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Painting titled Talking to the Past by artist MMMH Sebidi
No full textPainting titled Talking to the Past by artist MMMH Sebidi. Framed in a boxed wooded frame with a cream mount board. The painting depicts a woman surrounded by fish. The colors of the painting are brown, green, red, yellow and white with a blue background.Donated/gifted to Nelson Mandela University ArchivesForms part of: Brigalia Bam collectio
Transformation in the South African Banking Industry
Get PDFTransformation is a deliberate plan of action to change historical racial and gender disadvantages. Transformation is also a fundamental necessity in South Africa as it seeks to address the injustices of apartheid while enhancing economic inclusiveness and promoting diversity in the working environment. The progress of transformation remains slow in South Africa, particularly in management and leadership positions in companies within the South African Banking Sector Therefore, it is quite clear that inequality, discrimination and a lack of transformation in South Africa need to be addressed, as the inequality gap has remained the same, even after the abolition of apartheid. However, the Western Cape is a province that is considered to practice and protect apartheid policies that perpetuate racial, gender and spatial disparities. This study, therefore, sought to investigate the transformation of banks in the Western Cape. The study followed a deductive approach and used an online survey as a data collection tool. At the time of study, the population of the study were employees of banks in the Western Cape and who were permanently employed. Additionally, the aim of this research was to investigate the influence of the Employment Equity Act, Skills Gap, Leadership Accountability and Human Resource Development in driving transformation in the banking sector of the Western Cape region in South Africa. The empirical results of the study were obtained from 105 bank employees located in the Western Cape. The Employment Equity Act, Leadership Accountability and Human Resource Development were the strongest independent variables. The Employee Development was an independent variable that emerged from the respondents. The findings of the study indicated that Employment Equity Act, Leadership Accountability, Employee Development and Human Resource Development had a significant, positive relationship with Transformation. The study also revealed the Skills Gap as the only independent variable that had an insignificant impact on Transformation. The recommendations were made to the Western Cape Banks to implement and continue to: drive the implementation of the EE Act; for leaders to be held accountable when it comes to driving transformation; banks to establish and facilitate employee development programs and for human resource to identify, retain and promote talented employees. This will therefore lead to a better performing and transformed banking sector.Thesis (MA) -- Business and Economic science, 202
Photodegradation of ibuprofen using 5-10-15-20-tetrakis (4-bromophenyl) porphyrin conjugated to graphene quantum dots
Get PDFIbuprofen (IBU) is a common anti-inflammatory drug that is consumed by many individuals in the world. As such, analytical studies have detected high concentrations of the drug in many waterbodies, which poses a risk of harmful effects on the environment and public health. The hydroxyl radical technologies, a collective of techniques also known as advanced oxidation processes (AOPs), can be utilized to degrade this emerging pollutant. In this study, the photodegradation of ibuprofen using 5,10,15,20-tetrakis(4-bromophenyl) porphyrin conjugated to graphene quantum dots was investigated using a custom-built photoreactor. Three different concentrations of IBU (200, 300 and 500 μM) were utilized as initial concentrations. The pH of the IBU was varied between acidic (pH 3.0), natural (pH 5.0) and alkaline (pH 9.0) to note the effect on IBU degradation as a function of time. The Highest ФΔ was obtained for InTBrP- GDQs (ФΔ = 0.80), followed by InTBrP (ФΔ = 0.74). The photodegradation efficiency of the TBrP-GQDs and InTBrP-GQDs were determined to be 43.2 and 76.1% respectively
Big African clay pot, rust color with silver alloy patterns
No full textAfrican clay pot, rust color with silver alloy patterns.Women have acquired amazing skills in making clay pots, mats, baskets, etc., to preserve African Women's Art.Donated/gifted to Nelson Mandela University ArchivesForms part of: Brigalia Bam collectio
Trade openness, economic growth, income inequality and poverty nexus in SADC countries: 1980-2019
Get PDFTrade openness (TO) has been identified as a critical component for sustainable economic growth, income inequality reduction, and poverty reduction in the 2030 Agenda as per the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and the Southern African Development Community (SADC) regional indicative strategic development plan (RISDP). Despite the opening up to the global world, developing countries such as the SADC continue to face exclusive and unstable economic growth, massive income disparity, and poverty. Considering the previous empirical work, many controversies are related to methodologies and measurement issues. The study attempted to examine the impact of trade openness on economic growth of the SADC countries as well as its effect on income inequality and poverty reduction from 1980 to 2019. The study builds on existing studies in the region that have mainly analysed this kind of relationship, assuming that it is only TO and economic growth (EGR) that matters. The study sought to address three analytical objectives. The first objective focused on examining the effects of trade openness on economic growth in the SADC countries. In addressing this objective, the Pooled Mean Group (PMG) was utilised, given the nature of the relationship between the variables of interest. The empirical results revealed that