The aim of this study is to explore HP Maredi's three selected dramas in order to understand his literary practice.These are Mowang wa Matuba , Mo go fetileng kgomo and Lapa ke mosadi. Through his writings one can sense that Maredi wants black people to be aware of their historical origins. He also wants to pass down native customs and traditions to future generations. The whole study discusses the following : ■different perceptions Africans and Westerners hold with regard to depletion of wild animals and the smoking of dagga. ■institutions and activities in the Northern Sotho culture which Maredi considers socially essential. ■portrayal of characters through their relations to, and interactions with their physical and social environments. ■recurrence and reversal as the elements that produce rhythm in drama. ■conclusion and the recapitulation of this study. / African Languages / M.A. (African Languages)

Philosophiae Doctor - PhD / Introduction: Typha capensis, commonly referred to as bulrush also called "love reed'' growing in Southern Africa's wetlands, is one of South Africa indigenous medicinal plants that are traditionally used to treat male fertility problems and various other ailments. Previous studies revealed that T. capensis has indeed a beneficial effect on male reproductive functions and aging male symptoms. The T.capensis rhizomes are used in traditional medicine during pregnancy to ensure easy delivery, for venereal diseases, dysmenorrhea, diarrhoea, dysentery, and to enhance the male potency and libido. Typha genuses contain flavones and other phenolic compounds, which exhibit anti-oxidative capacity. Materials and Methods: This study encompasses three parts (part 1: Exposure of different cell lines to crude aqueous extracts of T. capensis rhizomes; part 2: HPLC analysis of Typha capensis crude rhizome extract and exposure of different cell lines to the F1 fraction of the summer season; part 3: Compound identification by means of NMR spectrometric analysis and exposure of different cell lines to bioactive compounds (Quercetin and Naringenin) isolated from T. capensis rhizomes. Part 1: TM3-Leydig cells and LNCaP cells incubated with different concentrations of crude aqueous extract of T. capensis rhizomes (0.01, 0.02, 0.1, 1, 10 and 100 μg/ml) and control (without extract) for 24 and 96 hours, after incubation. The following parameters were evaluated: cell morphology and viability (determined by means of MTT assay). Part 2: The crude extract HPLC profiles were obtained by preparing the extracts for different seasons (Autumn, Winter, Spring, Summer). TM3-Leydig cells, LNCaP cells and PWR-1E cells incubated with different concentrations T. capensis rhizomes extract F1 fraction of the summer season (0.01, 0.02, 0.1, 1, 10 and 100 μg/ml) and control (without extract) for 24 and 96 hours, after incubation. The following parameters were evaluated: cell morphology was observed and recorded, viability (determined by means of MTT assay), testosterone production (testosterone ELISA test), cell early apoptosis (determined by means of Annexin V-Cy3 binding), DNA fragmentation (determined by means of the TUNEL assay). Part 3: NMR spectrometric analysis was performed on a 13C spectra were recorded at 400 MHz. TM3-Leydig cells and LNCaP cells incubated with different concentrations of bioactive compounds (Quercetin and Naringenin) isolated from T. capensis rhizomes, for acute exposure (24, 96 hours) and chronic exposure (96 hours), after incubation, the following parameters were evaluated: cell morphology and viability (determined by means of MTT assay), testosterone production (testosterone ELISA test), cell early apoptosis (determined by means of Annexin V-Cy3 binding) and DNA fragmentation (determined by means of the TUNEL assay). Results: Part 1: for TM3-Leydig cells the results reveal no observable morphological changes and no significant influence on cell viability except at highest concentration indicating cellular stress. However, LNCaP cells showed a decline in cell viability at the incubation period 96 hours (-82.4%) more than 24 hours (-64.7%) indicating more cell death. Part 2: HPLC data showed that the most effective fraction was the F1 fraction from the summer harvest. Results revealed that the T. capensis rhizome extract F1 fraction of the summer season significantly enhanced testosterone production in TM3 cells and was more toxic towards cancer cells (LNCaP cells ) compared to the normal cell lines (TM3-Leydig, PWR-1E cells). Part 3: NMR data showed 2 bioactive compounds which were identified as Quercetin and Naringenin. The assays showed that LNCaP cells are more sensitive to the cytotoxic effects and apoptosis induction of both compounds, whereas, the assays resulted in weak effects toward TM3-Leydig cells. However, testosterone production in TM3-Leydig cells was significantly enhanced at low concentrations of Quercetin and Naringenin at all exposure types (acute and chronic) testosterone beak significantly at around 0.100 and 0.125 μg/ml (P<0.0001), stimulatory activity in a dose-dependent manner. Conclusion: Typha capensis enhanced the production of testosterone and might be useful to treat male infertility and aging male problems. Results further reveal that the F1 fraction from the summer harvest had highest biological activity. This study, for the first time, investigated the effects of bioactive compounds (Quercetin and Naringenin) yeilded from aqueous extraction of Typha capensis rhizomes in cell lines investigating male reproductive functions. Active compounds present in the rhizomes have caused an increased production of testosterone level in TM3-Leydig cells. Furthermore, the active compounds of Typha capensis rhizomes in the high dose had a negative effect on the percentage of DNA fragmentation in LNCaP cells. When compared to the effect of the low dose, the two compounds induced significant apoptosis in cancer cell line (LNCaP) compared with the normal cell line (TM3-Leydig). The isolated compounds are significantly selective towards the cancer cells than the normal cell compared with the exposure of bioactive compounds used in this study.

