21623 research outputs found
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Perceptions and experiences of repeat offenders with rehabilitation services: a case study of Glencoe Correctional Centre, KwaZulu-Natal.
No full textMasters Degree. University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban.Recidivism is a common problem for many countries and rehabilitation services seem to be failing to address the issue of recidivism since there are still high rates of recidivism globally. Both developing and developed countries suffer from the issue of recidivism as it is still increasing. This study aimed to describe the perceptions and experiences of repeat offenders with rehabilitation services. A qualitative research paradigm, specifically using the tradition of interpretivism, was adopted in this study. To collect data from participants, focus group discussions were conducted, consisting of broad questions followed by probes to gain an indepth description of participants and their perceptions of rehabilitation services they previously participated in. Sixteen offenders who were classified as repeat offenders were sampled for and participated in this research study. The thematic analysis method was used to analyse data that were collected from the participants. The main findings of this study revealed that rehabilitation programmes are not yet effective in changing the offenders’ behaviour. They faced many challenges in their first incarceration such as ill-treatment by correctional officials and not receiving the needs to which they were entitled. Factors that were found more contributing to recidivism were: failure of rehabilitation programmes, a low level of education by offenders, substance abuse and mental illness, peer influence, a lack of support and poverty and unemployment after their incarceration. The factors that hinder rehabilitation services within the correctional centres include overcrowding, gangsterism, an unconducive correctional centre environment and corruption and improper conduct by correctional officials. This study recommends that the Department of Correctional Services (DCS) should improve the quality of the programmes; they should come up with new strategies for recruiting offenders for rehabilitation programmes, and training for their correctional officials with the new DCS paradigm. This research study further recommends that DCS workers should apply a multidisciplinary approach when rehabilitating offenders
Effects of drought on grassland forb reproduction.
No full textMasters Degree. University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg.No abstract available
Exploring the use unmanned aerial vehicle rgb data for crop monitoring and mapping within a smallholder setting: a case study in Swayimane.
No full textMasters Degree. University of KwaZulu-Natal, PietermaritzburgSmallholder farms within Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) are the backbone of agricultural systems due to their significant contribution to food production, thus rendering them essential for enhancing food security across the region. Despite this, their limited financial capacity, lack of resources and access to technology and information pose significant challenges for optimal agricultural production. The detrimental consequences of climate change and population expansion further impede their capacity to keep up with food demands. Advancements in precision agriculture (PA) such as the use of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) can provide, near real-time data collection and adequate spatiotemporal resolution for smallholder heterogeneous farms thereby enabling informed and customised agriculture management to optimise agricultural productivity and resource use. This study investigates the potential of UAV-RGB data as a reliable and cost-effective solution to facilitate PA in smallholder farms. Specifically, it assessed UAV RGB data for land use classification and evaluated its effectiveness in estimating Leaf Area Index (LAI). While various sensors such as multi-spectral and hyperspectral sensors, offer significant spectral depth, their high costs limit the applicability for smallholder farmers. In contrast, UAV-RGB sensors are more affordable, promoting wider adoption. These sensors coupled with machine learning algorithms within cloud computing environments are more commonly appearing as accurate alternatives, particularly for processing large complex agricultural remote sensing datasets. Subsequently, this study utilizes machine learning classification approaches, comparing the two commonly used UAV multi-spectral and RGB sensor data for cropland mapping and crop monitoring. The Random Forest (RF) classifier effectively classified agricultural land with UAV-RGB data, achieving an area under the curve receiver operating characteristic (AUC-ROC) value of 0.75, while the UAV multi-spectral data yielded a marginally higher AUC-ROC of 0.77. For crop monitoring, we assessed LAI as a key growth metric, where the RF ensemble produced UAV-RGB LAI predictions with a root mean square error (RMSE), mean absolute error (MAE) and R-squared (R2) of 0.45, 0.31 and 0.73 respectively, which was less accurate but still reliable when compared to the UAV multi-spectral predictions (RMSE = 0.37, R2 = 0.81 and MAE = 0.24)
The findings underscore the effectiveness of UAV-RGB data as a low-cost alternative that enhances the accessibility for smallholder farms, promoting the widespread adoption of precision agriculture practices. By enabling the accurate classification of agricultural land and monitoring of crop growth through reliable LAI predictions, this technology facilitates tailored solutions, improved decision-making and resource management, ultimately optimising agricultural practices and productivity. These advancements hold significant implications for developing nations such as SSA where smallholder farming systems are vital for sustaining food production which strengthens food security thereby resulting in a domino effect on various socio-economic factors
Impact of degree of sulphonation of lignosulphonic acid on molecular weight distribution of spent liquours.