all measures of trade openness (real trade openness, economic globalisation, exports and imports of goods and services) used in the study have a positive effect on economic growth in SADC countries. This implies that the foreign factors account for a share of SADC's economic growth. The PMG indicates that the mediating variables of all measures of trade openness with human capital development have a positive effect on economic growth. This implies that the beneficial impact of the said measures of trade openness, are more effective when investment in human capital increases. The second objective focused on analysing trade openness's direct and indirect impact on income inequality using the PMG model again. The empirical results indicate that trade openness via exports has a negative effect on income inequality. In contrast, real trade openness and imports positively affect income inequality. This implies that the exports of goods and services in SADC are drivers of income inequality reduction while real trade openness and imports worsen it. Therefore, the SADC countries must be wary of real trade openness and import policies addressing income inequality. As for the interaction effects, the empirical results indicate that greater openness via real trade openness, economic globalisation, exports and imports reduce income inequality when economic growth increases and when the financial sector is more developed. The final analytical objective focused on analysing the effects of TO on poverty in the SADC region. The PMG model was utilised for trade openness-non-income poverty (NPOV) relationship. However, because there is a scarcity of income-poverty (IPOV) data, the time dimensions for the income poverty-trade openness model are smaller than the cross sections. Therefore, the current study employed the system generalised method of moments (SGMM) estimation technique which is a more effective and efficient estimation technique for controlling for endogeneity when the time dimension is smaller than the cross sections. The findings indicate that real trade openness has a positive effect on NPOV, whereas economic globalisation, exports, and imports negatively affect NPOV. This implies that real trade openness increases poverty reduction while economic globalisation, exports and imports exacerbate non-income poverty in SADC countries. On testing whether trade openness- NPOV relationship changes with economic growth, income inequality, human capital development, financial development and institutional quality, the complementary variable with EGR is positive and significant for real trade openness and exports, implying that real trade openness and exports reduce NPOV when economic growth increases. The SGMM indicates that only economic globalisation and imports have negative impact on income poverty in SADC countries. This implies that economic globalisation and imports are determinants of income poverty reduction in the SADC countries. The SADC governments and policymakers should be mindful about what ways they should globalise, what goods they export or imports to minimise income poverty.Thesis (PhD) -- Faculty of Management and Commerce, 202
Synthesis and evaluation of the medicinal potential of novel 4-hydroxycoumarin derivatives
Get PDFThis research has focused on the synthesis and biological evaluation of a broad range of compounds characterised by the presence of the pharmacologically significant 4-hydroxycoumalin scaffold. The compounds were designed to contain additional pharmachophoric centres to enhance bioactivity and generate lead compounds with dualaction potential. The use of 4-hydroxycoumarin as the primary synthon enabled access to various series of 4-hydroxycoumarin conjugates, the reactive 3-position on the 4-hydroxycoumarin moiety being exploited for regioselective construction of the targeted compounds in several steps. Some of the reactants required in the construction of these compounds were specially synthesised and included propargyloxy benzaldehydes, benzyloxy benzaldehydes and 2,3-dihydroxysuccino-dihydride. Overall, eight different families of novel compounds were accessed, comprising conjugates of 4-hydroxycoumarin with bisethylidenesuccinohyrazide, trifluoroacetamide, amino, benzyloxyphenyl-iminoethyl, benzylidenehyrazinyl-thiazoyl, benzylidenehydrazonoethyl, propargyloxybenzylidenehydrazonoethyl and phenylacryloyl moieties using protocols that required minimal work-up and purification. The eighty novel compounds synthesised in the study were fully characterised using HMRS and advanced NMR techniques. Cytotoxicity, HIV-1 IN and PR inhibitory, and antitrypanosomal, antimalarial and anti-Mtb assays were conducted on the synthesised coumarin derivatives. Several compounds exhibited activity against HIV-1 IN, the most potent being a bis-ethylidenesuccinohyrazide with an IC50 value of 3.5 μM. Various compounds exhibited anti-malarial activity (% pLDH viability in the range 62-77%), anti-trypanosomal activity (the most potent with an IC50 = 0.9 μM against T.b. brucei) and a measure of anti-Mtb activity. Apart from two chalconyl derivatives, none of the synthesised compounds exhibited significant cytotoxicity. Conflicting results were obtained from the in silico docking studies; in some cases supporting the observed in vitro assay data while, in others, exhibiting no correlation.Thesis (PhD) -- Faculty of Science, Chemistry, 202
Habitat use by Juvenile coastal fish in subtidal vegetated habitats of Algoa Bay;s shallow water seascape