The African Initiated Churches (AICs) are the custodians of the African Traditional Religion (ATR). In the South African census, the AICs are classified as Christian. Africans claim that long before the Christian faith came through missionaries there was some form of worship of God by Africans. This means Africans practiced ATR outside Christianity and after Christianity came through missionaries, they started practising it as Christians One of the reasons given for the Africans moving out of the missionary churches to start their own was a search for an African identity. There was a hunger for a place where the African culture could be accommodated. One of the features of African culture is the worship of ancestors. The question of monotheism encountering polytheism does arise in this kind of discussion. The doctrine of the Trinity is uniquely Christian. There is a historical background concerning the teaching and the foundation thereof. As the AICs responded to a situation, so did the Early Church Fathers who faced question of monotheism encountering polytheism. There was a need to redefine Jewish monotheism within the Christian faith in reference to the event of Jesus Christ. The Church Fathers struggled to defend and grappled with the Christian faith with reference to the scriptures in the light of Jesus Christ. They took the gospel from the Jewish setting into the Greek setting. Their efforts benefited the church throughout history. One may say the writings and the teachings of the early church stood the test of time. One may also say the writings and the teachings were based on the solid foundation being of Jesus Christ and the authority of the scriptures. Juxtaposition is the approach employed in this thesis. Two traditions are being critically assessed based on the notion of Perichoresis by the Cappadocian Church Fathers and the notion of Ubuntu in the ATR. Chapter one deals with the theological background with specific focus on the African church and contextualisation. Chapter two, deals with the debate concerning the position and nature of Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit. It also investigates the origin of the Nicene Creed. Chapter three investigates the terminology within the doctrine of the Trinity, while Chapter four explores the term ecumenical and communion with reference to Ubuntu. Chapter five analyses the work of Zizioulas, and the conclusion attempts to find an appropriate approach for the African church. Therefore the study concludes that the reference for Ubuntu should be found in the relationship with God through Jesus Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit and not in the veneration and worship of the ancestors. The benefits of the relationship with God through Jesus supersede all other relationship with any deity in the now and the future. / Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2012. / Dogmatics and Christian Ethics / unrestricted

