Philosophiae Doctor - PhD / This thesis has been placed under a long term embargo. Forensic and population genetic parameters were investigated in the Botswana population using autosomal and Y-chromosome short tandem repeat markers. AmpFlSTR Profiler plus markers were used to investigate the genetic diversity and forensic parameters in 773 individuals from Botswana from the reference database of the Botswana Police. The levels of polymorphism found using the AmpFlSTR Profiler Plus markers showed that the nine loci that make up the AmpFlSTR Profiler Plus can differentiate individuals for forensic casework in the Botswana population. AmpFlSTR Identifiler autosomal STR markers were used to investigate the population structure according to ethno-linguistics and geography 990 individuals from Botswana that serve as a reference database for the Botswana Police. Using pairwise genetic distances (Fst), analysis of molecular variance (AMOVA), factorial correspondence analysis (FCA), and the unsupervised Bayesian clustering method found in STRUCTURE and the landscape genetics software TESS, ethno-linguistics were found to have a greater influence on population structure than geography. The patterns of population structure found using these markers highlight the need for regional reference databases that include both ethnolinguistic and geographic location information. These markers have important potential for bio-anthropological studies as well as for forensic applications. The 17 Y-chromosomal short tandem repeats found in AmpFlSTR Y-filer and a highly discriminatory Y-STR genotyping system (the Y-STR 10-plex developed in the Forensics DNA Laboratory at the University of the Western Cape) were analysed in 249 unrelated male individuals from Botswana. Rst, multi-dimensional scaling (MDS) and AMOVA were used to investigate population differentiation in Botswana. The discrimination capacity (DC) was found to be higher using the Y-STR 10-plex as compared to the 17 markers in the Y-filer genotyping system. No geographic regional or ethnic differentiation was observed between the Northern and Southern regions of Botswana using both marker systems. Regional and ethnic variation can be useful in forensic working hypotheses. Cluster analysis using the highly discriminatory Y-STR 10-plex haplotypes may provide information about ancestry and haplogroup information. / National Research Foundation (NRF)

M.Sc. / The evolution of oxygen in the Earth's atmosphere during the early Precambrian has been a subject of debate for many years. Two fundamental models oppose another. The one by Cloud, Holland and co-workers suggests that the atmosphere was essentially anoxic until about 2.2Ga and then became highly oxygenated due to a sudden rise in oxygen levels. The, other advocated by Dimroth, Kimberley and Ohmoto suggests that the atmosphere was oxygenated as early as 3.5Ga. The most crucial assumption for the Cloud-Holland model for the evolution of atmospheric oxygen is that the 2.2-2.3Ga Hekpoort paleosol formed under reducing atmospheric conditions. However, regional field, drill core, petrographic and geochemical investigations of the Hekpoort paleosol during this study clearly show that the Hekpoort paleosol in fact represents an oxidised lateritic weathering profile. In addition, the Hekpoort paleosol correlates well to the oxidised saprolites below the Gamagara/Mapedi erosion surface in the Northern Cape Province. The basis for theassumption by Holland and co-workers that a dramatic rise in atmospheric oxygen levels took place at 2.2Ga thus falls away. During this study extensive red beds, belonging to the Dwaal Heuvel Formation were discovered directly above the Hekpoort paleosol in the Pretoria Group in Botswana and the western Transvaal area. The red beds show two stages of development, firstly fluvial and then deltaic. The red beds are correlated with the Gamagara/Mapedi red beds in Griqualand West. Apart from this evidence for highly oxygenated conditions immediately above the Hekpoort/Ongeluk lavas, hematitic ferricrete, pisolitic mudclast conglomerate and hematitic oolitic ironstones were also found in the Timeball Hill Formation underlying the Hekpoort lava. Oolitic ironstones are developed over an area of more than 100 000 km2. Several different types of oolites are developed within the oolitic ironstone which contains up to 73wt% Fe203. The ferricrete and hematitic pisolitic mudclast conglomerate contain oncolites. These ferricretes, pisolitic mudclast conglomerate and oolitic ironstones suggest that the atmosphere was already highly oxidising between 2.4 and 2.45Ga, prior to deposition of the Hekpoort lava. Pretoria Group rocks that were deposited in close contact with the atmosphere show no evidence for an anoxic atmosphere. It is suggested that atmospheric oxygen levels may have fluctuated through time but at the same time increased in a steplike manner during deposition of the Transvaal Supergroup. However, at this moment in time we do not have enough information available to develop a quantitative model for the evolution of atmospheric oxygen. New age data available on the Hekpoort/Ongeluk lava unit indicate that it may be 2.395Ga old i.e. some 200Ma older than thought earlier. Thus, the atmosphere could have been highly oxygenated in very early Paleoproterozoic times. Uraninite, pyrite and siderite present in older Archean sedimentary rocks do, however, argue for more reducing atmospheric conditions at that time. Both the Cloud-Holland and Dimroth-Ohmoto models of atmospheric oxygen development are therefore in need of revision.

