Gendria sp. and Gendria cf. paski) were found in A. uranoscopus.
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Uvulifer sp. was the most prevalent parasite with a 100% prevalence. Amphilius uranoscopus from Lutanandwa River had the highest Shannon-Weiner Index and Margalef’s index values of 0.26 and 0.30, respectively, and a low evenness value of 0.37 due to uneven distribution of parasite species. The highest HAI value for C. pretoriae (36.19) was recorded from the Mutshundudi River and the lowest of 28.38 was recorded from the Lutanandwa River. The highest K score for C. pretoriae of 1.08 was recorded from Nwanedi River and the lowest of 1.01 from Lutanandwa River. The HAI of A. uranoscopus from the four selected localities indicated that the fish collected from the Lutanandwa River were in poorer health state than those from the other rivers due to the higher score. The highest HAI of 99.13 was recorded from the Lutanandwa River and the lowest HAI of 36.36 was recorded from the Nwanedi River. However, the highest mean K score of 0.84 was recorded from Nwanedi River while the lowest of 0.53 was recorded from Mutshundudi River. The results of both C. pretoriae and A. uranoscopus also indicated that the parasite burden did not affect the K of the fish. Generally, water quality results indicated that the rivers were in fair condition with most parameters being within the acceptable target water quality range (TWQR) of aquatic ecosystems. These rivers therefore have good water quality and indicate an oligotrophic state, however, Nwanedi and Politsi rivers are slightly impacted by anthropogenic factors which increased their nitrate concentration compared to the other rivers (Mutshundudi and Lutanandwa rivers). During this study, fish health, parasite diversity and species richness indices were used in combination to determine the water quality of the four localities. The results represent new geographical and host records for parasites from C. pretoriae and A. uranoscopus in the Nwanedi, Mutshundudi, Lutanandwa and Politsi rivers. Since it is the first record of Cephalogonimidae gen. sp. and Dactylogyridae gen. sp., more studies should be done to investigate other possible localities within the Limpopo River System and determine the life cycle of the digenean. Since both parasites represent new genera, papers on their description and identification are in preparation. Future studies on the parasites of the two fish species should employ the use of molecular analysis for larval forms as well as the leeches. It is proposed that the HAI using A. uranoscopus and C. pretoriae should not be employed for future studies because not all variables can be used due to the small size of these fish species. It is proposed that the study should be done seasonally at all localities to detect differences in the occurrence of parasites in relation to the seasonal water quality.Department of Science and
Innovation and the National Research Foundation (NRF) of South Afric
Evaluation of pigeon pea [Cajanus cajan (L.)] varieties and phosphorus fertilization on drought tolerance mechanisms, grain yield and nutritional value under no-till in a smallholder farming system of South Africa
Get PDFThesis (Ph.D. Agriculture (Plant Production)) -- University of Limpopo, 2023The first study comprised a survey on pigeon peas to determine the crop’s current
status in six local municipalities within the two Provinces. The survey study was
divided into two sections. The first section found that the crop is produced on less than
1 ha of land, mostly by old, female, and subsistence farmers, mainly for home
consumption. Out of 114 farmers interviewed, 11 were smallholder farmers, 103
subsistence, and no commercial farmers were recorded. Grain yield ranged from 10
to 20 kg ha-1 and fewer farmers produced more than 200 kg ha-1. About 66% of farmers
used unknown pigeon pea varieties. The crop is mostly produced in an intercrop
system with maize and mangoes without fertilizer applications. Only 3% of male
farmers used pigeon pea for fodder. About 78% used pigeon peas for income
generation and mainly were male farmers. Majority of farmers confirmed that markets
are available both locally and internationally. The second section revealed that low
production yields were caused primarily by drought, high temperatures, poor
agronomic practices, the use of unimproved seeds, and the outbreak of insect pests
and disease.