In many African traditional societies, the felt needs of people are usually met by the services of the shaman or other traditional medicine specialists. These needs vary and they could include the need for protection against witchcraft and evil spirits. Another need in Africa is for physical and psychical health. These needs are felt by many Africans inside and outside ecclesiastical structures. Despite centuries of western influence and teaching by missionaries, these felt needs have not gone away. The sensitivity to the spirit world and its impact on the human and material word still remains a firm belief in the African socio-spiritual reality. In its missiological responsibilities in the past and now, the church in Africa continues to display a theological deficiency in addressing this vacuum in African spirituality. Consequently, many African Christians are trapped in the dual, two-tier or split-level Christianity. This shows itself in times of existential crises in which many committed and respectable African Christians revert to traditional religious practices as a means of meeting their spiritual needs, due to the church’s inability to do so. This observed lack of traditional Christian theology and its irrelevancy to African life, has left many African Christians in a dilemma. It is this lacuna in Christian theology and practice that the researcher seeks to address in this study. By analysing documents on spirits in the first-century Jewish world and the two-volume work of Luke-Acts, the researcher endeavours to show the relevance and possible appropriation of the New Testament message to African spiritual realities. This is based on the understanding that the world of the first-century Jews and other communities in the Mediterranean region at the time, has more in common with Africans than the extremely naturalistic, rationalistic and abstract-oriented worldview of the early western missionaries who initially brought the gospel to Africa. Central to the researcher’s thesis, is the argument that, if early Christians, as exemplified by the Lucan audience, could respond to the fears, problems and realities of the spirit world by using God-ordained, spiritual and biblically acceptable means and not magical ways, African Christians, too, who find themselves in similar situations, can do the same. The contention in this study is that the rediscovery of the aspect of the spirit world of the New Testament message will go a long way towards resolving the problem of split-level Christianity in Africa. This task remains a theological imperative for New Testament scholarship in order for the church to present a holistic message to the masses of Africa and to demonstrate how the immanence of the Christian God in Jesus Christ through the power of the Holy Spirit, relates to the daily needs of spirit-sensitive Africans – a message that Luke tried so hard to convey to his readers in the first century. / Thesis (PhD (New Testament Studies))--University of Pretoria, 2006. / New Testament Studies / unrestricted

>Magister Scientiae - MSc / Sutherlandia frutescens (L.) R. Br. (Fabaceae), indigenous to the Western Cape region of South Africa, is found in a Mediterranean-type climate known for its many environmental stressors that can influence the levels of metabolites found in plants. Sutherlandia frutescens contains many known potential active constituents among them, flavonoids such as sutherlandins 3 and 4 (Su3 and Su4) and terpenoids such as sutherlandiosides B and D (SuB and SuD). Whether the profiles and levels of Su3, Su4, SuB and SuD are significantly affected by the environmental factors found in this area is however, unknown. iBatech™ is an ethanolic plant extract that is manufactured by researchers in the Department of Medical Biosciences, UWC, for use as a pesticide. HPLC analysis performed on Lycopersicon species treated with the iBatech™ product have shown that it also caused an increase in the concentrations of total polyphenols in the plant (Klaasen et.al., unpublished data). Whether the treatment with iBatech™ might also cause an increase in the polyphenols such as sutherlandins 3 and 4 and sutherlandiosides B and D is also unknown. The objectives of this study were to determine the concentrations of sutherlandins 3 and 4 (Su3 and Su4) and sutherlandiosides B and D (SuB and SuD) in S. frutescens collected from different sites and after the treatment with the iBatech™ product. The specific objectives were: a) to locate and categorize sites where S. frutescens is grown, based on a selection of pertinent environmental growth factors, b) to determine and compare the concentrations of sutherlandins 3 and 4 and sutherlandiosides B and D in S. frutescens collected from the different environmental growth sites and after treatment with the iBatech™ product. To realize these objectives, S. frutescens samples were collected from eight different sites and broadly categorized into three environmental categories. A high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) method using diode array ultraviolet detection (HPLC-DAD) for the simultaneous analysis of flavonoids and terpenoids was developed and validated, and used for the profiling and determination of the average levels of sutherlandins 3 and 4 and sutherlandiosides B and D in the samples from the sites and that treated with the iBatech™ product. The Kruskal-Wallis test was used to determine statistically significant differences among the environmental categories. The post ANOVA, Dunn's Multiple Comparison test was performed to determine which groups were significantly different. The Mann-Whitney, two-tail, t-test was used to compare each environmental category to the standard and the column statistics of the raw data was analyzed to determine significant differences among samples from the same environmental category. In the samples collected from the sites, the values represent the average levels of metabolites for each environmental category whereas the significance values indicated were among samples from the same environmental category. The levels for sutherlandin 3 were Afriplex™ (Std.) 2495.08, the natural field (NF) 2810.33 (P=0.0005), the cultivated field (CF) 2519.81 and the greenhouse (GH) 2580.25. The levels for sutherlandin 4 were significantly different when comparing the (NF) 1495.67 (P=0.0001), (CF) 3114.42 (P=0.0140) and (GH) 2361.72 (P=0.0001), with the CF group showing the highest levels of Su4 and the NF showing the lowest. The levels for sutherlandioside B were (NF) 189.7 (P=0.0189), (CF) 594.56 (P=0.0140) and (GH) 326.72 (P=0.0001), however, the CF group showed the highest average levels for SuB. The levels for sutherlandioside D were (NF) 144.1 (P=0.0192), (CF) 544.37 (P=0.0308) and (GH) 387.49 (P=0.0001), with the NF category having the lowest average levels. In the iBatech™ treated samples, the values indicate the average levels of three samples in each treatment group. The levels for sutherlandin 3 were (control) 9758.43, the (50%) 2232.63 and the (100%) 2031.97 treatment groups. The levels for sutherlandin 4) were (control) 2241.63, the (50%) 2247.47 and the (100%) 2392.60, with the 100% treatment group having the highest levels. The levels for sutherlandioside B were (control) 289.66, the (50%) 284.93 and the (100%) 332.30. The levels for sutherlandioside D were (control) 282.77, the (50%) 280.60 and the (100%) 315.13 treatment groups, with the 100% treatment group having the highest levels. The levels of Su3, Su4, SuB and SuD were significantly different (P=0.0001) among all treatment groups. In conclusion, the data shows that only sutherlandin 4 (Su4) was significantly different when comparing the environmental groups. Due to the significant differences in the Su3, Su4, SuB and SuD levels among samples from the same group the levels of these metabolites cannot be correlated with the environmental groups.

