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A Sustainable development lens to understanding community participation in rural development: a case of Malamule Village, Mpumalanga Province
Get PDFThe study sought to explore the nature and extent to which community participation takes place for sustainable rural development at Malamule village, to better understand how to accelerate participation at both a regional and local level leading to sustainable development. The study further investigated how community members participate and involve themselves in sustainable rural development processes and at the same time, it identified approaches used to encourage community participation and sustainability of rural development. A qualitative research methodology was adopted where semi-structured telephone interviews were conducted with community members and project managers from two NGOs in Malamule village. A thematic analysis was adopted in this study as it drew on a few thoughts introduced from the hypothetical framework supporting this investigation. There were four main findings of the study: 1) that community members of Malamule consider participation as a tool of emancipation and that they are not just development beneficiaries but influencers; 2) that the existence of NGOs brings about significant relief to the community of Malamule, while too much dependency on them could cause long term problems if the community does not learn to be self-sufficient; 3) that only a small amount of resources, or support, is needed to set up something sustainable; and 4) that the community of Malamule is undergoing many challenges, which results in class disputes that eventually translate into lack of unity. The following is recommended: that NGOs prioritise full involvement of the target communities to promote participation; that NGOs must continue to create awareness in Malamule through consistently training and equipping community members; and that there is a need for the community members and NGOs to continue working together so that sustainable development can be achieved.Thesis (MA) -- Faculty of Business and Economic Sciences, 202
Inhibition of aluminium corrosion using phthalocyanines: Experimental and computational studies
Get PDFMetal deterioration over time is a process known as corrosion, an electrochemical process, which can occur by surface chemical actions on metals by its environment. Metal corrosion have great economic, security, and environmental consequences, and its control is a major research area in corrosion science. Amongst the different corrosion protecting approaches, the use of corrosion inhibitors and protective coatings have attracted enormous research interest in this area of scholasticism. This has necessitated the computational and electrochemical investigations of aluminium corrosion inhibitive potentials of some compounds in 1M HCl. Metal free (5_H2), ClGa(III) (5_Ga) and Co(II) (5_Co) tetrakis(4-acetamidophenoxy)phthalocyanines as well as Co(II) 2,9,16-tris(4-(tert-butyl)phenoxy)-23-(pyridin-4-yloxy)phthalocyanine (6) and Co(II) 2,9,16,24-tetrakis(4-(tert-butyl)phenoxy)phthalocyanine (7) were synthesized for the first time and studied for corrosion inhibition. The reported ClGa(III) tetrakis(benzo[d]thiazol-2-yl-thio)phthalocyaninine (1), ClGa(III) tetrakis(benzo[d]thiazol-2ylphenoxy)phthalocyanine (2), ClGa(III) tetrakis-4-(hexadecane-1,2-dioxyl)-bis(phthalocyanine) (3) and ClGa(III) tetrakis-4,4′-((4-(benzo[d]thiazol-2-yl)-1,2-bis(phenoxy)-bis(phthalocyanine) (4) were also employed for corrosion inhibition of Al in HCl. Corrosion inhibition measurements using electrochemical techniques showed that increased π conjugation caused (1) to (2) to outperform (1a) and (2a) respectively as aluminium corrosion inhibitors in 1.0 M hydrochloric acid. For similar reason, (4) outperformed 2. (1) and (2) were successfully electrodeposited onto aluminium for corrosion retardation in 1.0 M hydrochloric acid solution. Measurements obtained from electrochemical impedance spectroscopy gave corrosion inhibition efficiency values of 82% for 1 and 86% for 2 in 1.0 M hydrochloric acid solution and showed that electrodeposited phthalocyanines have enhanced aluminium corrosion retardation than when in solution. The use of reduced graphene oxide nanosheets (rGONS) alone as aluminium corrosion inhibitor is discouraged because of poor aluminium corrosion inhibition in 1M HCl. However, synergistic effects were observed when rGONS was mixed each with (4) and (3). (5_H2), (5_Ga) and (5_Co) decreased aluminium corrosion in 1M HCl and observation was that the heavier the atom the more decreased the protection and the free base performed best of the three. Studied tertbutylphenoxy-derived CoPcs (6 and 7) exhibited good aluminium corrosion inhibition properties in studied acidic solution and the unsymmetric CoPc (6) which has more heteroatoms, gave better performance. Quantum chemical calculations involved the use of density functional theoretical (DFT) approaches and gave results which corroborated with experimental findings.Thesis (PhD) -- Faculty of Science, Chemistry, 202
A netnographic analysis of complaints and service responses on selected South African banks' Twitter handles
