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An exposition of BRICS political and economic governance: towards a new and balanced global world order
No full textA dissertation submitted in fulfillment of the academic requirements for the degree of Master of Commerce in the Department of Public Administration in the Faculty of Faculty of Commerce, Administration and Law, University of Zululand, 2020The concept of BRIC was first introduced by Jim O’Neill in 2001 to describe a group of economically emerging countries (the Federative Republic of Brazil {Brazil}, Russian Federation {Russia}, Republic of India {India}, and People’s Republic of China {China}) who, on a purchasing power parity (commonly known as PPP) basis, contributed an aggregate of 23.3% to the world’s GDP in the year 2000. The Republic of South Africa formally joined this group in 2010 and together they represent 43% of the world’s population with a combined nominal GDP of US $13, 7 trillion and control 17% of the world trade. It is estimated that by 2027 BRICs (excluding South Africa) countries will overtake the G7 countries. The BRICS are in a similar stage of economic development. This group represents a huge economic power shift from the developed G7 (French Republic, the Federal Republic of Germany, the Italian Republic, Japan, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, the United States of America and Canada). Therefore it is safe to deduce that these countries’ economic wellbeing is of paramount importance to the economic development of the world.
BRICS is not a political alliance, rather it is a group of states that are still developing and are characterised by fast growing economies and these nations have significant influence on regional and global affairs. However, while they are still overcoming poverty, inequality and other challenges they share a common vision that aims to address the similar socio-economic characteristics that compound these nations. Each member of BRICS has its own political and economic characteristics e.g. Brazil has massive amounts of oil, along with large suppliers of agricultural products; Russia has great repositories of oil, along with coal and natural gas; India has iron ore, bauxite and copper ore and is one of the major producers of iron in the world; China has coal, iron ore, petroleum, natural gas, mercury, rare earth elements, uranium and the world’s largest potential for hydro power and lastly South Africa is the largest energy producer and consumers on the African continent it has diamonds and gold, the country also has reserves of iron ore, platinum, manganese, chromium, copper, uranium, silver, beryllium and titanium. Therefore, is it clear that the combination of these countries economically is very significant and they play an
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important role in the international system, with regards to trade and international relations. Therefore, the study was motivated by these findings, hence it seeks to understand the formulation of BRICS and how this might contribute to a change in the global world order
Challenges faced by principals in managing heads of departments for promotion of quality teaching and learning processes in UMkhanyakude secondary schools
No full textA thesis submitted in fulfillment of the academic requirements for the degree of Doctor of Education in the Department of Educational Planning & Administration in the Faculty of Education, University of Zululand, 2020.Percentage pass rate is a serious problem in uMkhanyakude schools which is attributed to problems principals face in managing HoDs to ensure that there is effective teaching and learning. The aim of this study was to investigate the challenges faced principals in managing heads of departments in the promotion of quality teaching and learning processes in uMkhanyakude Secondary Schools. Mixed method research design was used. Findings from the study reveal that most school principals exercise total power over the entire administration. HoDs hardly receive internal guidance and training in schools to make them better managers, milestone setting is a challenge with most principals. There is little follow up being done on supervision data. Most principals rarely prioritise motivation as means of stimulating drive to achieve more. Principals have neglected setting and consistently maintaining the tone in shaping up the desired school culture. Principals limit the process of resource mobilisation as means of strengthening their financial muscle. Little time is given to policy planning and administration which makes the school derail from its vision. HoDs participation needs to be enhanced through collaborative participation with the principal in drawing up the vision within the organisational scope. The study recommends that principals apply change management strategy for any development strategy. Following the principle of decentralisation, decision making principals’ transformational leadership helps them to impart authority to the HoDs and the staff. This will improve instruction in schools hence learners will obtain good results
The impact of the 4th industrial revolution on traditional travel agents in the Tourism industry: Richards Bay Airport.
