Africa, and Southern Africa in particular, has been identified by both South African and international retail chains as an area for growth. Because conflict on the continent has all but dissipated, economic growth naturally follows political stability. Africa, with its wealth of resources, provides attractive markets for international investors. This increased investment leads to a growing middle class, with growing needs for goods and services. The reason for the interest from organised retail is therefore obvious. The challenge, however, is that, given the size of the individual markets in Southern Africa, it is not financially viable to have an independent marketing strategy for each market. There is no cross-national empirical research that has measured customers’ expectations and perceptions, allowing marketers to develop financially viable marketing strategies. This research, which can be considered an exploratory study, attempted to fill that void. Quality is an elusive and indistinct construct, and as such, it is difficult to measure. A large body of customer satisfaction/dissatisfaction literature acknowledges the importance of expectations in the customers’ evaluation (perception) of their service experience. Although there are several models which have been used to measure service quality, SERVQUAL remains the most popular. It has been successfully adapted to a range of service and retail environments, more especially in emerging markets. This study also employs an adapted SERVQUAL instrument to measure customer satisfaction levels in Southern Africa. The main objective of this study was to investigate the similarities in and differences between the perceptions and expectations regarding service quality of the customer groups of retail stores in different Southern African countries in order to develop financially viable retail strategies. In order to achieve this, the following secondary objectives were identified: *To determine the applicability of the adapted SERVQUAL model in Southern African countries. *To determine, by means of a cross-national study, whether other dimensions of service quality are relevant in the development of a service quality model in a Southern African context. The research population constituted all the existing and potential customers of Beares, Ellerines and FurnCity stores in Namibia, Botswana, Zambia, Swaziland, Lesotho and South Africa. Six hundred questionnaires in total were distributed, one hundred being sent to different stores in each of the six countries. Stores were chosen from both rural and metropolitan areas. This was a convenience sample and an interviewer-administered survey. Existing and prospective customers were intercepted in the store and interviewed by store managers. The findings indicated that there were statistically significant differences between expectations and perceptions in two factors of the measuring scale. Although the measuring instrument SERVQUAL was found to be both valid and reliable, only two factors were loaded during the analysis stage, and, as a result, the adaptability of SERVQUAL is questionable. The effect of culture does not form part of the SERVQUAL measuring scale yet service quality literature indicates that national cultures affect both the perceptions and the expectations of service quality. / PhD (Business Management), North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus, 2014

This thesis is a study that was originally inspired by the question, "What does it mean to be a Christian in rural Africa today?" While the Church needs to ask this question everywhere in the world, from experience the writer believes it is especially germane to the non-Western cultures of Africa and Asia. That experience is drawn from eight years' work among the Kwanyama tribe of Ovambos in the Ovamboland Anglican Mission. Hence, this study is confined to one rural African tribe as it came under 46 years' influence of one Christian denomination.

This essay is written in response to a lacuna that appears to exist within the Presbyterian Church of Southern Africa with regard to the ancient and highly regarded ministry of spiritual direction. My primary assertion is that, in the light of what might be perceived of as a crisis of relevance in Presbyterian life and spiritual practice, spiritual direction offers one particular way of fostering an exciting and existentially relevant spirituality for the denomination. Through the hoped-for renewal brought about by direction, Presbyterians may well have something to say to a South Africa racked not only with violence and poverty, but also bored by an increasingly irrelevant Christianity. The essay traces that history of spiritual direction most apposite to Presbyterianism in South Africa. This includes an overview of aspects of the Celtic and African spiritual traditions with a view to finding any correspondence that would help to narrow the distance between the spirituality of its black and white members. It then asks questions about the character and tasks of directors. Highlighted is the task of fostering an awareness of God that is not purely ''heavenly minded", but is able to speak into the real issues facing Presbyterians today. The essay goes on to explore the relationship that should exist between director and directee, focussing for a moment on the direction necessary in the directee's prayer life. The essay comes full circle as it considers the implications of introducing direction more widely in this largely "directionless" denomination. As a microcosm of the country, divergent cultures are as much a reality in the P.C.S.A. as in the rest of South Africa. So respect for uniqueness and the practice of interpathy are encouraged as part of the familiarisation process. Throughout the essay, I attempt to show that spiritual direction is a means of allowing the directee to more clearly discern the voice of the Spirit, who constantly encourages the transcendence of self - viz. the breaking of and dying to old perceptions, habits and beliefs so that s/he might more fully enter into the mystery that one usually refers to as God.