Get PDFThis study is a Netnographic investigation of numerous customer complaints and service responses on selected South African (SA) banks’ Twitter handles. The fulcrum of the study is significantly linked to the Justice theories which thus form the underpinning theories of the study. The study is based on qualitative data derived from selected SA banks’ Twitter handles for duration of at least three months. The study has its philosophy or paradigm deeply rooted in the Interpretivism paradigm. The qualitative research approach is then employed in the study along with the exploratory research design which allows the extrapolation of meaningful conclusions on the findings of the investigation based on the secondary data extracted from 1286 complaints on selected SA banks’ Twitter handles. The researcher makes use of thematic analysis to categorise, investigate, consolidate, define, and create reports on the themes identified in the data set thus enabling the drawing of meaningful inferences. The researcher’s findings point out that customer complaints generally spring from outcome service failure. Outcome service failure defines occurrences where clients are disappointed with banking services or the banking experience regardless of the service or product purchased. Complaints also emanated from process service failures which mostly describe incomplete service delivery. It is thus critically recommended that banks must make sure that process failures are curtailed through an effective improvement of the value chain system. This will also take into account a proper training of banking services personnel and staff. Furthermore, it is also suggested that increased mentoring, and improving or standardising training methods might help to improve bank employee service performance hence reducing incidents of failure. A closer look at the justice theories, it is identified in the study that, banks must try to uphold by all means through effective use of distributive justice service recovery. This is through the application of fairness and courtesy when addressing customer complaints especially on public social platforms such as Twitter. Eventually, this results in increased customer satisfaction and repeated patronage for the respective banks. Through interactional justice service recovery, banks are compelled to try in every way possible not to automate their responses to client complaints in their various or different manner. Procedural justice recovery suggests that banks should take into 3 cognizance better and more effective avenues of promptly responding to their clients hence improving the effectiveness of their service recovery processes.Thesis (MCom) -- Faculty of Management and Commerce, 202
A critical analysis of a taxpayer’s rights relating to a request by sars for relevant material in respect of an audit
Get PDFThis treatise aimed to critically analyse a taxpayer’s rights relating to a request by SARS for relevant material, in respect of an audit (including information requested for the audit of prescribed tax periods). The study also considers whether such a request for relevant material infringes or threatens a taxpayer’s constitutional rights to privacy, information and just administrative action that is lawful, reasonable and procedurally fair. The research considered the information-gathering powers awarded to SARS in terms sections 3(2), 40 and 46 of the TAA versus a taxpayer’s rights to privacy, information and just administrative action in terms of the Constitution. The reasonable and justifiable limitation of taxpayers’ rights, in terms of the general limitation clause contained in section 36(1) of the Constitution, was also considered. The research method consisted of a literature review of various articles, journals, publications, books, statutes and related commentary, judicial decisions and comments of experts. The study revealed the following: • The definition of ‘relevant material’ allows SARS alone to subjectively determine what information is ‘foreseeably relevant’ for the ‘administration of a tax Act’, in respect of an audit. The threshold of what documentation is ‘foreseeably relevant’, is low, and the application of what is foreseeably relevant follows very broad grounds. • SARS’s discretion cannot be easily challenged as the provisions of section 46 of the TAA are peremptory and give rise to mandatory obligations, unless the taxpayer has ‘just cause’ for not providing the relevant material to SARS. • SARS must meet all the jurisdictional requirements of section 3(2) of the TAA to justify that the selection of a taxpayer for an audit or the request for relevant material is necessary for the purposes of the ‘administration of a tax Act’ and is not related to a ‘fishing expedition’ or some other ‘ulterior purpose’. • A taxpayer should evaluate the scope of the information requested to determine if it is ‘frivolous, over-zealous or patently irrelevant’ and falls outside the provisions of section 3(2). It is submitted that a taxpayer could resist such requests to information, to which SARS is not lawfully entitled, to ensure that its constitutional rights