The second study was carried out in smallholder farmers' fields at two locations in
Limpopo and Mpumalanga, namely, Ofcolaco and Zoeknog respectively from
December 2019 to July 2021 to assess the growth and yield of pigeon pea. The trials
were laid out at the two experimental sites as a randomized complete block design
(RCBD) in 4 × 2 factorial arrangements with three replications. The two treatment
factors were four pigeon pea varieties, namely Komboa; Tumia; Ilonga 14-M2; local
landrace, and two levels of P-fertilizers at 0 kg ha-1 and 60 kg ha-1. Shoot biomass
ranged from 5375 to 10149 kg ha-1 for all varieties and sampling dates at both
locations. Application of P-fertilizer and growth stages (P X DAP) significantly
influenced shoot biomass at 180 DAP only at Ofcolaco. Interaction of V x P did not
show significant variations in shoot biomass at both locations. At Ofcolaco, P yield in
plant tissue ranged from 11.11 to 23.89 kg ha-1 and 15.11 to 41.47 kg ha-1 at 120 and
470 DAP, respectively, whereas at Zoeknog, the range was from 16.73 to 31.09kg ha-
1 and 22.68 to 52.0 kg ha-1 at 120 and 470 DAP, respectively. PRE was reduced by
the application of P-fertilizer at 60 kg ha-1. The Ilonga 14-M2 variety and the local
landrace produced the lowest grain yield ranging from 618 kg ha-1 to 922 kg ha-1.
Komboa produced the highest grain yield of 1136 kg ha-1 and 1431kg ha-1 during the
first harvest at Ofcolaco and Zoeknog, respectively. The study revealed that
unfertilized plants had a higher HI of 30.64% relative to fertilized plants which attained
27.23% during the first harvest only at Ofcolaco.
The third study objective was to identify pigeon pea varieties under P fertilization that
are tolerant to drought conditions through root biomass production, stomatal
conductance, and water use efficiency (WUE). Across all sampling dates, Ilonga 14-
M2 produced the highest root biomass of 3185 and 3867 kg ha-1 at Ofcolaco and
Zoeknog, respectively. Significant variations in P-fertilizer application were observed
from 150 to 500 DAP at Ofcolaco and Zoeknog only at 500 DAP. Photosynthetic rates
ranged from 26.39 to 39.06 (μmol m-2s-1) across varieties. Application of P-fertilizer at
60 kg ha-1 influenced the opening of the stomata for Komboa and controlled in Ilonga
14-M2. Komboa resulted in higher intrinsic-WUE due to higher photosynthesis rates over
stomatal conductance. Ilonga 14-M2 had the highest instantaneous-WUE, low
photosynthetic and transpiration rates, and able to control their stomatal conductance
The interaction effect of V x P in instantaneous -WUE was significant and not significant for
intrinsic WUE.
The fourth study objective was to assess the effect of pigeon pea variety and Pfertilizer
application on the nutritional composition of pigeon pea grain. Protein content
ranking was 33.30, 32.81, 23.25%, and 20.84% for Ilonga 14-M2, Tumia, Komboa,
and the local varieties, respectively at Zoeknog. P-fertilizer application did not change
the nutritive value and mineral elements of pigeon pea grains. Minerals, trace
elements, and residual soil nutrients did not differ significantly among varieties, Pfertilizer
application, and interactions at both locations. In conclusion, Ilonga 14-M4
proved to be a promising variety for drought tolerance, soil fertility enhancement, high
protein content, and satisfactory grain yield even under suboptimal rainfall growing
seasons. Komboa variety is recommended for farmers in grain production. Whereas
Tumia is a dual-purpose variety The application of P-fertilizer at 60 kg ha-1 enhanced
pigeon pea’s drought tolerance and productivity but this was found to be dependent
on several factors which extend to growth stage, variety, locality, climatic conditions,
soil type, and agronomic management practices.Risk and Vulnerability Science Centre (RVSC)
National Research Council (NR