No full textA thesis submitted to the Faculty of Arts in fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of Maters of Arts in the Department of Development studies at the University of Zululand, South Africa, 2021.The Internet provides a powerful environment for the development of virtual representations of tourist destinations for indirect experiences that far surpass the capacity of conventional travel agents. Nowadays, consumers have numerous different options as the Internet gives companies more ways to create direct consumer connections and provides a diverse pricing range. The Internet has revolutionised the way clients make their travel decisions. Technology is a part of daily life today, some may reinforce it and some may detest it but what is certain is that technology has advanced a lot in terms of simplicity and congeniality, mostly in the mid-1990s.Travel agents have historically been seen as a key conduit between travel service providers and travellers. IT advances give customers an alternative to booking with a traditional travel agent -the prospect of preparing and scheduling vacations on the internet. This study aims to examine how the introduction of the 4thindustrial revolution has impacted on traditional travel agents in the tourism industry. Using a qualitative and exploratory approach, this study has collected data from travel agents and travellers in the area of Richards Bay through structured interviews and an online survey using purposive and convenience sampling methods; and thematically analysed the data collected. A significant conclusion of this study is the need for a systematic method to the evaluation of issues impacting decision-making amongst travellers. Research results indicate that there is a need for managers to adopt a management plan that will allow travel agents to use the 4thindustrial revolution to their advantage. Moreover, travel agencies need to move with the times and offer more complex services that are not offered by online agents, thus gaining more clientele
Investigating social workers’ coping strategies towards burnout in Kwa-Zulu Natal within UMhlathuze Municipality.
No full textA dissertation submitted in fulfilment of the requirement for the Degree of Master of Arts in the Department of Social work, Faculty of Arts, at the University of Zululand, 2020.Social Workers are professionals in the human services sector who render social services to diverse populations with dissimilar personal and social problems, through empowerment, social change promotion, liberation and enhancing human relationships. While rendering these services they are exposed to higher levels of burnout. Literature suggests that social workers are at the higher risk of burnout. The question then was how Social Workers cope with their work burnout. A qualitative approach to investigate burnout coping strategies of Social Workers working in social services of UMhlathuze Municipality was employed, sample was selected following the purposive sampling procedure, and semi-structured interviews in a combination of closed-ended and open-ended questions were utilized as a data collection tool. Data collected was analysed in Thematic Data Analysis process. The research was conducted to find answers for the following questions, what burnout coping strategies are used by social workers, what are the sources of burnout in social work, what knowledge social workers have about burnout, what social services agencies offer to assist their employees with regards to burnout and lastly what is recommended as helping in addressing, preventing, and coping with burnout by social workers. Findings of the study indicated that Social Workers targeted do not interact well with their work environment, it also appeared that Social Workers apply more emotional -focused coping strategies than problem - focused coping strategies towards burnout, amongst the coping strategies, they apply both positive and negative coping strategies of burnout. This responded to the overall aim of the study of investigating social workers coping strategies through ecological perspective theory and Transactional model of stress and coping
Sub-regional hegemons, integration and governance: South Africa’s role in Southern Africa after democratization
No full textA thesis submitted in fulfillment of the academic requirements for the degree of Doctor of Commerce in the Department of Public Administration in the Faculty of Faculty of Commerce, Administration and Law, University of Zululand, 2020The study aimed at understanding expert opinion on the linkage between hegemonic states and regional integration, the benefits of post-apartheid regional integration, South Africa’s socioeconomic and political efforts in the region and whether the country’s post-1994 foreign policy had been beneficial to regional integration. A panel of experts with immense expertise in regional foreign policy and integration were consulted. Structured interviews were used to collect data from this sample. The collected data were analysed through thematic content analysis. From the analysis, five major themes emerged. These were: Theme 1, Perceived link between regional powers and regional integration; Theme 2, Regional integration under post1994 leaders; Theme 3, South Africa’s foreign policy processes and tools within the region; Theme 4, Regional integration and foreign policy: successes, benefits and failures and Theme 5, Recommendations on the regional integration role. Under these themes, it was noted that regional leaders generally led regional integration although lesser powers also had an impact on its formation and perpetuation. It was also found that South Africa’s foreign policy has been highly dynamic with different presidents putting different emphases on regional integration and most energy towards the process having been put under President Mbeki’s tenure. South Africa’s main tool in regional integration was described as diplomacy-based soft power. South Africa had been of considerable economic and political stability benefit to the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region although the country did not get much out of the region and was under constant criticism for its perceived hegemonic stance. The study recommended a focus on regionalism rather than hegemony, putting more emphasis on economic integration and taking into consideration of the wills of other countries within its regions of interest.Moses Kotane Institute (MKI