are not violated. • A taxpayer is not entitled to the information that SARS used to select it for an audit or SARS’s internal guidelines or policy manuals that are used by its assessors. The risk x indicators and red flags used by SARS to select a taxpayer for an audit constitute ‘SARS confidential information’ and a taxpayer does not have any legal right to specific reasons as to why his tax return has been selected for an audit. • SARS’s decision to request relevant material (or to conduct an audit) is a preliminary or initial step of a process and does not constitute ‘administrative action’ in terms of the PAJA, as it does not adversely affect a taxpayer’s rights nor have a direct external legal effect. A taxpayer therefore cannot rely on the PAJA to refuse such a request. • Even non-administrative action is subject to the broad constitutional ‘principle of legality’, which is an aspect of the rule of law implicit in the Constitution and provides a safety net when the PAJA does not apply. SARS must act within the scope of section 46 and the information requested must constitute ‘relevant material’ and must be ‘foreseeably relevant’ for the purposes of ‘administration of a tax Act’. SARS may not exercise its discretionary investigative powers in an arbitrary or irrational manner and its requests for information must be based on sound, rational decision-making.Thesis (MA) -- Faculty of Business and Economic science, 202
Validity of categories related to gender identity in ICD-11 and DSM-5 among transgender individuals who seek gender-affirming medical procedures
Get PDFBackground/Objective: The most recent versions of the two main mental disorders classifications—the World Health Organization's ICD-11 and the American Psychiatric Association's DSM–5—differ substantially in their diagnostic categories related to transgender identity. ICD-11 gender incongruence (GI), in contrast to DSM-5 gender dysphoria (GD), is explicitly not a mental disorder; neither distress nor dysfunction is a required feature. The objective was compared ICD-11 and DSM-5 diagnostic requirements in terms of their sensitivity, specificity, discriminability and ability to predict the use of gender-affirming medical procedures. Method: A total of 649 of transgender adults in six countries completed a retrospective structured interview. Results: Using ROC analysis, sensitivity of the diagnostic requirements was equivalent for both systems, but ICD-11 showed greater specificity than DSM-5. Regression analyses indicated that history of hormones and/or surgery was predicted by variables that are an intrinsic aspect of GI/GD more than by distress and dysfunction. IRT analyses showed that the ICD-11 diagnostic formulation was more parsimonious and contained more information about caseness than the DSM-5 model. Conclusions: This study supports the ICD-11 position that GI/GD is not a mental disorder; additional diagnostic requirements of distress and/or dysfunction in DSM-5 reduce the predictive power of the diagnostic model
Clinical governance implementation challenges in the Department of Health, Mpumalanga, South Africa
Get PDFClinical governance (CG) is the system through which health authorities are accountable for continuously improving the quality of their services and safeguarding high standards of care by creating an environment in which clinical excellence flourishes. South Africa is one of the countries where CG has not been successfully implemented. This study sought to explore the CG implementation challenges in the Mpumalanga province, South Africa. The study objectives included the seven pillars of CG. The study was a qualitative and exploratory, using purposive sampling technique to select study participants. A total of twenty-two (22) individuals were selected for the study. Semi-structured interviews were used for data collection. Each interview was transcribed verbatim by the researcher. Confidentiality was ensured through the coding of interviewee names. The content analysis technique was used for data analysis, using the study objectives as themes. The study found general lack of understanding of the concept of CG, poor performance of clinical audits, sub-standard clinical performance and effectiveness, poor clinical risk management, poor patient and public involvement in patient care, lack of evidence-based practice and research, inadequate training and development of healthcare workers, and sub-standard health information management across the department. The researcher recommends that the CG policy be prioritised by the Mpumalanga DOH, that systems be put in place to facilitate policy implementation, and that the departmental staff establishments at all levels, prioritise healthcare professionals in key leadership positions. In conclusion, there are numerous challenges that confront the Mpumalanga Department of Health regarding the implementation of clinical governance, requiring urgent attention.Thesis (PhD) -- Faculty of Health Sciences, 202
State Antiquity and Early Agricultural transition as Deep economic roots in Africa
