M.A. (Industrial Psychology) / South Africa is currently experiencing a period typified by daily changes in the labour economy and in its political structures. As a result of the critical shortage of skilled human resources, a decreasing white population and political pressure to reform, the country is under constant pressure to develop its human resources, race groups that are underdeveloped in the middle and top structures of the labour force. In this regard strategies to advance the occupational mobility of blacks are progressively being undertaken by South African companies. Given the pressing demands for human resource development the results of strategies to advance the occupational mobility of blacks are still perceived as unsatisfactory. Various contrasting views exist regarding the specific factors that inhibit black advancement as well as that which ought to be addressed in order to solve the problems underlying such advancement. In the absence of a coherent theoretical basis through which factors that inhibit the advancement of black occupational mobility can be explained and studied, the need for a suitable approach or framework to develop such a theoretical model, was identified. It was decided to study the problems underlying black advancement in South Africa by utilising a strategic-cultural approach. Before a strategic-cultural approach could be developed the nature and extent of the factors that inhibit the advancement of black occupational mobility was systematically examined. Inhibiting factors were analysed from literature through an integrated approach and it was found that the marginal position of the black labourer is fundamental to all of the contrasting views in this regard. In order to optimize the person-environment match relevant to the so-called marginal position of the black labourer it is emphasized in this study that the organisation's discemable and undiscemable structures should be changed...

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Magister Legum - LLM / People with disabilities are a minority group who has suffered disadvantage especially in the workplace. They currently enjoy Constitutional and legislative protection in a democratic South Africa. / South Africa

Magister Artium (Development Studies) - MA(DVS) / After the first democratic election in South Africa in 1994, the new democratic government harnessed all its resources towards establishing a non-racial society based on a constitution that embodies equal rights. One of the enduring legacies of apartheid is the extreme socio-economic disparities that emerged in the South African society. Higher education in the context of South Africa is also a means of bridging the inequality gap created during the colonial and apartheid periods (Reddy, 2004). Moreover, apartheid education, as with other sectors of society was racialised in favour of whites creating a drought in skills within the other race groups. The need to establish an equitable and efficient higher education thus became one of government’s pivotal priorities. The adoption of affirmative action policies that have prioritised university access by underprivileged black students has been pointed to as one of the means to address racial inequalities in education. The thesis postulates that that the use of race in implementing affirmative action policy is neither a sufficient means to, nor an end of, redressing the ills of apartheid. Through qualitative and quantitative methods, the present study analyses the impact of affirmative action policies at the University of Cape Town (UCT) and gauges the level of transformation as a result of the use of race as a proxy for admission into UCT. The study examines the equality of access and enrolment of first time entering undergraduate students into UCT through race based admission. Despite government and institutional (for example UCT) efforts to pursue a transformatory agenda, affirmative action policies continue to cause ruptures both within university communities and beyond. This research is going to use both quantitative and qualitative designs. The quantitative approach will be used where necessary – such as in reviewing racial split of enrolment over time – to glean on the figures. Such figures will however not be generated by the study itself but from officials from UCT. On the other hand, the qualitative approach will be used through the analyses of debates occurring in the UCT community in order to gauge perceptions on the policy.

Magister Commercii - MCom / South African labour relations are associated with a history of extensive discrimination and segregation, subject to various types of discrimination during the apartheid era, including employment discrimination. This study explores the effect of Affirmative Action on the reduction (if any) of employment discrimination since the advent of democracy. It investigates whether the extent of employment discrimination by race and gender has decreased, 20 years since the economic transition. The first part of the study gives an overview of the South African labour legislations, both discriminative legislations and statutes aimed at redressing the imbalances of the past. The empirical part of the paper employs a sample that represents the labour force (excluding informal sector workers, agricultural workers, domestic workers and self-employed) aged between 15 and 65 years. The methodology in this study firstly estimates probit models describing the labour force participation, employment and occupational attainment, followed by the Oaxaca-Blinder decomposition, using data from OHS 1997-1999, LFS 2000-2007, QLFS 2008-2014 and NIDS 2008-2012. The OHS/LFS/QLFS decomposition results show that the unexplained component of the White-Black employment probability gap does not reveal any strong downward trend overtime. Also, results on the occupational attainment gap indicate that there was an increasing occupational attainment probability gap between Whites and Blacks which was partially driven by an increase in the unexplained component. This implies that Affirmative Action was not successful in reducing racial discrimination in the South African labour market. Additionally, the unexplained component is most dominant in the male-female employment gap decomposition. This suggests employment discrimination against females is very serious. However, the male-female highly-skilled employment likelihood shows no clear trend over time. These results suggest that when it comes to employment discrimination against females, this may have taken place more seriously when it comes to the unskilled or semi-skilled occupations.