No abstract available. / Dissertation (LLM)--University of Pretoria, 2010. / Centre for Human Rights / unrestricted

The pouched mouse, Saccostomus campestris Peters, 1846 from southern Africa shows a high degree of karyotypic variation where up to 16 variants (2n = 30–50) have been reported. This has led to a systematic uncertainty that the present study attempts to assess using: 1) cytochrome b (cyt b; 1077 bp) and 16S rRNA (528 bp) partial sequences; 2) G-banding cytogenetic data; and 3)geometric morphometric data of various views of the cranium and mandible. The results from these multidisciplinary analyses are broadly similar with phylogenetic analyses of the molecular data revealing the presence of two major lineages. The first lineage comprises the high diploid numbered 2n = 46 cytotype from KwaZulu-Natal Province, South Africa that is considered to be ancestral. The second lineage consists of multiple inland populations that are subdivided into: 1) a sub-lineage comprising samples from a large semi-arid area in the west; and b) a sub-lineage of small distinct populations of low migrations from the east. The cytogenetic data suggest that karyotypic variation within S. campestris from southern Africa is due to autosomal Robertsonian fusions, with evidence of geographic structuring where cytotypes with high diploid numbers originate from the mesic east, while those with low diploid numbers originate from the arid west. The reduction in chromosome number appears to be due to adaptation to cold and dry conditions in the arid west. The X-chromosome revealed three variants that arose from a single pericentric inversion followed by the addition of genetic material, possibly heterochromatin. Variant 1 is only present in the ancestral cytotype and is found in all cytotypes throughout southern Africa, variant 2 is found in cytotypes from areas with < 600 mm of annual rainfall, while variant 3, although only found in females, is sympatric with variant 2. Geometric morphometric analysis of karyotyped specimens showed no discernible patterns of variation among karyotypic variants except for some subtle but equivocal indication of the morphological distinctiveness of the 2n = 46 cytotype from KwaZulu-Natal. Collation of the molecular, cytogenetic, and geometric morphometric data in the present study suggest that S. campestris from southern Africa is monotypic. / Dissertation (MSc)--University of Pretoria, 2011. / Zoology and Entomology / unrestricted

M.Comm. / Riding the wave of change is a challenge that companies often take on but just as often fail in. First National Bank decided to take on such a challenge when they merged with FirstRand Ltd. Moving from a second to a third wave company was a challenge not only management faced, but all the employees of First National Bank. The wave change required changes in various aspects of the company, for example management styles, company structure and culture of the company. A performance decline was experienced during the process of restructuring. Therefore management had to ensure that employees were motivated and focused throughout the period of change. However is it possible to keep employees motivated and focused? During this process of change the atmosphere among employees was tense and stressful. How does management assure their employees that the change is beneficial for them as well as for the company? Managing the change and ensuring that it is successful is a responsibility that lies heavily on management's shoulders. How does management guarantee successful change management? The aim of this study is to examine how First National Bank and FirstRand ensured a successful third wave change.

