25 research outputs found
Die Retief moord op 6 February 1838 - ’n herbeskouing
No full textThis article has a threefold purpose. Firstly, it reconstructs the events that took place on
6 February 1838 when the Voortrekker leader Piet Retief and his companions were
massacred at Mgungundlovu, the stronghold of the Zulu king, Dingane. Secondly it
analyses the reasons that could have convinced Dingane that it would be wise to order
his warriors to kill Retief and his men; and thirdly, it sets out to establish the historical
significance of the massacre. Afrikaans historians in particular have traditionally
portrayed Retief and his men as the victims of unpardonable treachery on the part of an
evil barbarian. This article shows that the massacre was indeed a vile act; the brutality and
the sly, underhanded way in which it was planned and executed is unjustifiable. On the
other hand, the article points out that Dingane was certainly justified to look upon the
Voortrekkers as a grave threat to the sovereignty of his kingdom. He and his councillors
had reason to regard the unsuspecting Retief and his companions as invaders. The
massacre can therefore be regarded as the first salvo in what became a two-year battle for
supremacy between Zulu and Voortrekker in southern KwaZulu-Natal.Hierdie artikel het ’n drievoudige doelwit: eerstens ’n rekonstruksie van die gebeure toe
die Voortrekkerleier Piet Retief en sy metgeselle op 6 Februarie 1838 by Mgungundlovu,
die vesting van die Zoeloekoning Dingane, afgemaai is; tweedens ’n ontleding van die
redes waarom die Zoeloekoning gereken het dat dit wys sal wees om Retief en sy
metgeselle te laat vermoor; en derdens ’n bepaling van die historiese betekenis van die
gebeure. Veral Afrikaanse historici het tradisioneel vir Retief en sy manne kortweg
uitgebeeld as die slagoffers van onverdedigbare verraderlikheid van die kant van ’n bose
barbaar. Hierdie artikel beeld ook die bloedbad as ’n verskriklike gebeurtenis uit en die
brutaliteit en gemeenheid van die beplanning en uitvoering daarvan as onregverdigbaar.
Aan die ander kant word daar aangetoon dat Dingane beslis gronde gehad het om die
Voortrekkers as ’n ernstige bedreiging vir die soewereiniteit van sy koninkryk te beskou.
Hy en sy raadgewers het rede gehad om Retief, wat deur sy goedgelowigheid in hulle
hande gespeel het, en sy manne as invallers te beskou. Die bloedbad kan gevolglik
beskou word as die eerste salvo in wat ’n twee-jaar-lange stryd om oppergesag tussen
Zoeloe en Voortrekker in die suide van KwaZulu-Natal geword het.http://www.journals.co.za/ej/ejour_hist.htm
The Retief Massacre of 6 February 1838 revisited
No full textThis article represents an attempt to reconstruct a startling incident in the history of South Africa and to establish its significance. It searches for the answers to three related questions. What happened on that fateful morning of 6 February 1838 when the Voortrekker leader Piet Retief and his companions were overwhelmed at Mgungundlovu, the stronghold of the Zulu king Dingane? Why did the Zulu king order his warriors to kill Retief and his men; and what is the historical significance of this event? No reconstruction of any historical event is a simple undertaking. In this case the challenge for the historian is to establish, on the basis of a rather restricted pool of inconclusive evidence of which the trustworthiness is questionable, how and why Retief and his men were killed. It is never easy to establish beyond reasonable doubt why national leaders make specific decisions
FIGURE 1. Bulbine decastroi. A in Bulbine decastroi (Asphodelaceae subfam. Asphodeloideae), a new peatland species with grass tuft-like rosettes from Mpumalanga, South Africa
No full textFIGURE 1. Bulbine decastroi. A. In its natural peatland habitat. The peatland burned a few months before the photograph was taken. Note the high water table in the bottom right of the image. B. This section of the peatland did not burn. The vegetation is very dense. C. Contractile roots. D. A dense cluster of 40 rosettes. Note the glaucous sheen to the leaves. E. Close-up of racemes and flowers. F. Tony de Castro (1970–) after whom B. decastroi is named. Bulbine decastroi grows in the foreground. All photographs: Gideon F. Smith.Published as part of Smith, Gideon F., Grobler, Retief & Hankey, Andrew, 2023, Bulbine decastroi (Asphodelaceae subfam. Asphodeloideae), a new peatland species with grass tuft-like rosettes from Mpumalanga, South Africa, pp. 59-65 in Phytotaxa 587 (1) on page 62, DOI: 10.11646/phytotaxa.587.1.8, http://zenodo.org/record/771073
A phytosociological study of Peat Swamp Forests in the Kosi Bay lake system, Maputaland, South Africa