>Magister Scientiae - MSc / The National Water Act of 1998 provides the policy framework for stakeholder participation and the engagement of stakeholders closest to the resource on which they depend to be involved in developing and managing their water resources. Rainwater harvesting presents a viable option for securing water availability in order to increase food production and cash returns from food in the Ehlanzeni District Municipality which is one of the poorest districts in the Mpumalanga Province, South Africa. The study focuses on rural youth (between the ages 18-35 years) in two villages of the Ehlanzeni District, Luphisi and Dwaleni, and seeks to assess the relationship between youth capabilities and food security. The study used both quantitative and qualitative methods but with more emphasis on the quantitative data, with qualitative data providing anecdotal evidence to back up the findings. The qualitative data was collected from focus group discussions and the quantitative data was based on a baseline survey within the context of an Integrated Rain Water Harvesting Project implemented by a local NGO. The data drew on indicators in the questionnaire that were to do with social capital and empowerment. The indicators tapped into attributes/capabilities like trust, social cohesion and inclusion and sociability and examined these within the context of Amartya Sen's Capability Approach, to consider whether and in what ways these attributes relate to food security. The results show that there are youth have high levels of certain attributes/capabilities such as trust, social cohesion and inclusion, collective action and co-operation, self-esteem, and meaning. The findings also show that in other dimensions there are less opportunities and that, in particular, access to networks, access to knowledge and information and sociability are lacking among youth. Low levels of adherence to networks, lack of access to knowledge and information and poor sociability show that there are inadequate opportunities for youth to engage with issues around food and water security. The Chi-square test was used to investigate the relationship between youth capabilities and food security and at p<0.05 results showed that there was no relationship between youth capabilities and food security in Dwaleni. There were only three capabilities which showed any significant statistical relationship between youth capabilities and food security in Luphisi namely; collective action and co-operation, social cohesion and self-esteem. The study recommends that networking opportunities and access to information relating to food and water security should be improved. The thesis claims that there are adequate opportunities to build on existing capabilities such as self-esteem, trust and social cohesion that are not being maximized and that youth are not being adequately engaged in water resources management. / Water Research Commission

This study aims to produce a type of concrete with both good thermal and mechanical properties by using environmentally friendly and low cost materials. In addition, the resistance of this concrete to fire conditions was investigated. The experimental work comprises two parts. In the first part, recycled glass was used as a partial replacement for natural sand (at proportions 20%, 40% and 60%) together with basalt fibre having different volume fractions (0.1%, 0.3%, and 0.5%). The results obtained from the experimental work showed that the optimum content is 20% glass and at 28 days, there was a 4.23% and 15% enhancement in the compressive strength and the splitting tensile strength respectively. Above 20% glass there was a slight reduction (6.6% and 22%) in the compressive strength and the splitting tensile strength when 60% glass was used. The results also showed that when glass sand and basalt fibre content increase, there is a decrease in the thermal conductivity range from 4.35% to 50% at temperature levels between 60oC to 600oC. The structural behaviour of this type of concrete was investigated in the second part of this study by carrying out small-scale slab tests at ambient and elevated temperatures. The results show that there is an increase in the load carrying capacity above the theoretical yield line load, due to membrane action, for all percentages of glass and volume fractions of basalt fibre ranging from 1.35 to 1.68 for the slab tested at ambient temperature and from 3.13 to 3.26 for the slabs tested at elevated temperature. Also the slabs with higher glass sand and basalt fibre content had a higher load enhancement and failed at a higher displacement compared to the control mix.A comparison between the simplified method and the finite element software package ABAQUS showed that the ABAQUS model gives reasonable predictions for the load-vertical displacement and the temperature-displacement relationships at both ambient and elevated temperature conditions, while the simplified method gives conservative predictions for the maximum allowable vertical displacement for the slab at elevated temperature. A parametric study showed that a 10 mm cover depth is the optimum depth as well as the reinforcement temperature predicted reduced with increasing load ratio (applied load/yield line load).