Assessing the influence of natural resource conservation on the livelihoods of KwaNibela, KwaZulu-Natal
No full textA dissertation submitted in fulfilment of the requirement for the Degree of Master of Arts in the Department of Geography and Environmental Studies, Faculty of Science, Agriculture and Engineering, at the University of Zululand, 2020.The purpose of this study was to assess the influence of natural resource conservation on the livelihoods of the people of KwaNibela, KwaZulu-Natal (KZN). The objectives of this study were to (a) identify the natural resource conservation initiatives and programmes implemented by iSimangaliso Wetland Park, (b) evaluate the extent to which the community of KwaNibela benefited from the natural resources conserved by iSimangaliso Wetland Park (c) explore the perceptions and attitudes of indigenous people towards iSimangaliso Wetland Park conservation strategies. This study adopted a mixed methods approach in order to understand the perceptions of people concerning natural resource conservation and its influence on their livelihoods. The results of the study indicated that the conservation strategy utilised by iSimangaliso Wetland Park is co-management, which means the park collaborates with land claimants in the area in order to preserve natural resources. However, a significant part of the community of KwaNibela did not feel fully involved in conservation since they do not benefit from it and they also felt that they were not fully consulted. The results further revealed that natural resource conservation adversely affects some of the people’s livelihoods through limited access to natural resources, such as land for agriculture, banning of hunting activities and predation of livestock by wild animals that escape from the park. These suggests that, although conservation is vital for the preservation of natural resources, there is a need for effective collaborative approaches which should also benefit the community and make them an integral part of conservation programmes. Differently stated, the co-management approaches which are currently followed are not effective and should evolve beyond the level of tokenism. This would ensure that people are fully involved and their livelihoods are enhanced through clearer and fairer benefit sharing arrangements
Kwazulu-Natal generation z attitude towards domestic tourism
No full textA dissertation submitted in fulfillment of the academic requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in the Department of Recreation and Tourism in the Faculty of Arts, University of Zululand, 2020.Any successful tourism industry manager requires the ability to recognize change and also effectively respond to this change. Generational change is one of such occurrences, offering both opportunities and challenges for tourism destinations. Findings show that every individual is born into a generational cohort of peers who have similar life experiences that go on to shape distinct generational characteristics. Typically, generations are surrounded by significant events in the country or region being considered, which leads to slightly different dates in different areas. Currently, the workforce is occupied by four distinct generations: Baby-boomers, Generation X, Generation Y and Generation Z. There is a dearth of literature on Generation Z attitude towards domestic tourism in South Africa. This study therefore focuses on South African Generation Z attitude towards domestic tourism. The aim is to explore KwaZulu-Natal Generation Z attitude towards domestic tourism. The study area was chosen as it is a very popular tourism destination in Africa, with much emphasis on offerings such as natural and cultural heritage, sea-sand-sun, and events. This research adopted the generational theory conceptualized by Karl Mannheim as appropriate to operationalise study variables. Quantitative research method (using structured questionnaire survey) was adopted in this study as the nature of the research requires descriptive attributes and numbers from statistical analyses, and to arrive at conclusion. The study was conducted in 4 major towns in KwaZulu-Natal province, namely: Durban, Pietermaritzburg, Richards Bay, and St. Lucia. Study findings show that (a) KwaZulu-Natal Generation Z members are knowledgeable regarding South Africa’s domestic tourism industry; (b) Generation Z members portray positive attitude towards domestic tourism in South Africa; (c) financial impediments remain a general barrier for Generation Z regarding domestic tourism participation; (d) the older the respondent, the more likely they are to decide and influence domestic tourism activities among their peers than younger respondents, however, parents are the main decision makers in the family; and (e) respondents rely on social media and other forms of technology to source information pertaining to domestic tourism activity choices. Some recommendations of this study include (a) creation of intensive and incessant awareness of KwaZulu-Natal domestic tourism sites through numerous platforms such as social media, movies, music videos, and also from personal referrals
