2149 research outputs found
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A practical framework for integrating advances in ergonomics to improve productivity in South African small and medium enterprises.
No full textThis study provides a practical framework for integrating advances in ergonomics into South African small and medium enterprises to enhance productivity. Informed by a comprehensive literature review and insights from the 2025 Applied Ergonomics Conference, the proposed three-phase framework comprises an ergonomics intervention trigger checklist and related productivity metrics; an integration matrix aligned with ISO 45001:2018 and ISO TR 12295:2014; and strategies to overcome adoption barriers. The framework incorporates participatory design, simplified assessment tools, and interventions such as wearable technologies. By addressing a gap in the research, this study offers a scalable, cost-effective framework that is tailored to the resource-constrained small and medium enterprises’ environment
Oversight roles and governance responsibilities of the Treasury in South Africa under the Public Finance Management Act.
No full textThe study examined the effectiveness of the South African National Treasury’s oversight responsibilities under the Public Finance Management Act, motivated by widespread public sector failures linked to corruption, maladministration, and weak financial oversight. Data were collected through a cross-sectional study in Limpopo province using a census approach targeting all individuals with relevant oversight experience. Participants included audit committee members, board directors, legislators, accounting officers, CEOs, CFOs, chief risk officers, heads of internal control and compliance units, and auditors – key actors in financial monitoring and performance oversight. Data analysis using STATA involved descriptive statistics, Fisher’s Exact Test, Exploratory Factor Analysis, Pearson correlations, and multiple linear regression. Results indicated that most participants believed the Provincial Treasury lacks an approved, documented policy or framework for its oversight functions. Regression analysis showed that age (β = 2.78, P = 0.001) was significantly positively associated with support for oversight in improving financial controls, suggesting that older participants value stronger oversight mechanisms. Conversely, years in the current grade level (β = –2.58, P = 0.001) were negatively associated with such support. The study concludes that developing formalized oversight frameworks is vital for strengthening financial management, accountability, and service delivery. It recommends improving capacity through staff training, appointing competent professionals, adopting technology in operations, and ensuring robust monitoring, risk assessment, and communication systems
Modern personal naming practices among Vhavenḓa from South Africa.
No full textModern personal naming symbolises social change in most African communities, including the Vhavenḓa of South Africa. Among Vhavenḓa, elders and grandparents in the family were solely responsible for personal name-giving. However, currently, grandparents no longer name newborns in Tshivenḓa culture. This study investigates the practice of personal naming among modern Vhavenḓa in South Africa guided by the autoethnographic approach. Social Change
Theory and the Modernisation Framework underpinned the study. The findings reveal that some modern Vhavenḓa parents name their children, a ‘foreign practice’ that denotes social change in personal naming practices in Tshivenḓa culture. Furthermore, rituals that accompany traditional Tshivenḓa personal naming practices are no longer practised in some families. Modernisation, Christianity, educa tion, and politics catalyse social change in personal naming among
modern Vhavenḓa parents in South Africa
The possible effects of text messaging on the written work of grade 11 English first additional language learners at a public high school in Pretoria.
No full textSubmitted with fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree Magister Technologiae: Language practice in the Department of Applied Languages Faculty of Humanities.This study set out to investigate the possible effects of text messaging language on the written schoolwork of grade 11 English first additional language learners (EFAL) at a public high school in Soshanguve, Pretoria. It was informed by the views by Thurlow and Brown (2003) and Mahmoud (2013) that many young people seem to be addicted to the growing practice of text messaging so much that they use their mobile phones during lessons, and that a core feature of almost all young people’s mobile phone use is text messaging. Thus, the study had two objectives: to identify the use of text messaging in the written schoolwork of grade 11 EFAL at a public high school in Soshanguve; and to establish the possible effects (positive or negative) that text messaging had on these learners’ written schoolwork. The participants for the study were thirty eight (38) grade 11 learners (n = 38, M = 10, F = 28, mean age = 17.4 years) who had mobile phones and liked text messaging. These participants were selected through three sampling techniques: opportunistic purposeful, voluntary and convenience sampling techniques. In addition, three (3) female grade 11 EFAL teachers were requested to participate in the study. The data for this study were collected using the following materials: learner written tasks (a two-paragraph text message task and a page-long essay task); a learner questionnaire; and a teacher questionnaire. Some of text message features the study detected from written learner activities were shortenings; contractions; acronyms/initialisms; g-clippings; letter homophones; number homophones; no apostrophes, no full stops; omitted words; incorrect capitalisation; spelling errors; and non-conventional spelling errors. Two of the findings of the study are: text message features as a percentage of the word count in both learner activities had a lower prevalence in the written work of the learners; and except for spelling errors, it was possible for a majority of these learners to write their essays without much reliance on the text message features identified in above. On this basis, the study concludes that text messaging did not have a possible negative effect on learners’ written wor
Emerging technologies as a mediating factor between causes of cyberfraud and cyberfraud perpetration in the South African banking industry.