The history of African Independent Churches (AICs) in Southern Africa goes back for more than a hundred years. They have proliferated geographically and demographically in Africa more than the mainline churches could ever have imagined. They have grown to be as widespread and as influential as the African mainline churches. The reason for this growth is that the AICs are the churches of African indigenous people. They are launched by Africans from a background of an African traditional and cultural frame of reference. The most significant reason is that the founders of these churches are not Westerners, but Africans. Western missionaries find it difficult to understand the AICs from their perspective. Thus the Western churches describe the AICs as sectarian, separatist, syncretist, nativitist, and so on. Nevertheless, some scholars are attempting to view the AICs in positive ways. The fact that these two different churches have never acknowledged each other as true churches is a big challenge for Christian missions in Namibia. Each group has been viewing and judging the other party through suspicious eyes from their own perspective, each driving the other to block the channel of reconciliation before the presence of God. With the aim of solving this problem, this thesis attempts to answer the following questions about the AICs in Namibia: • What are the reasons that the AICs in Namibia have been seceded from mission churches? • What are the activities in civil society in which the AICs in Namibia are currently involved? • Do the AICs engage in any activities which go against the Word of God? • What causes other churches to be suspicious of the AICs? • What level of enculturation is inherent to the AICs in Namibia? In other words, what is the relationship between the liturgies of the AIC and African traditional religion and African culture? • What makes the AICs in Namibia regard themselves as a church? Would it be possible for the AICs and the mainline churches in Namibia to cooperate in Christian missionary work? • What is a possible Korean missionary perspective on this particular situation? This will be dealt throughout this thesis from a Korean missionary missional perspective. / Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2014. / tm2015 / Science of Religion and Missiology / PhD / Unrestricted

Doctor Educationis / Diabetes has since been a global epidemic; an estimated 5.0 million deaths of diabetes in the world have been recorded; one in 11 adults have diabetes (415 million); and by 2040, one adult in 10 (642 million) will have diabetes. In Africa, more than two thirds of people with diabetes are undiagnosed, and 42 million have diabetes in the Sub-Saharan region with 324 877 adult deaths in South Africa (IDF, 2015). The global prevalence (age-standardized) of diabetes has nearly doubled since 1980, rising from 4.7% to 8.5% in the adult population. This reflects an increase associated with risk factors such as overweight or obese (WHO, 2016). Medicinal plants on the other hand, have played a significant role in the treatment and prevention of diabetes for centuries. In South Africa, indigenous medicinal plants have increasingly been used in the treatment of diabetes. In this study, a new anti-diabetes herbal compound named Jiang Tang 2016 (JT2016), made of three well researched South African indigenous medicinal plants is investigated for its hypoglycemic effects in HFD/STZ induced diabetic SD rats. These plants have been used for centuries in the indigenous system of medicine against various ailments, they are easily accessible, they grow in abundance, and are economically sustainable

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Thesis (M.A. (African Languages)) --University of Limpopo, 2013

Thesis (Ph. D. (Social Work)) -- University of Limpopo, 2016 / Refer to document / University of Limpopo