As the global marketplace becomes more integrated and consumer specialists develop an international focus, developing useful scales to profile consumer decision-making styles in other cultures becomes important. Comparing the decision-making styles of consumers from different countries would thus contribute to the understanding of the effect of the marketing environment as well as of the cultural factors on consumer decision-making styles. It would also be significant to determine if the decision-making styles of foreign consumers differ from those of local ones. The influx of foreign students enrolled at South African Universities and Technikons has resulted in an increase in the number of consumers who have to make purchases connected to their daily lives within a different cultural environment. An understanding of students as consumers and their decisionmaking processes is important to marketers, particularly as students are recognised as a specialised market segment for a variety of goods and services. It would thus be significant to determine if the decision-making styles of foreign students differ from those of local students. This exploratory study investigates the decision-making styles among Chinese, Motswana and South African Caucasian students in a South African context, with a view of verifying the international applicability of the Consumer Styles Inventory (CSI) developed by Sproles and Kendall (1986). Only students with a Caucasian background were included in an attempt to avoid the influence of the different subcultures amongst South African students. It was found that Sproles and Kendall’s (1986) model did not fit the South African samples. It was furthermore found that differences exist among Motswana, Chinese and Caucasian students in consumer decision-making styles. The mean value for the “Novelty-fashion conscious” style was number one in the list of factors for Chinese and Motswana students and second for the Caucasian sample. “Price conscious” style, however, was number one for the Caucasian students.

Please read the abstract in the 00front of this document. / Thesis (DSc)--University of Pretoria, 2011. / Zoology and Entomology / unrestricted

Magister Scientiae - MSc / Water resources management practice has undergone changes in management approaches and principles over time. It was previously characterised by what scholars refer to as the hydraulic mission where ‘extreme engineering’ was the order of the day (Allan, 2003). As Radif (1999) argues, water resources managers and policy makers were initially driven to manage and supply water to people for its direct use; these included drinking, growing food, and providing power for domestic and industrial use. This modus operandi continued until the end of the 1970s. Over two decades later, this focus is still prevalent in many countries in southern Africa including Botswana. As Swatuk and Rahm (2004) state, “augmenting supply is a continuing focus of government activity”. The National Water Master Plan (NWMP) is the current policy document guiding water resources management in Botswana and it focuses on supply-side interventions in response to increasing water demand. According to SMEC et al. (1991), the consulting company that conducted the NWMP study, “the investigation and studies... indicated the need for the continuing development of water supplies throughout Botswana over the next 30 years”. Based on these observations, government has developed significant human and technical capacity in exploiting both surface and groundwater resources (Swatuk and Rahm, 2004). / South Africa

Magister Commercii - MCom / This paper tested the purchasing power parity hypothesis for Botswana and South Africa using cointegration analysis. The data used are the spot exchange rate between the two countries (rand and pula) and their consumer price indices. / South Africa

Magister Bibliothecologiae - MBibl / The study investigates knowledge management (KM) practices in the public sector in Botswana. The underlying premise is that good KM leads to efficiency and effectiveness. The study assesses the KM practices in the government departments by means of a questionnaire survey of senior managers. The assumption is that the corporate manager/directors will know what knowledge is there, how knowledge is created, shared and flow in the organization. The main question of this study is whether the Botswana public sector is practicing KM. The study explores the problem and questions by means of a questionnaire survey amongst 43 departmental directors of the Government of Botswana. The overall finding is that information management rather than KM is being practiced. The respondents, senior public service managers, certainly recognize the value of and the need for KM. But, they themselves identify certain weaknesses, such as lack of knowledge of KM among their staff, weak communication inside and across the departments, lack of policy and lack of good KM systems. / South Africa