No full textThe purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship between the factors responsible for cyberfraud perpetration and the rate of cyberfraud perpetration in the South African banking industry using technology as a mediating variable. Structured questionnaire was employed as survey instrument. Using purposive sampling, it was distributed to 42 selected staff members of the 17 licensed banks in South Africa. The use of emerging technologies was found to have positive and significant relationship with internal controls, accountability, record keeping and ethical culture. This is justified by their p-values less than 0.05 except for the relationship between technology and poor organisation whose p-value was greater than 0.05. Overall, the mediating variable (technology) was found to indeed influence the rate of cyberfraud perpetration in the South African banking industry. This study provides an insight into the factors responsible for cyberfraud perpetration in South Africa and the moderating role of technology to reduce cyberfraud perpetration
Fire-retardant wood polymer composite to be used as building materials for South African formal and informal dwellings—A review.
No full textA demand to replace an easily combustible wood with wood–plastic–rubber composite with better thermal performance than wood is at its peak globally. Wood-based composite materials in the form of wood–polymer composite (WPC) have emerged as new materials that can replace wood to produce wood products for various use. The use of recycled polymers as biodegradable polymer blended with fiber particles, waste tire powder, and other substances to manufacture new products known as wood–rubber–plastics composite (WRPC) for building construction and other different applications, has piqued the interest of numerous researchers. High flammability and weak combustibility parameters are a setback for many wood-based composites because of the flammability of these composites. Fabricated WRPC based on non-toxic fire retardants and other additives used to modify the flame-resistant quality of these composites, the fabrication techniques, and mechanical characteristics are herein reviewed. It is hoped that better composite in the form of WRPC can be used as building materials for informal and formal dwellings
Power dynamics as reflected in Tshivenḓa heritage forms of address: A study from Vhembe District, Limpopo province, South Africa.
No full textThis sociolinguistic study explores the power dynamics reflected in Tshivenḓa heritage forms of address in the Vhembe District, Limpopo Province, South Africa. Power dynamics refer to the ways in which power is distributed, exercised, and negotiated within social relationships, organisations, and broader societal structures. They encompass how authority is allocated, how individuals or groups assert influence, and how power shifts or is balanced in different contexts, often shaped by social roles, cultural norms, and institutional frameworks. The study employed face-to-face, semi-structured interviews to collect and analyse data from 24 native Tshivenḓa (L1) speakers, comprising 10 youths and 14 elders. The
theoretical framework combined Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) and Ethnography of Communication (EoC), enabling a deeper understanding of heritage forms of address within Tshivenḓa cultural scripts, including norms, values, and communicative practices. Findings reveal that Tshivenḓa heritage forms of address are deeply intertwined with social structures and age-based hierarchies in the Vhavenḓa community. These forms not only signify respect for elders but also reinforce their authority within familial and community settings. The study recommends empowering youth through cultural education programs to ensure they understand the significance of Tshivenḓa heritage forms of address, both as a
symbol of respect and as a mechanism for maintaining social cohesion, while also adapting to contemporary shifts in societal values
Effect of selected factors on the prediction accuracy of plant-available phosphorus and otassium: A global meta-analysis for infrared spectroscopy protocol.