No full textDissertation (MSc)--University of Pretoria, 2011.This study investigates patterns and processes in transformed and uncultivated Peat Swamp Forests (PSF) situated within the Kosi Bay Lake System Catchment (KBLSC) in north-eastern Maputaland, South Africa. Phytosociological investigations were performed to identify and describe the influence of recorded environmental factors and land use cultivation practices on PSF vegetation patterns (gradients and associations). PSF habitat were grouped into four mutually exclusive classes in the form of pristine, long-time recovering, recently disturbed and active gardening sites. Plant species were recorded separately in different forest strata, while peat profiles were sampled and described in selected Peat Swamp Forest valley bottom crosssections during fieldwork surveys in May and September of 2003. Multivariate analysis in the form of Agglomerative cluster analysis, Detrended correspondence analysis (DCA), Non-metric multidimensional scaling (NMDS) ordinations, and Indicator species analysis were used to identify and describe 5 Peat Swamp Forest communities associated with uncultivated and long-time recovering conditions (38 sampling plots), while 9 PSF communities were identified and described from the combined (four) PSF classes (65 sampling plots). Peat Swamp Forests were associated with channeled valley bottom and hillslope seepage inter– dune landscape settings that are connected to other watercourses within the Kosi Bay Lake System Catchment. The study found that Peat Swamp Forests are consistent with the definition of a phreatic (groundwater dependant) ecosystem, as they displayed indicators of prolonged groundwater-derived saturation, including peat development on slopes located above the active channel. Cultivation practices modified the structure and species composition of PSF, while their recovery after gardening abandonment appeared to be related to the wetness regime and the remaining peat body.Plant Scienceunrestricte
Christianity and globalisation: An alternative ethical response
No full textThis article critically evaluated the role of Christian Ethics in response to globalisation. It showed that ethical critiques of globalisation inevitably fall short when Christianity’s historical contributions to processes of globalisation are neglected or de-emphasised. A Christian Ethics that attempts completely to wash its hands of and disavow globalisation is therefore indicated to be perched on a false premise. In this regard, the author specifically discussed the divergent stances of Max Stackhouse and Rebecca Todd Peters and opted for the former as the more helpful when considered from an interdisciplinary approach. In the final analysis, the author argued that the problem of globalisation might fruitfully be addressed with an ethics that is not averse to bring the various insights of missiology, church history and practical theology to the table, focusing particularly on rituals of reconciliation and forgiveness
Comparison of Methods for Reliability Calibration of Partial Resistance Factors for Pile Foundations
No full textUncertainties are a hall mark of engineering design leading to the development of risk and reliability informed basis for decision making. Accordingly three different but related levels of approach, namely a risk based, a reliability based and a semi-probabilistic approach have been proposed in ISO 2394. However, for code development the semi-probabilistic approach has been internationally embraced. The approach constitutes verification method in which allowance is made for the uncertainties and variability assigned to the basic variables by means of partial factors. A number of methods for reliability calibration of partial resistance factors have been reported in the literature. These include: Advanced First-Order Second Moment Approach (A-FOSM), Mean Value First-Order Second Moment Approach (MV-FOSM), Approximate First-Order Second Moment Approach and the Design Value method. These four methods are used to derive partial resistance factors. Published resistance statistics based on a comprehensive pile load tests from the geologic region of Southern Africa are used as input in the reliability calibration process. Comparison of results shows that resistance partial factors from a full scale reliability method are comparable to those obtained from approximate methods
Aretaeus of Cappadocia: the forgotten physician
No full textAretaeus of Cappadocia (probably first century AD) is one of the least known physicians of antiquity. Not quoted by contemporary medical writers, he was unknown to Arabic physicians of medieval times. His very significant contributions to medicine only became known when a manuscript was discovered and published in Latin in the sixteenth century. He was clearly a sound clinician and gifted medical author, responsible for the first recorded descriptions of steatorrhoea (coeliac disease), diabetes mellitus and diphtheria. In addition, his descriptions of leprosy, asthma, tetanus, acute pneumonia and epilepsy (diseases already recognised in his day) were significantly superior to those of his predecessors. He was the first to describe a heart murmur (bruit)
A critical evaluation of negotiated environmental agreements - a case study from South Africa