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for enabling a wider reach to the Generation Z members; (b) KwaZulu-Natal tourism marketing strategy should concentrate on making the domestic tourism sites appealing to this market segment (Generation Z members) by highlighting provincial and local tourist attraction in the community and also, elaborating on the social and psychological benefits of involvement in domestic tourism, and (c) Competitive pricing of domestic tourism activities (through reduced operational costs and bundle pricing) should be encouraged especially during peak seasons, as majority of Generation Z domestic tourists have difficulties to afford travel costs
Principals’ challenges in monitoring curriculum delivery in non-viable rural primary schools in the uMlalazi Circuit
No full textA dissertation submitted in fulfilment of the requirement for the Degree of Master of Education in the Department of Curriculum And Instructional Studies, Faculty of Education, at the University of Zululand, 2020.The study was triggered by the continued underperformance of learners in non-viable primary schools. The aim of the study was to establish the challenges faced by the principals of non-viable, rural primary schools in monitoring curriculum delivery. This empirical investigation was qualitative in nature and data were collected through semi structured interviews. Results show that non-viable schools had low number of learners and educators, and resorted to multi-grade classes. Monitoring curriculum delivery, in this situation was a challenge. Results further show that there is continuous lack of adequate training and support for monitoring of curriculum delivery in multigrade classrooms as the school principals are often overloaded with administrative work and teaching fulltime. The study recommends that the Department of Education allocate administrative clerks to assist with administrative duties; training and support offered to the principals of such schools should be differentiated to match their needs; learner-teacher support materials provided should also be differentiated to accommodate multi-grade classrooms
COVID-19 Lockdown and higher education: time to look at disasterpreparedness as a governance issue?
Get PDFPeer reviewed Open Access article published in Inkanyiso journal, Vol. 12 No1. p24, 2020.When COVID-19 broke out in Wuhan in 2019, the world looked at it as a ‘Chinese’ disease and no international efforts were made to assist China. Countries that supported China just offered solidarity messages. China adopted a raft of measures that included prescribing a lockdown on Wuhan and construction of infrastructure such as hospitals. In 2020, COVID-19 extended its tentacles across the globe. A majority of countries adopted the lockdown as a mitigatory measure. The lockdown activated an extraordinary instant emergency in the education sector as schools, colleges and universities shut down. What worsened the situation was that no solution was in sight as the medical researchers dithered from one suggestion to the other. This paper examines possible ways to deal with the emergency in the education sector by suggesting alternative learning solutions. The major argument of this paper is that countries should not simply copy and paste solutions that are not in sync with their local settings. Using the multistage designs sampling technique, three universities from a target of eighteen were selected. Convenience sampling was used to select the three universities and analytic rubrics were used to analyse clarity of policy and disaster preparedness by universities in Zimbabwe. For comparative purposes, four international webinars on education and COVID-19 were selected. This paper contributes towards addressing the lacunae created by global lockdown and subsequent shutdown of learning institutions due to COVID-19. The findings were that the lockdown approach was adopted and implemented without adaptation. Learning institutions were closed indefinitely despite the economic environment, the digital divide and the rural-urban divide militating against lockdown’s entire adoption. Key proposals to deal with the lockdown include scaling up distance education based on mixed technologies, a paradigm shift on perceptions on digital education and resuscitation of postal services
Exploring the concerted mechanistic pathway for HIV-1 PR—substrate revealed by umbrella sampling simulation
Get PDFExploring the concerted mechanistic pathway for HIV-1 PR—substrate revealed by umbrella sampling simulationHIV-1 protease (HIV-1 PR) is an essential enzyme for the replication process of its virus, and therefore
considered an important target for the development of drugs against the acquired immunodeficiency
syndrome (AIDS). Our previous study shows that the catalytic mechanism of subtype B/C-SA HIV-1 PR
follows a one-step concerted acyclic hydrolysis reaction process using a two-layered ONIOM B3LYP/6-
31þþG(d,p) method. This present work is aimed at exploring the proposed mechanism of the proteolysis catalyzed by HIV-1 PR and to ensure our proposed mechanism is not an artefact of a single theoretical technique. Hence, we present umbrella sampling method that is suitable for calculating
potential mean force (PMF) for non-covalent ligand/substrate-enzyme association/dissociation interactions which provide thermodynamic details for molecular recognition. The free activation energy
results were computed in terms of PMF analysis within the hybrid QM(DFTB)/MM approach. The theoretical findings suggest that the proposed mechanism corresponds in principle with experimental data.
Given our observations, we suggest that the QM/MM MD method can be used as a reliable computational technique to rationalize lead compounds against specific targets such as the HIV-1 protease