No full textChemical methods are reliable for soil testing, but they can be both time-consuming and expensive. This reason makes them unsuitable for quick analysis, especially for many soil samples. Infrared spectroscopy is a cutting-edge technique that offers promising alternative methods that are fast, cheaper, and environmentally friendly. Research findings show contradicting accuracy levels for the infrared protocol when predicting phosphorus (P) and potassium (K). For this reason, the study employed meta-analysis to investigate the effect of selected factors on the prediction accuracy of P and K. Studies that tested P and K in the laboratory using the protocol were selected. The results showed that concentration
and soil sample size can significantly (p < 0.001) affect the prediction accuracy of these plant-available nutrients. A positive correlation was observed between the coefficient of determination (r2), sample size (r2 = 0.75 P, r2 = 0.68 K), and concentration (r2 = 0.62 P, r2 = 0.64 K). The variation observed in the dependent variable (r2) was explained mostly by sample size and concentration. This could be the source of the overall low prediction accuracy observed from the studies [r2 = 0.46, RPD = 1.44 (P) and r2 = 0.55, RPD = 1.55 (K)]
An experimental and computational investigation of Thulium doped TiO2 as n-type material for potential application in bulk heterojunction organic solar cells.
No full textSolar energy harvesting and conversion has attracted a lot of scientific interest because solar energy is believed to be clean and sustainable. In this study, we report the synthesis of porous TiO2 by sol-gel method and later doped with Thulium rare earth ions (Tm3+) for potential application in organic solar cells as electron transport layers (ETL). Additionally, density functional theory (DFT) calculation was performed with CASTEP computational suite to explore further the optoelectronic and charge transfer mechanisms in the Tm(III)-doped TiO2 nanomaterials. Thereafter, the experimental material’s band gap values were extracted and used in the numerical simulation of the designed organic solar cell with a general configuration of FTO/TiO2/PBDB-T/ITIC/Cu2O/Ag, via SCAPS-1D numerical simulator. The experimental results showed a steady reduction in the band gap of TiO2 with increased Tm3+ doping. The electrical conductivity properties showed an enhanced feature when TiO2 was doped with Tm3+ nanoparticles. The calculated band gap from the density functional theory study shows a similar decreasing band gap trend with that of the experimental data, suggesting the transport properties from DFT are sufficient to describe the experimental data. The electronic transfer behaviour is analogous to metal-metal and metal-oxides transport features, which can be attributed to Ti – Tm and Tm – O – Ti hybridizations, as indicated in the orbital state alignment. The best performing modelled device with Tm(III)-doped TiO2 (1.0 mol%) as ETL attained a PCE of 21.83%, Voc of 1.54 V, Jsc of 31.87 mA cm−2and FF of 44.44% which was attributed to better charge transfer characteristics and effective band alignment between the ETL and absorber, thus, better efficiency. The study proposes that Tm(III)-doped TiO2 can act as a suitable n-type material that can propel the realisation of high-performance OSCs
for commercialization in the future
Effects of induced structural modification on properties of V+ Ion-Implanted RF—magnetron sputtering deposited ZnO thin films of thickness 120 nm on borosilicate glass substrates.
No full textThe influence of structural modifications on the thermal stability, chemical bonds, and optical properties of zinc oxide (ZnO) thin films (120 nm thick) for optoelectronic devices (solar cells, LEDs) and energy nanodevices was investigated. The films, synthesized via rf-magnetron sputtering, were implanted with V+ ions at 170 keV with varying fluences. Optical properties, including bandgap, transmittance, and absorbance, were analyzed using UV–Vis spectroscopy, XRD, AFM, and FTIR. Structural changes such as strain, lattice constant, surface roughness, and crystallite size significantly influenced the optical properties. Increased surface roughness led to a higher optical bandgap (up to 4.10 eV) and transmittance (82.34%), with reduced absorbance (0.12 nm). Crystallite size exhibited similar effects. At an ion fluence of 1 × 1016 ions/cm2, the bandgap and transmittance increased, while absorbance slightly decreased. Thermal stability and chemical bond analysis supported these findings. The study demonstrates that V+ion-induced modifications enhance ZnO thin films’ properties, highlighting their potential for advanced optoelectronic and energy nanodevice applications