Get PDFStructurally complex habitats such as seagrass, mangroves, and seaweed are important as nurseries in estuaries and nearshore marine environments. While numerous studies have focussed on structurally complex vegetated habitats in estuaries, few studies have focussed on vegetated nursery habitats (particularly seaweed) in coastal areas and their importance. The main aim of this project is to examine the nature of shallow water vegetated habitat (Zostera capensis seagrass and Plocamium corallorhiza macroalga) usage by juvenile fish in the Algoa Bay shallow water seascape (Swartkops Estuary and Flat Rocks nearshore subtidal reef). This aim was achieved by quantifying and comparing complexity of these two habitat-forming species, and the fish assemblages (relative abundance, richness, size structure and behaviour) across the two habitats. To measure and compare complexity of Z. capensis and P. corallorhiza, canopy height, density and leaf/blade width were sampled. In addition to these structural complexity indices, Fractal D (dimensionless complexity indices) was also quantified using Image software. Zostera capensis (1553.3 Indiv/m2 ) had a slightly higher mean density compared to P. corallorhiza (1303.7 Indiv/m2 ) but the difference was not significant. When sites (within each habitat) were compared, density did not show any significant differences between sites. Canopy height of Z. capensis (56.9 cm) was significantly higher compared to P. corallorhiza (16.6 cm), with no significant differences between sites. On the other hand, P. corallorhiza (0.9 cm) blades were significantly wider than Z. capensis (0.2 cm) leaves. Fractal D values followed the same trend as leaf/blade width with, with P. corallorhiza (1.8) having significantly higher Fractal D values than Z. capensis (1.5). The last two indices also had a positive relationship as Fractal D increased with increasing leaf/blade width. These results show that overall P. corallorhiza is more structurally complex than Z. capensis. Calibrated mini stereo underwater remote video systems (mini stereo-RUVs) were optimised in these two studied habitats to ensure they were suitable to measure and identify juvenile fishes. A pilot optimization study found that a minimum of five deployments and a minimum of 45 minutes filming duration is required to study fish assemblages in these two habitats. For comparison of fish assemblages and assessment of habitat use by fish, mini stereo-RUVs were deployed in both habitats (three sites per habitat) and were left to record for 60 minutes for a v total of five sampling occasions in seagrass and seven sampling occasions in macroalga between 7 September 2020 and 9 April 2021. Collected videos were analysed, with relative abundance (MaxN), richness and fish length extracted. Fish behaviour was also analysed and compared between habitats. Mean fish MaxN was slightly higher in Z. capensis (3.4) than in P. corallorhiza (2.9), although this result was not significant. Species diversity was significantly higher in P. corallorhiza as shown by both richness (Z. capensis = 11 and P. corallorhiza = 18) and the Shannon diversity index (Z. capensis = 1.3 and P. corallorhiza = 1.7). Both habitats were dominated by species from the family Sparidae, with six estuary-associated marine species common between the two habitats. Both Z. capensis and P. corallorhiza were dominated by juvenile fish, with more than 70 % of measured fish being juveniles. Fish length was not significantly different in the two habitats. Juvenile fish assemblages were significantly distinct between the two habitats (ANOSIM). In terms of habitat use, fish behaviour analysis showed that fish use both habitats as nurseries. There was no significant difference in fish behaviour in the two habitats and fish behaviours associated with higher levels of habitat use (slow meandering and feeding) were the most common behaviours in both habitats. Although not significant, feeding behaviour (also associated with a high degree of habitat use) was observed more in macroalga than in the seagrass habitat. Although none of the studied complexity indices could be related to abundance, both leaf/blade width and Fractal Dimension showed a positive relationship with the number of species recorded, while canopy height showed a strong negative relationship with the number of species. Overall, this study shows that Plocamium corallorhiza red macroalga in the shallow marine environment may be as important in shallow marine environments as Zostera capensis seagrass in estuaries as nursery habitats for marine fiThesis (MSc) -- Faculty of Science, School of Environmental Sciences, 202
Factors that impact the use of digital learning in higher education
Get PDFHigher Education Institutions (HEIs) have significantly changed the way they execute their pedagogical processes. This is so, mainly because of the innovations and developments in the ICT sector. HEIs have always succeeded in the implementation of ICT tools for the facilitation of the process of teaching and learning; however, they have faced many challenges related to the utilisation of these tools. Digital learning is among the ICT tools considered by the majority of HEIs to be relevant at this age of digitisation. ICT has introduced a variety of tools, not only for teaching and learning environments, but also for socialisation. These tools include social media tools that are used to achieve different activities in response to the demands of society. In making a comparison between social media and pedagogical tools, there is a huge gap in the level of usage of the two. Social media is much more being used than digital learning and this brings major concerns because users seem to be more interested in social media tools to perform academic activities, than in digital learning. This study has explored the factors that could play a role in digital learning and social media usage in HEIs. The study employed quantitative research methods and a survey was developed and distributed to former university students. The purpose of the study was to formulate a checklist that will inform the factors that impact the use of digital learning in HEIs. At the conclusion of the study, the checklist was formulated and recommendations were made.Thesis (MA) -- Faculty of Engineering, the Built Environment, and Technology, 202
An integrated training and client service guidance framework for professional Accountants of SMES