Magister Artium - MA / This study investigates the use of language and signage in and around Parliament of Botswana by drawing from Linguistic Landscapes (LL) found in the area. The main aim of this study is to explore the symbolic and functional values of signs and languages found in and around Parliament of Botswana. Its main objective is to analyse the visual language in display in and around Parliament looking at the visibility and clarity of language and information/ messages on the signage and to interpret the distribution and frequency of each one of the languages in signage. Secondly, considering that embassies, international companies, organizations and one of the oldest and busiest malls are within the vicinity of Parliament, the study explored whether their presence is captured in the LL.Following Gorter (2006), Shohamy and Gorter (2009) and Shohamy, Ben Rafael and Barni(2010), the data used was drawn from the different types of signs in and around parliament and its neighborhood and included signs with municipal and infrastructural discourses as well as commercial discourses. Using descriptive qualitative research and a thematic approach for data analysis, the study captures the distribution, function, composition and size, clarity of intended information or messages of language on multilingual and monophonic signs.The study gives an insight on the dominance of English against other Botswana languages in LL.In terms of language vitality, the linguistic landscape gives the incorrect picture as if English and Setswana are the only languages spoken in Botswana. Interestingly, Chinese is occasionally found in the linguistic landscape. The presence of Chinese in the shops near Parliament, I argue, is a ploy to attract people to ostensibly “cheap” products. The linguistic landscape shows the apparent contradiction in which even monuments of heroes and pictures of past “Dikgosi”(Chiefs) are constructed in English. The study further reveals even where Setswana is used it is always on bilingual signs and the quality of translation is sometimes poor. The study also suggests that most of the signage was constructed in English and then translated to Setswana. It is not surprising then that the information on the Setswana LL is not always as complete as one on English. In some cases, it says something quite unrelated to the intended message. The different signs and discourses analysed clearly show that people are aware of the signs that surround them and the marketing strategies employed. The signage revealed multiplicity and fusion of discourses with types ranging from low budget to the modern visual signs by individuals to established companies. Both the consumers and the authors are aware of the link between the LL and economics. For this reason, signage is placed where it is expected to achieve maximum visibility and for maximum consumer impact. It is not uncommon to find someone placing their LL on someone else’s, and “ambush” marketing is common place. The diversity of signs used in the study have illustrated and given an insight into the contrasting marketing strategies adopted not only by Batswana, but also by foreign investors, all vying for a piece of space in the Botswana landscape.

Magister Educationis - MEd / This study investigates the attitudes of students and student leaders towards democracy in terms of their demand for democracy, their perception of the supply of democracy, and their awareness of and participation in politics. Existing literature does not provide any conclusive explanation as to how and to what extent higher education contributes to democracy. Mattes and Mughogho (2010) argue that the contribution of higher education to support for democracy in Africa is limited while other scholars such as Bloom et al. (2006), Hillygus (2005), and Evans and Rose (2007a, 2007b) maintain that higher education impacts positively on support for democracy. The study follows the conceptualisation and methodology of previous studies based on the Afrobarometer public opinion surveys into the political attitudes of African mass publics (Bratton, Mattes and Gyimah-Boadi, 2005; Mattes and Bratton, 2003; 2007), and of students in African universities (Luescher-Mamashela et al., 2011; Mwollo-Ntalimma, 2011). The survey uses a stratified random sample of third-year undergraduate students at the University of Botswana. Furthermore, it isolates the subgroup of student leaders to investigate whether active participation in student politics influences support for democracy

Magister Artium (Social Work) - MA(SW) / Student performance have decreased from 2008-2013 in the Kgatleng District, Botswana, despite efforts to encourage parents to actively be involved in their children‘s school. It is apparent that parents are not involved and leave the responsibility of child nurturing and development to the school with the teachers. Contributing factors to un-involved parents at school are communication; employment; single parenting, and poverty. This lead to the research question: What are the perceptions of teachers about factors that contribute to parental involvement/non-involvement in Public Schools? The aim of the study was to determine teachers‘ perceptions on factors that contribute to parental involvement/non- involvement in public schools. The objectives to arrive at the aim was to explore and describe teachers‘ perceptions on factors contributing to parental involvement in public schools; to explore and describe teachers‘ perceptions on factors contributing to parental non-involvement in public schools and to make recommendations for improving parental involvement in public schools to the Ministry of Education. Social constructivism was used as theoretical framework because teachers‘ perceptions are shaped by their contexts and language. The study used a qualitative research approach and an exploratory, descriptive design. The population was teachers who teach standard seven in all primary schools in the Kgatleng district. There are 35 primary schools in the Kgatleng district. The sample was a non-probability, purposive sample consisting of four (4) urban and four (4) rural schools in Kgatleng district of which from each school, two (2) participants were purposefully selected. Data was collected by in-depth interviews and analyzed by using a thematic approach. The research findings presented key factors that affect teachers and made recommendation on how they can work with the parents and the community to successfully address the issue of non-parental involvement in schools. Tools for identifying specific needs and challenges for the uninvolved parents have to be developed and implemented. All relevant stakeholders should be included. A strong relationship with the social workers to address social challenges faced by the students, yielded positive results, hence recommending the need to have school based social workers. Recommendations include a partnership between the community, schools, teachers, parents and the Ministry of education to improve parental involvement in school