Get PDFGrowth economists identified that current failures and successes of economies can be traced far in their histories. The Unified Growth Model has been developed to analyse the process of development. Economic researchers have developed and identified ‘deep roots’ variables that elaborate modern growth, institutions and development. These variables include State Antiquity and Early agricultural transition. The study is an examination of the effects of State Antiquity and Early agricultural transition in the 54 African economies. The study examines these effects employing the following years: 1990, 1995, 2000, 2005, 2010, 2015, and 2020. The study employs econometric models namely, Ordinary Least Squares, Ridge and Lasso regularization models to examine the effects of these deep root variables. The study borrows baseline regressions from the works of Bockstette, Chanda and Putterman (2002), Putterman and Weil (2010) and Borcan, Olsson and Putterman (2018). This study, to the best of our knowledge, is the first to empirically examine the effects of State Antiquity and Early agricultural transition in Africa. The results of the study suggest that African economies that have low level of state antiquity experience a positive effect on modern economic growth and development whilst African economies with high levels of state antiquity experience negative effect on modern economic growth and development. The results also suggest that African economies that transition at a later stage toward agriculture experience a positive effect on modern economic growth and development. The implications of these findings indicate that state antiquity and early agricultural transition influence modern economic development only when states have reached a certain level. Countries that transitioned early towards agriculture experience a negative effect on modern economic growth and development depicting a reversal of fortune. The study recommends that the implementation of polices should corelate with the state experience of the specific economy.Thesis (MA) -- Faculty of Business and Economic science , 202
Constructing an online serviceScape for the funeral industry
Get PDFAn online servicescape serves as a moderator for excellence in Customer Relationship Management (CRM). The study approached the online servicescape from the perspective of the funeral industry. Nowhere is the relevance of an online servicescape more apparent than in an industry which is firstly, unsought, and secondly, perceived as dismal. During the process of arranging a funeral, the customer is experiencing an unusual purchase situation as it is a purchase that cannot be avoided. The possibility also exists that the customer most likely did not seek information about a funeral home prior to the demise of a loved one. A third contributing factor is the emotional state of the customer which will, in a time of bereavement, have a strong impact on the rational decision-making process. Considering these conditions, the study approached the online servicescape based on three elements, namely Search Engine Optimisation, perceived value, and perceived usefulness of the online servicescape. These elements contribute to trust in the funeral home’s online offerings, which could influence the purchase outcomes significantly. The aim of the study was to construct a functional servicescape for an unsought business such as a funeral home, hence contributing significantly to the CRM body of knowledge as it was determined that this has not been explored before from an academic perspective. A quantitative, exploratory methodology was implemented. The exploration is depended on Bitner's (1992a:60) seminal model of servicescapes, Harris and Goode's (2010:230-243) model for online servicescapes, and the key constructs of Simon's (1996:141-142) Design Theory to provide a methodological basis with which to construct the key elements for a funeral industry based online servicescape. The data collection process followed a twostep process. A content analysis was conducted on existing websites from five English speaking countries, followed by a survey that largely reflected the content analysis variables to gain customer insights. The data was analysed using a descriptive analysis process. v It was determined that customers would trust a functional servicescape, which will most probably lead to a purchase situation. However, customers also indicated the opposite if they detect anything on the website that might lead to distrust. It was therefore concluded that it is imperative for a funeral home to ensure that their online servicescape meets the functional needs of customers in order ensure trust and purchase intention.Thesis (PhD) -- Faculty of Business and Economic science, 202
Experiences of midwives regarding the use of pharmacological and non-pharmacological labour pain interventions in Lejweleputswa District in Free State