No full textMasters of Environmental Management, North-West University, Potchefstroom CampusThis research critically evaluates negotiated environmental agreements in South Africa and entails a single case study in the mining industry regarding the use of a voluntary environmental agreement to prevent water pollution. The objectives of the research include the identification of criteria for evaluating negotiated environmental agreements and the critical evaluation of a negotiated environmental agreement in South Africa within its own regulatory regime. This is a phenomenological study as the author was involved in the process of negotiating and drafting the environmental agreement. Data was collected in the form of a literature review, interviews with role players involved in the case study, and the review of relevant documents, including policies and procedures. The researcher identified a number of criteria for the successful conclusion of negotiated environmental agreements in the mining industry in South Africa. These included a legal and policy framework; mutual trust between parties; a clear desire by both parties to reach a mutually satisfactory agreement; the so-called "soft effect" (which relates to changes in attitude and awareness); community trust in the industry; a public participation process; clear and measurable objectives, targets and time frames as well as negotiated commitments; clearly established monitoring procedures; sufficient sanctions or incentives to ensure compliance; adequate financial and human resources; the extent to which the voluntary agreement contributed to the achievement of the objectives in terms of environmental effectiveness; whether the voluntary agreement promotes compliance with the objectives of the applicable legislation; and stakeholders established for ongoing monitoring and reporting of implementation of the voluntary agreement. A critical evaluation of the agreement of the case study at hand reflected that certain of the identified criteria were not met.Master
A literary relationship between South Africa and Germany: adapting marketing strategies to different cultures
No full textSubmitted to the Faculty of Humanities in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of M.A (Publishing Studies) University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa, 2017Gérard Genette famously noted that paratexts are ‘those liminal devices’, elements, both within and outside the book, that form part of the complex relationship between book, author, publisher, and reader. He determined that titles, forewords, epigraphs, and publishers’ jacket copy are part of a book’s ‘private and public history’. By considering each of these liminal devices in the larger context of marketing strategies, this research report addresses the question of how paratexts are altered to appeal to different markets in different countries – specifically South Africa and Germany – and how this is done in relation to five translated novels: Stadt des Goldes by Norman Ohler; Portrait with Keys by Ivan Vladislavić; Township Blues and Themba by Lutz van Dijk; and Fiela se Kind by Dalene Matthee. The research report argues that the relationship between paratext and reader is of vital importance when it comes to understanding how cultures are perceived by foreign readers. With each comparison between the paratexts of the original and their translated novels, the research report demonstrates that paratextual alterations are predominantly influenced by alterations in time and geography; use or dismissal of clichés and stereotypes; educational value; and either techniques which familiarise or defamiliarise the reader. By uncovering the way novels are marketed to a foreign readership, it becomes possible to uncover why translations occur and how the source-culture is perceived.XL201
Aretaeus of Cappadocia: the forgotten physician
No full textEnglish: Aretaeus of Cappadocia (probably first century AD) is one of the least known physicians
of antiquity. Not quoted by contemporary medical writers, he was unknown
to Arabic physicians of medieval times. His very significant contributions to medicine
only became known when a manuscript was discovered and published in Latin
in the sixteenth century. He was clearly a sound clinician and gifted medical author,
responsible for the first recorded descriptions of steatorrhoea (coeliac disease),
diabetes mellitus and diphtheria. In addition, his descriptions of leprosy, asthma,
tetanus, acute pneumonia and epilepsy (diseases already recognised in his day) were
significantly superior to those of his predecessors. He was the first to describe a heart
murmur (bruit).Afrikaans: Aretaeus van Kappadosië (waarskynlik eerste eeu nC) was een van die mins bekende
geneeshere van die antieke tyd. Hy is selde deur tydgenootlike mediese skrywers
aangehaal, en was ook by die middeleeuse Arabiese geneeshere onbekend.
Sy besonder treffende geneeskunde bydraes het eers aan die lig gekom toe van sy
manuskripte in die sestiende eeu ontdek en in Latyn vertaal is. Hy was klaarblyklik
’n puik geneesheer en begaafde skrywer, verantwoordelik vir die eerste aangetekende
beskrywing van steattoree (seliak siekte), diabetes mellitus en difterie. Hierbenewens
was sy beskrywings van melaatsheid, asma, tetanus, akute longontsteking en
epilepsie beduidend beter as dié van sy voorgangers. Hy was die eerste persoon wat
’n hartgeruis (bruit) beskryf het.Publisher's versio