Get PDFSmall and medium-sized accounting practices (SMPs) are vital to the accounting profession and represent most accounting practices globally. It is commonly assumed that SMPs employ the majority of professional accountants within the accounting field whose clients are typically small and medium-sized business entities (SMEs). SMEs account for most of the businesses around the world and play an important role in the development of economies as well as job creation. In a rapidly changing business environment, SMEs require a wider range of services and support from their professional accountants, thus, the needs and expectations of SMEs are constantly changing. Given the important contribution SMEs make to economic development, job creation, growth and innovation to communities globally, the success and survival rates of these businesses are of the utmost importance. Professional accountants of SMEs need to possess the relevant knowledge, skills, competencies and practical experience to provide professional business advisory services (non-accounting services) to create more value for the SME client. Research suggests that the SMEs decision to outsource business advisory services from their professional accountants is influenced by the relationship between the professional accountant and SME including the manner in which traditional compliance accounting services are provided (client services). In response, the objective of this study was to propose a graphical and narrative integrated training and client service framework to guide SME professional accountants. The framework provides guidance in respect of the knowledge, skills, competencies and practical experience a modern-day professional accountant should obtain during the various phases of learning and training whilst pursuing a career as a professional accountant. The framework further enhances the understanding of the traditional accounting services, client services and non-accounting services SME clients desire from their professional accountants as well as the role of professional accountants in providing or obtaining such services to ensure that the expectations of the client are met and, more importantly, contribute to the success of the SME. ABSTRACT vi An interpretivist research paradigm and a qualitative methodological approach were deemed most suitable for the current study. The interpretivist research paradigm approach enabled the researcher to understand the phenomena being studied by sharing the participants’ experiences in their own words thereby gaining a deeper understanding of the desires, services, skills and competencies they required or provided. The research population consisted of two population groups, firstly, professional accountants, accountants or bookkeepers who were either owners or were employed at SMPs and, secondly, SME owner-managers or the persons responsible for the accounting function employed at the SME. The research instrument used to guide the key-informant interviews in this research were two semi-structured interview schedules, one for each identified population group, which were divided into sections based on the themes and sub-themes. Based on key findings, the study proposes an integrated training and client service framework to guide SME professional accountants. The framework includes seven components, namely, formal higher education accounting programmes, workplace training, professional accountant, traditional accounting and client services, trust relationships, non-accounting services as well as networks of experts and other professionals. An important recommendation of the study is that professional accountants must effectively communicate and market their services to current as well as prospective SME clients to ensure that clients are aware of the potential services which can be provided or obtained from a trusted expert. The professional accountant could thus be regarded as a one-stop professional practice. The survival of the accounting profession in a constantly changing business environment is dependent on how the profession adapts to change including technological advancements. Professional accountants need to be able to provide value-added and specialist services to their SME clients as well as enhance the current quality level of client services.Thesis (PhD) -- Faculty of Faculty of Business and Economics Science, School of Applied Accounting, 202
The gender rubik’s cube: ethnographic conversations with gay men in Port Elizabeth within the Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality
Get PDFToday, a number of disciplines across the social sciences have begun to pay attention to gender; however, gender studies suggest a degree of empowerment for feminist knowledge and not enough recognition that men, too, are gendered beings. As the gender spectrum acknowledges inclusions across options of the gendered form, a greater understanding of gender experiences is required to assist in the development of solutions and systemic changes in society. The study uses qualitative research methods such as one on one interviews to open conversations with self- identified gay men, leading to a deeper understanding of masculinities and what it means to be a man within contemporary society. The proposition made in this study on the notions of men and masculinities is that they can be seen as a gender puzzle, or a gendered Rubik’s Cube, which when considered in this way contribute towards a better understanding of humanity. A Rubik’s Cube approach could facilitate the proposed changes of a deeper analysis of men and masculinities. This study fundamentally explores the lived experiences of the participants and how these experiences come alive in relation to masculinities in contemporary society and offers recommendations to facility positive change, such as about the understanding, the role, the process, and the purpose of ‘coming out’ as a gendered form of both expression and self-identity.Thesis (MA) -- Faculty of Humanities, School of Governmental and Social Sciences, 202