No full textMasters Degree. University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban.Lignosulphonates are produced during the chemical pulping of wood species through acid sulphite or neutral sulphite semi-chemical processes. Lignosulphonates are applied in several
commercial products, including but not limited to dispersants, resins, binders, concrete admixtures, water treatment aids (coagulants), etc. These complex macromolecular structures exhibit different chemical properties, depending on the pulping process and tree species used. How lignosulphonates are valorised will, therefore, depend on their inherent chemical properties. The molecular weight and the sulphonic acid content in particular are two properties that will affect how lignosulphonates are used. In this study, the molecular weight and sulphonic acid of magnesium lignosulphonate (MgLS) and sodium lignosulphonate (NaLS) were studied. Due to the processing contaminants that interfere with molecular weight and sulphonic acid measurements of spent liquors purification of the MgLS and NaLS streams was carried out using a combination of Dowex 50wx8 and XAD-7 resins. The Dowex resin was used for de-ashing, and the XAD-7 resin to adsorb the lignosulphonate molecule. Ultrafiltration was also included as a comparison for the Dowex-XAD-7 purification. Approximately; 5 % ash was retained on samples purified by ultrafiltration and less than 3% ash was retained by samples purified by Dowex-XAD-7. The sample yield after Dowex-XAD-7 and ultrafiltration was similar for MgLS samples, between 32 and 36% sample was extracted . There was, however, a difference in sample yield when NaLS liquor was purified. A 24 and 32 % sample recovery was achieved using Dowex-XAD-7 and ultrafiltration, respectively. The yield was higher for the ultrafiltrated product than for the XAD-7 product. Samples purified by ultrafiltration generally showed high molecular weight and sulphonic acid content. The molecular weight for NaLS and MgLS samples purified by ultrafiltration measured approximately 6 and 20 kDa, respectively. Where as NaLS and MgLS samples purified by Dowex-XAD-7 reported a molecular weight of 3 and 12 kDa, respectively. The sulphonic acid content ranged between 3 and 5% for ultrafiltrated samples where as the Dowex-XAD-7 extracted samples ranged between 2 and 3%. The samples purified by XAD-7 resins were then sequentially fractionated using ultrafiltration with molecular weight cut-off (MWCO) sizes between 100 kDa to 1kDa. The molecular weight of the fractionated products decreased with a decrease in MWCO size ranging between 100 and 1kDa. This decrease was from 17.6 to 0.6 kDa and 14.8 to 0.8 for MgLS and NaLS samples, respectively. For the MgLS, the sulphonic acid content increased from 0.93 to 1.25 mmol/g with a decrease in molecular weight, whereas the fractions from the NaLS feed seemed to decrease with a decrease in molecular weight
Psychological strengths of spirituality and transcendence and wellbeing of managers in the automotive sector.
No full textDoctoral Degree. University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban.The purpose of this study was to explore the experiences of managers, drawing on the constructs of the PERMA model of wellbeing and on their respective challenges, as well as to examine the role and utilisation of the psychological strengths (PS) of transcendence, so as to overcome managerial challenges within the South African automotive manufacturing industry. This study employed a qualitative approach in its method of data collection and Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis for interpretation and analyses. The data was hence analysed via an idiographic, inductive and interrogative approach. The Broaden-and-Build theoretical framework was implemented, as a broadened behavioural repertoire, over time, is said to also build skills and resources that enhance survival. Psychofortology provides a perspective of positive psychology from which this research was conducted. The study participants comprised twelve managers within the subsidiaries of the chosen company in the automotive sector, nationwide, who voluntarily participated in the research. Semi-structured interviews were used to gather data and gain insight into the managers’ experiences of wellbeing, the challenges they experienced, the positive and negative factors that were taken into account, and their use of psychological strengths to negate these challenges. The intention of the study was to propose a set of guidelines that could be used to develop a holistic wellbeing intervention for managers by investigating and building on the PS of transcendence that promote wellbeing and that facilitate the capacity of an individual to “flourish.”The findings suggest that the PS of transcendence were utilised by managers in their experience of wellbeing; however, these were not adequately utilised to cope with challenges. This was due to managers not having a good knowledge and experience of the strengths. It was established that the implementation of existing positive psychological interventions (PPIs) is not adequate. The PPIs are not standardised and customised for each of the subsidiaries, and further development is required to suit the unique requirements of each subsidiary in order to address the specific challenges experienced as noted in the findings.