Les personnes publiques ont la faculté de produire des normes par voie unilatérale ou contractuelle. Toutefois, ni la jurisprudence ni les textes n'affirment l'existence d'une liberté de choix entre ces deux instruments. L'observation du droit montre davantage de situations dans les personnes publiques ne peuvent pas librement choisir que des situations dans lesquelles elles ont effectivement cette liberté de choix. Le Conseil d'État est particulièrement actif, imposant tantôt le contrat, tantôt l'acte unilatéral pour l'exercice des compétences. Aussi, dans une discipline telle que le droit administratif, où l'action des personnes publiques est strictement encadrée par les normes de compétence, la doctrine n'est en général pas favorable à la reconnaissance de véritable liberté dans l'action au profit de l'Administration. Pourtant, le caractère objectif du droit administratif n'obère pas totalement la qualité de sujet de droit des personnes publiques ni leur capacité à exprimer une volonté propre. Le principe de la liberté de choix des modes de gestion illustre par exemple cette dimension libérale de l'action administrative. En réalité, dès l'instant où les normes de compétence n'ont pas vocation à prescrire l'instrument au moyen duquel une compétence doit être exercée, les personnes publiques disposent d'une liberté de choix entre le contrat et l'acte unilatéral. Si le législateur ou le Conseil d'État imposent aux personnes publiques d'utiliser le contrat ou l'acte unilatéral pour l'exercice de telle ou telle compétence, cela ne signifie pas pour autant que, en amont, les personnes publiques n'ont pas une liberté de choix. Au contraire, l'existence de limitation à la faculté d'agir révèle l'existence d'une liberté. Dès lors, la liberté de choix entre le contrat et l'acte unilatéral et son encadrement par le droit objectif constituent les deux pièces d'une même médaille, formant ainsi un droit général du recours au contrat ou à l'acte unilatéral. Il s'est agi de tracer les contours précis, tant sur un plan conceptuel que pratique, de la liberté de choix et de l'encadrement de cette liberté de choix, en révélant les mécanismes et critères en action sur les deux versants de deux droits. / Public entities have the ability to produce standards unilaterally or under contract. However, neither the law nor the texts affirm the existence of a choice between the two instruments. Observing the right shows more situations in public entities can not freely choose that situations where they actually have this freedom of choice. The State Council is particularly active, sometimes imposing the contract, sometimes unilateral act for the exercise of powers. Also, in a discipline such as administrative law, where the action of public persons is strictly governed by the standards of jurisdiction, the doctrine is generally not favorable to the recognition of true freedom in action for the benefit of 'Administration. Yet, the objective character of administrative law does not totally hampers the quality of legal subject of public figures or their ability to express their own will. The principle of freedom of choice of management methods illustrious example this liberal dimension of administrative action. In fact, as soon as the standards of competence are not intended to prescribe the instrument by which a jurisdiction must be exercised, public figures have a choice between the contract and the unilateral act. If Parliament or the Council of State to require public entities to use the contract or unilateral act for the performance of a particular jurisdiction, this does not mean that upstream, public figures have not a freedom of choice. On the contrary, the existence of limitations on the ability to act reveals the existence of freedom. Therefore, the choice between the contract and the unilateral act and its frame by objective law are the two parts of the same coin, thus forming a general right of appeal to the contract or the unilateral act. It came to trace the precise contours, both conceptually and practically, freedom of choice and the framing of this freedom of choice by revealing the mechanisms and criteria for action on both sides of two rights