Background Since 2010, adult studies and clinical concerns about stavudine (d4T) toxicity had led to the phasing out of d4T from many antiretroviral treatment (ART) guidelines globally with substitution by abacavir. Recent studies, within Southern Africa, however have shown poorer virological suppression with abacavir (ABC) compared to d4T at their respective centres. Methods A retrospective study of HIV-positive children, who had been initiated on ART from 2005 to 2017, was conducted at an ART unit at New Somerset hospital, Western Cape, South Africa. Data was extracted from clinical notes and electronic medical records and virological suppression reviewed in those started on ABC and d4T based regimes. Results A total of 672 children were included in the study with a median age of 8.9 months (interquartile range (IQR) 4.1- 24.1 months) in the d4T based group and 11 months (IQR 3.5 - 29.9 months) in the ABC group. 64 of the 437 patients in the d4T containing group were transferred out, 15 reported to have died, and 49 were lost to follow up within the first 6months on treatment. Of the 181 ABC containing regimen group, 1 was transferred out to another care facility, 1 reported death within 6months of treatment and 2 children were lost to follow up. There was a noted increased risk of being virologically unsuppressed at 6months while taking ABC containing regimen compared to a d4T containing regimen. . The relative risk of being virologically unsuppressed at 6 months while taking abacavir/lopinavir (LPV/r) was 1.39 (95% confidence interval 1.03 to 1.88, p=0.04) compared to stavudine/LPV/r. The relative risk of being virologically unsuppressed at 6 months while taking abacavir/efavirenz (EFV) was 1.82 (95% confidence interval 0.98 to 3.37, p=0.054) compared to stavudine/EFV. Conclusion Our analysis again raises concerns about virological suppression in the abacavir era of paediatric ART, compared to the previous stavudine era, particularly in combination with LPV/r in the younger, more vulnerable children. Whether this is because of intrinsic properties of the different medications or is a marker of the evolving complexity of the South African ART rollout, may never be resolved. However, this is of concern as abacavir and LPV/r appear to be entrenched as first-line paediatric ART in a setting where attrition is high, many children are lost to follow up and virologic surveillance is not always optimal. Clinicians need to optimize retention strategies, especially of young infants, to ensure that children are retained in care, have viral load testing timeously, so that those virologically unsuppressed can be detected and treated early and appropriately.

The giant bullfrog, Pyxicephalus adspersus, is a large, explosive-breeding anuran from southern Africa, which spends most of the year buried in a state of torpor. In South Africa this species is considered to be Near-Threatened by habitat loss and other factors, especially in the densely human populated Gauteng Province. The aim of this thesis was to obtain essential outstanding information about the ecology of P. adspersus to contribute towards improved conservation management of this species. A model was used to predict the geographic range of P. adspersus in southern Africa, and recent land cover data were used to determine the amount of suitable habitat remaining for this species in Gauteng. As a step towards identifying P. adspersus conservation management units, genetic structure and gene flow for populations from 23 localities in Gauteng and seven additional localities in the north-eastern interior of South Africa was quantified using 708 base pairs of the mitochondrial gene cytochrome b. To investigate the unpredictable activity and unknown spatial habitat requirements of P. adspersus, a population’s spawning and non-breeding activity was monitored, and the movements of 70 adult frogs were radio- or spool-tracked during five summers at a site in Diepsloot, Gauteng. Using skeletohronology, the age distribution of breeding P. adspersus at this and two other peri-urban sites near Johannesburg, Gauteng, was examined. Bioclimatic conditions were predicted to be suitable for P. adspersus in the temperate to semi-arid interior, but not the low-lying eastern subtropical and arid western sides of southern Africa. Limited genetic data suggested that P. adspersus was common in the north-eastern interior of South Africa, and that populations in the Free State Province represent an evolutionary significant unit of this species. In central Gauteng, where P. adspersus may have declined by > 90%, populations < 20 km apart exhibited significant genetic differentiation, possibly as a result of genetic drift. At Diepsloot, both annual numbers of spawning events and numbers of spawning males were positively correlated with rainfall, although other meteorological variables also affected the activity of P. adspersus. Radio- or spool-tracked frogs showed high fidelity to their breeding site and burrows, which were situated up to 1 km away from the water. Male P. adspersus probably live 20 years in the wild, but at some peri-urban breeding sites adult life expectancy and body size may be declining. The geographic range of P. adspersus was predicted to be slightly smaller than that reported by other authors, and deserves phylogeographic validation. The main conservation priority for P. adspersus in South Africa should be the protection of terrestrial habitat for adult foraging and aestivation around, and for juvenile dispersal and gene flow between, breeding sites. In Gauteng, the conservation of a P. adspersus metapopulation is critical, and could most likely be achieved in the northern region of this province. Populations in the Free State Province deserve improved protection given their reported genetic uniqueness. At local spatial scales specific threats (e.g. pollution) should be ameliorated, and long-term monitoring should be implemented to detect real population trends. / Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2012. / Zoology and Entomology / Unrestricted