The following recommendations for the study were made, and discussed in three parts. The first part discusses the more commonly used PPIs in the workplace, the mainstream or traditional approach. These PPIs are currently found to be implemented within the organisations to greater and lesser extents; however, they are not uniform, customised nor standardised across all 242 subsidiaries. A more user-friendly approach to the traditional approach was recommended for how existing PPIs may be further developed, utilising PS for transcendence and incorporating a more personalised approach. The second part comprises practical activities or mindfulness exercises that can be practised by managers either within or outside of the workplace to further develop their PS of transcendence. The third part discusses a less common approach which is only practised by some and generally practised outside of the workplace. This alternative approach provides a means to connect with and develop the inner working of the body or the internal state of being. Comparative, quantitative, empirical studies with larger samples are suggested to support the findings and to further explore this interesting phenomenon
Leadership learning: a case study of departmental heads from two primary schools.
No full textMasters Degree. University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban.Departmental heads (DHs) in primary schools in the South African schooling system play vital roles in leading and managing teaching and learning schooling phases. Research indicates that
the Department of Education does not offer them formal training aimed at equipping them for their complex roles, nor does it require them to have formal leadership qualifications prior to
assumption of duty as DHs. This study sought to explore how these leaders learn to lead. Specifically, it asked the following research questions; what are the departmental heads'
perspectives on leadership learning in the case study schools? How do the departmental heads in the case study schools learn leadership? What do the departmental heads in the case study
schools view as effective mechanisms for leadership learning? Two theories underpinned this study, namely, the Adult Learning Theory by Knowles and the Leadership Development
Conceptual Framework by Lyham. This study is framed in the philosophical dimensions of the interpretivist paradigm within the qualitative approach. The methodology applied to
understand how departmental heads learn was a case study. Two schools of the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Education’s Pinetown District were conveniently sampled, and four
departmental heads were purposively chosen and interviewed. Document analysis was applied to supplement the data generated from the semi-structured interviews. The findings of the study
revealed that departmental heads think it is very important for leaders to learn to lead and they understand that performing their core duties requires specialised guidance. Furthermore,
leaders learn differently as driven by their goals. Their lengthy leadership experiences enabled them to recommend context understanding as a vital aspect of the leadership learning process
accompanied by support largely from the principal of the school. This study concluded that departmental heads do not receive sufficient support from their school principals upon
appointment and recommended that a collaboration between the departmental heads, leaders of Professional Learning Communities and the learned others be formed and a programme for
newly appointed departmental heads be designed and shared with other schools in similar contexts
Mercury adsorption from South African coal fired power plants using modified and unmodified fly ash.
No full textDoctoral Degree. University of KwaZulu-Natal Durban.Mercury can be classified as a global pollutant due to its ability to travel vast distances atmospherically, be deposited on land, and enter water sources. It poses significant environmental, human, and animal risks, especially when converted to methylmercury (any toxic compound containing the complex CH3Hg) (Merriam-Webster, 2024). One of the primary anthropogenic sources is from coal-fired power stations. Therefore, effective control measures need to be employed. Fly ash provides a practical, cheap solution by acting as an adsorbent The fly ash can be enhanced by modification with metallic salts such as CuCl2, FeCl3, ZnCl2, and CuSO4. Two South African fly ash samples obtained from Camden and Majuba power stations show excellent adsorption capacity for mercury when modified by CuCl2 and FeCl3. Fly ash characterisation revealed that the two fly ash samples have very similar chemical compositions. However, the pH differs, with the Camden (dark) ash having a lower pH of 8.62 and Majuba (light) ash having a pH of 10.35. The fly ash samples successfully adsorb Hg0 whilst in the presence of CO2, which competes for the active sites available for adsorption. The emission control technology is costly, so power stations should meet a specific eligibility criterion. The fly ash adsorption process can be operated as a single pollutant system or a part of sequential pollution systems with co-benefits. The environmental impact should be an essential consideration when operating the pollution control system as the waste generated is classified as hazardous according to NEM: WA (2008)
Mapping the job satisfaction of teachers in Mauritius across their career cycles.