The concept of affirmative action was introduced eight years ago in South Africa and remains to this day a highly topical issue. It appears that issues of effective implementation of affirmative action measures are at the heart of these debates. The gender-based affirmative action measures are the most intriguing in the South African context, as all women are considered beneficiaries of affirmative action. The reason for the aforesaid is that all women were subject to male domination during the Apartheid system. Women’s experiences of subordination are, however, intertwined with race. It therefore becomes difficult to decide which should receive the highest priority: race or gender, in other words, who should give way to whom, black men or white women. The above scenario presents the question: what attitudes do men and women have towards gender-based affirmative action measures? This question is asked in the context of whether men and women perceive themselves to be participating in organisational decision-making and whether those perceptions together with their gender-based affirmative action attitudes are related to their commitment to the organisation. For data collection purposes, a questionnaire was distributed via e-mail to 350 lecturers in the Faculties of Engineering and Humanities at an academic institution. Convenience and accessibility sampling methods were used. Only 27 individuals responded to the questionnaire. Fieldworkers were subsequently employed to distribute the questionnaires personally. This method yielded 48 responses. The findings indicate that both men and women have positive attitudes towards gender based affirmative action and that both genders perceive themselves to be participating in organisational decision-making. In addition, both genders express a high level of commitment to the organisation. These findings are similar across the Engineering and Humanities faculty. A multiple regression analysis indicates that gender-based affirmative action attitudes together with perceptions of participation in decision-making predict organisational commitment only weakly. A strong correlation does, however, exist between perceptions of participation in decision-making and organisational commitment. It was concluded that gender-based affirmative action attitudes and participation in organisational decision-making independently predict organisational commitment. This indicates that affirmative action is merely a tool to obtain access for previously marginalised groups into otherwise less accessible organisations. It does, however, not predict whether the individuals in question will remain committed to these organisations. Organisational commitment is, in fact, predicted by whether the individual feels that his/her contributions are appreciated in the organisation. This applies regardless of gender and faculty. / Dissertation (MA)--University of Pretoria, 2008. / Psychology / unrestricted

This Participatory Action Research (PAR) project focused on “holistic learning” which includes “social” and “spiritual” learning and “whole-brained” learning. Broadly interpreting and applying the four-quadrant brain model of Herrmann (1994), and other models of the brain, my study seeks to understand whether, to what extent and how learning can be advanced by deliberately employing holistic learning strategies to narrow the gap between theory and practice, between left-brain and right-brain learning, and between cognition and emotion. I introduced tri-dimensional (3-D) practice as the combination of using holistic learning strategies in cooperative learning groups within spiritual learning environments. The site of this PAR study was the network of cooperative learning groups in Mozambique within the educational system of the Church of the Nazarene. Facilitators were trained to use six specific “holistic learning strategies”: group discussions of various types, praxis (as reflection-dialogue-action), teamwork, rehearsing integrity, singing-for-learning and classical spiritual disciplines within cooperative learning groups, also a holistic learning strategy. These aspects are typical of the widely used model of Theological Education by Extension (TEE), refined in this study. According to data gathered in a large hybrid survey, 97% of the 595 respondents to this question responded favourably in terms of the skills of these facilitators even though the average number of years of their formal schooling, 7.7, would normally be considered “minimal”. The study generates findings to support the position that holistic learning strategies enhance the quality of adult learning, at least in settings like those in Mozambique in which the facilitation of learning was 1) bilingual (Portuguese and maternal language), 2) focused on learners who are leaders-in-training, 3) deliberate in spiritual content and ambient, and 4) conducted by minimally-schooled facilitators in cooperative learning groups. The findings, from the responses recorded in qualitative phases of the research, corroborated by descriptive statistics, indicate that the efficacy of holistic learning strategies is related to certain modes of mental activity like whole-making, categorising, and others. This PAR project was conducted within an original research framework, Arboric Research, which takes into account the dynamic, fluid and organic nature of human systems, recognising that infrastructures in which the research takes place are different at the end of the study than at the beginning, like observing the “sap” within a growing grapevine or a tree. / Thesis (PhD (Curriculum Studies))--University of Pretoria, 2006. / Curriculum Studies / unrestricted