Get PDFDue to the disabling effects of severe labour pains, labour pain management remains an important topic in midwifery and needs to be reviewed more often. According to studies, various pain relief options, both pharmacological and non-pharmacological, are available to help women cope with pain, but midwives did not employ these techniques adequately because of various experiences. Studies further indicate that, though the limited number of these techniques were employed they were not effective on some women. Thus, the purpose of this research study was to explore and describe midwives’ experiences on pharmacological and non-pharmacological labour pain management in the Lejweleputswa District of the Free State Province. This study employed a qualitative, descriptive, explorative, and contextual design. A purposive sampling technique was used to select the participants. The target population was midwives who work in the maternity wards of the institutions under study with three to five years’ experience in midwifery. Individual, face-face, semi-structured interviews were conducted; these were recorded for the researcher’s reference purposes, so as not to overlook important information. In addition, the researcher made use of field notes, recording in them what was heard, observed, felt, experienced, and thought during the interview. Ethical principles and trustworthiness were maintained throughout this study. Data analysis was done using Tesch’s approach to open coding in qualitative research. Confidentiality and anonymity were ensured throughout the interviews. The nine themes and 19 sub-themes that emerged during data analysis were discussed comprehensively. The findings indicate that midwives use both pharmacological and non-pharmacological methods in managing labour pain. Some methods are effective in relieving pain for certain mothers, while other methods proved ineffective. Midwives administer Pethidine and Phenergan as per doctors’ prescription; non-pharmacological methods, such as back massage, deep breathing exercises, mobilisation, and warm baths or showers are also employed. Midwives provide pharmacological methods to all women in labour, and routinely employ non- pharmacological methods. Although the midwives are willing to manage patients’ pain, they face certain challenges, such as shortage of staff, increased workload, as well as inadequate resources. This leads to inadequate provision of non-pharmacological care. In conclusion, the midwives’ experiences were that both pharmacological and non-pharmacological techniques were used for all labouring women and they had relaxing and calming effects on some women, resulting to them giving birth with ease, although for some they were not effective. In addition, the pharmacological interventions caused drowsiness to some women and babies. The findings will provide evidence-based information to the Free State Department of Health in order to assist policymakers and stakeholders in initiating and developing appropriate policies, guidelines, and interventions that can improve labour pain management. The Free State Department of Health should consider using other opioids and non-opioids in managing labour pain to broaden the scope of pain relief methods available to the midwives.Thesis (MPH) -- Faculty of Health Sciences, 202
Infant feeding knowledge, attitudes and practices of mothers in private health facilities in Alice town, Eastern Cape, South Africa
Get PDFBackground and aim of the study: Within the global field of health education, it is generally accepted that the topic of breast-feeding is a crucial discussion due to its maternal, infant, and communal benefits. However, certain African countries, such as South Africa, experience certain challenges related to both predictive factors and maternal attitudes to breast-feeding. To improve public awareness and promote the implementation of breast-feeding, these factors should be investigated to highlight the importance of this practice among young mothers. Method: The study utilised a cross-sectional survey by means of a self-administered questionnaire, which was completed by the carefully chosen participants. The collected data were then analysed using a statistical package for social sciences (SPSS) (frequency, percentages, mean and standard deviation) and inferential statistics (logistic regression). The level of significance for the inferential statistics was set at 0.05. Results: A total of 377 infant mothers participated in the study with median age of 30. Most infant mothers that participated in the study were well educated with infant mother 189 having a bachelor’s degree. The findings revealed that mothers of 40 years above are 1.51 times more likely not to breastfeed exclusively compared to mothers of less than 40 years of age (95percent CI, 0.75-2.25). The odds ratio of the incidence of decision in breastfeeding for participants with breastfeeding and formula milk was 1.66 (95percent CI, 0.87-2.53). In term of family support, mothers who don’t receive family support were 3.43 times more likely no to breastfeed. The result also revealed that mothers with breast pain were 0.98 more likely not to breastfeed. Conclusion: This study concludes that infant mothers are well informed about breastfeeding. This study also revealed that factors such as infant mothers’ knowledge about breastfeeding, medical health of both mother and infant and cultural norms can go a long way in influencing the decision of mothers to breastfeeding their infant or not.Thesis (MPH) -- Faculty of Health Sciences, 202