No full textDoctoral Degree. University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg.The job satisfaction of teachers has been a topic of research for decades, and extensive knowledge has been gained over the years. Globally, the role, tasks and challenges that teachers face in their daily work have changed drastically over the years, continuously impacting their job satisfaction throughout their careers. Similar changes have been observed in the Mauritian context. In Mauritius, teachers have to change schools every five years, which is associated with various factors that affect their job satisfaction at different points in their careers. Many studies on job satisfaction are snapshots of the phenomenon at a particular point in time. Little is known about how job satisfaction changes over the course of a specific teacher’s career. This study looked at job satisfaction from a dynamic perspective and examined the job satisfaction of experienced teachers retrospectively. In this sense, the job satisfaction of teachers with at least twenty years of professional experience was analysed using a convergent mixed-methods design. Herzberg’s (1966) two-factor theory and Vroom’s (1964) expectancy theory formed the theoretical framework of the study. Three sets of data were collected to answer the three research objectives that guided the study. The quantitative data collected from 126 state secondary school teachers in four educational zones of Mauritius using an adapted version of the Teachers' Job Satisfaction Questionnaire (Lester, 1987) showed that teachers generally tend to maintain medium to high levels of job satisfaction. However, fluctuations occur at the beginning, middle and end of their careers. The main factors influencing teachers’ job satisfaction include the job itself, teachers’ health and well-being, the category of students and the type of school. Eleven teachers took part in the qualitative part of the study and described their experiences over 20 years using graphical representations and in-depth semi-structured interviews. Personal characteristics, autonomy, control and contextual factors such as transfers, school management, collegiality and student behaviour were found to be additional factors influencing job satisfaction. While the study confirms several factors that affect job satisfaction, the focus on long-term job satisfaction extends the current understanding of its inter- and intra-individual variability. The analysis of the data also led to the formulation of a new model of job satisfaction, termed the "elastic model" of job satisfaction
Exploring the causes of the delays in the public infrastructure development in the province of KwaZulu-Natal.
No full textMasters Degree. University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban.The South African Government bears the responsibility for the infrastructural development of the country and its provinces, which entails the implementation of plans, guidelines, policies, and relevant legislation, alongside allocated budgets, to direct infrastructural growth. Despite the existence of these plans and funds designated for infrastructural reform in KwaZulu-Natal province, significant backlogs and slow progress in infrastructure development persist. Various challenges have been reported that hinder the progress of infrastructural projects and exacerbate the backlog. Consequently, many communities struggle to access basic social and economic infrastructure, while existing infrastructure continues to deteriorate. This study aimed to address several key research questions, including the primary causes and consequences of project delays, the differing perspectives of the main stakeholders involved in the provincial government development projects, and the identification of mitigation measures to minimise cost overruns and delays in future projects. Minimising the delays will ensure fast economic growth that will have a positive impact on the alleviating of unemployment and poverty in the province. The research endeavoured to explore the causes of delays in public infrastructure development in KwaZulu-Natal, aiming to uncover the root causes contributing to service delivery backlogs. These backlogs hinder the province and the country from achieving the National Development Plan (NDP) goals of poverty eradication and inequality reduction by 2030. Data for the study was collected through interviews with the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Public Works, which oversees provincial infrastructure and government property management. Participants included department officials and selected project teams. Additionally, secondary data was gathered from various sources, including reports from the Auditor General, Public Service Commission, KZN Legislature, as well as the Department Annual Performance Plans, and Annual Reports. The study identified several key themes as factors contributing to the delays in public infrastructure development in KwaZulu-Natal
A case study exploring professional learning of isiZulu First Additional Language teachers in Quintile five schools.
No full textMasters Degree. University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg.IsiZulu is one of the most widely spoken languages in South Africa, particularly in KwaZulu-Natal. All South African learners must learn two of the official languages. In many Quintile five schools, learners study an African language as a first additional language. For example, it will be isiZulu in KwaZulu-Natal and isiXhosa in the Eastern Cape. This study explored the professional development of isiZulu first additional language teachers in Quintile five schools. The study also examined these teachers' experiences and how they support their students’ facing challenges with isiZulu. The participants were six teachers selected from various schools in the Northdale area of Pietermaritzburg, KwaZulu-Natal. Each participant had been a teacher for ten years or more and worked in Quintile five schools. The research methodology employed in the study was qualitative. Semi-structured interviews and focus group interviews were used to collect the data. Data were analysed using themes. The data were examined using Opfer and Pedder's (2011) complexity theory. This study identified four key themes. The first theme was a lack of training. Teachers argued that they didn’t have any university training. Secondly, learners lacked foundational knowledge gained from primary school and a lack of learner interest. The study also found that the shortage of appropriate teaching materials plays a massive role in teacher learning. Finally, the lack of support from school management teams and the Department of Education affects teacher learning in many ways. In light of these findings, this study produced guidelines and recommendations that address the difficulties encountered by first additional language isiZulu teachers and how they can advance their careers in Quintile five schools