Magister Scientiae (Biodiversity and Conservation Biology) - MSc (Biodiv and Cons Biol) / The tribe Anthemideae is a large tribe of the family Asteraceae comprising 111 genera and 1 800 species distributed in Africa, Europe, Asia, and the Northern temperate region, with southern Africa as one of its main centers of diversity, together with Central Asia and the Mediterranean. Ongoing studies have focused on analysing relationships among the southern African subtribes of Anthemideae and the most recent classification recognised fourteen subtribes in which there is a clear biogeographical gradient, with the six southern African subtribes comprising the earliest diverging lineages. The present study focuses on two of these southern African-centred lineages (viz. subtribes Athanasiinae and Phymasperminae). Previous phylogenetic studies of the tribe were based on nuclear nrDNA ITS and plastid cpDNA ndhF sequence data and included only a single representative from each of the genera within the subtribes Athanasiinae and Phymasperminae. / 2024

The Sabie River Basalt Formation is a group of tholeiitic basaltic rocks erupted ca 190 Ma ago in the eastern zone of the Karoo Igneous Province of southern Africa. It is traceable over a distance of 700 km from Zululand, northwards along the Lebombo monocline into the Transvaal and south-east Zimbabwe. An abrupt compositional change in this formation occurs about halfway down its length in the vicinity of the Sabie and Komati Rivers: basalts to the north are known to be enriched in certain incompatible elements relative to basalts in the south, which are comparable in geochemistry to most basaltic rocks in the southern part of the Karoo Igneous Province. New data obtained in this work include 134 major and trace element whole-rock analyses, some 400 analyses of constituent minerals, 38 ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr ratio determinations, 19 ¹⁴³Nd/¹⁴⁴Nd ratio determinations, 16 common Pb determinations and 12 oxygen isotope analyses. The "normal" (N) and "enriched" basaltic rocks are distinguished by differences in the concentrations of Ti, P, Zr, Nb, Y, La, Ce and Nd (high field strength elements). Broadly these differences are substantiated by K, Rb, Ba and Sr, but with much more overlap. The "enriched" group of basaltic rocks has been further subdivided into a low-Fe "enriched" (LFE) group and a high-Fe "enriched" group (HFE). The LFE-group basalts, which predominate at the base of the stratigraphic sections, are considered to be equivalent to basalts occurring in the N. Lebombo. In the central Lebombo N-group basalts predominate in the mid- and upper portions of the sections and HFE-group basalt occurs near the top of each section. Interbedding of all basalt groups occurs in the Sabie River section at the northern end of the study area, while the N- and HFE-group basalts are interbedded in the Crocodile and Komati River sections further to the south. The decrease in LFE-group basalt abundance southwards is accompanied by an increase in N-group basalt abundance. HFE-group basalts appear to be unique to the central Lebombo area of the Karoo Igneous Province and are volumetrically less significant than N- or LFE-group basalts. Petrogenetic models involving closed-system fractional crystallization; coupled assimilation (of granitic crust) fractional crystallization; replenished, tapped and fractionated magma chambers and partial melting are examined. Granitic crustal contamination appears to have been significant only in some samples of the N group where assimilation of granitic material has proceeded in a bulk fashion described by an AFC model. RTF models are dynamically more realistic than closed-system fractional crystallization models and explain increases in incompatible elements with decreasing MgO in the LFE and HFE groups. Variations in the N group, however, require varying degrees of partial melting of a N-type source to be explained fully. RTF models may explain the absence of any stratigraphic correlations of element abundances in the three groups. The HFE group may be related to an uncontaminated N-type parent composition by a combination of continued fractional crystallization from an N-group parent composition and varying degrees of partial melting of an N-type source. The only petrogenetic process by which the N and LFE groups may be related is different degrees of partial melting. However, this demands a source composition which has no resemblance on trace element and isotopic grounds, to observed mantle xenolith compositions. The preferred model is one in which the LFE group is derived from old sub-cratonic mantle similar to garnet-bearing "cold" peridotite xenoliths and the N group from a source similar in composition to estimates of primitive mantle. The existence of two types of mantle derived continental flood basalt magmas occurs in other Mesozoic basalt provinces in "southern" Gondwanaland (e.g. Kirwanveggan of Antarctica, Etendeka of Namibia and the Parana Basin of South America). It is suggested that there is a geographical association of LFE-type basalts with Archaean crust (or Archaean crust re-worked in low temperature - high pressure events) and N-type basalts with post-Archaean crust (or Archaean crust re-worked in high temperature - low pressure events). This model suggests the derivation of the LFE group, from old sub-cratonic lithospheric mantle relatively enriched in incompatible elements and the N group being derived from more recently accreted and less enriched lithospheric mantle underlying younger crustal terraines.