Text in English / This study indicates the strong link between the belief in the afterlife and the inception of testamentary dispositions in ancient Egypt. To understand law, and specifically succession law, the importance of religion must be understood. Religion was embedded in society. One of the most important principles of religion was maat, which formed the basis for law. The living and dead formed part of the same community. The belief in the afterlife implied an immortality, an eternal continuation of life. There was a moral relationship between the dead and living and the deceased was dependent on sustenance after death. There was an obligation for the family to sustain the deceased, but this piety diminished and a need arose to make arrangements for sustenance prior to death. This led to the inception of the testamentary disposition document. The purpose of succession law is to maintain and strengthen the socio-economic structure in society and it therefore fulfils a social function. At the heart is the nuclear family. In ancient Egypt two systems of succession law developed: customary intestate succession and testate succession (by way of testamentary disposition). Different types of documents were used in ancient Egypt to serve the purpose of a testamentary disposition, such as the pious foundation and the imyt-pr. Important concepts and elements of succession law from the Old, Middle and New Kingdoms are identified and discussed. These include fideicommissum, trusts, usufruct, habitatio, legacies, the importance to indicate ownership of property, etc. The testamentary disposition documents of ancient Egypt must be one of the earliest examples of testate succession law. The Egyptian testamentary disposition, with its concepts and elements of succession law, was established centuries before Rome and Roman law were established. The resemblance to our modern-day wills and testaments through our Roman testate succession law heritage is remarkable. / Classics and World Languages / D. Litt. et Phil. (Ancient Near Eastern Studies)

This study briefly discusses land restitution in several countries in Europe and the Americas, the history of land deprivation in South Africa, and the legislation introduced to remedy the inequality of land ownership. Differing interpretations of the legislation in respect of the valuation of land to be purchased by the state for restitution purposes and the valuation formulae recommended at various times by the state and its advisors are discussed. Some of the problems encountered in the implementation of the South African restitution program, including the highly emotional expropriation/confiscation issues, are mentioned. Three case studies based on these differing interpretations are given. The case studies illustrate the evolution of the interpretations of the legislation concerning land restitution valuations in South Africa. / School: Management sciences / M. Tech. (Real Estate)

The main objective of the thesis was to investigate the feasibility of accurately and precisely fore- casting the number of both national and provincial bene ciaries of social security grants in South Africa, using simple autoregressive integrated moving average (ARIMA) models. The series of the monthly number of bene ciaries of the old age, child support, foster care and disability grants from April 2004 to March 2010 were used to achieve the objectives of the thesis. The conclusions from analysing the series were that: (1) ARIMA models for forecasting are province and grant-type spe- ci c; (2) for some grants, national forecasts obtained by aggregating provincial ARIMA forecasts are more accurate and precise than those obtained by ARIMA modelling national series; and (3) for some grants, forecasts obtained by modelling the latest half of the series were more accurate and precise than those obtained from modelling the full series. / Mathematical Sciences / M.Sc. (Statistics)

Continuous reforms of pension systems of countries of the world remain significant considering the fact that many countries, including South Africa, face challenges of how to adequately provide for their ageing populations. South Africa’s retirement system takes a formal three-pillar approach; comprising the state old-age pension, occupational funds, and private savings. Pension provision (occupational) takes the form of retirement funds which are mostly established by employers, administered by insurance companies, and regulated by the state through legislation. South Africa does not have a public fund and relies solely on the private retirement system. Many workers in South Africa retire with no income or with insufficient benefits and end up relying on the state for support. The reasons for this include a general lack of a culture of saving, the absence of a public fund, the voluntary nature of the system, leakages that exist within the system, a lack of mandatory preservation of benefits, risks with lump-sum cash payments, and the fact that the system focuses more on those in formal employment. This raises the question whether the system is in line with what is guaranteed by section 27 of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996 that everyone has a right to have access to social security. The right guarantees “everyone” access to some form of income (protection) during retirement, which makes retirement provision an important social security component. Thus, pensions play an important social security role as they protect the elderly from falling into poverty. Benefits received from retirement savings serve as income replacement in retirement and should therefore receive adequate protection, and they must be able to provide adequate protection to the beneficiaries – beyond mere survival. Over the years South Africa has embarked on many reform processes to find ways to improve its retirement system. This study determines the adequacy of South Africa’s occupational retirement system along social security objectives. It describes the nature of the system, considers proposals made for reform purposes, examines international law, (including systems in Belgium, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom for a comparative study), identifies weaknesses in the system, and makes some proposals to improve coverage and protection of benefits. / Mercantile Law / LL. D.

The purpose of this study is to investigate and explore the challenges and problems experienced by the residents of Braamfischerville, related to the provision of housing, including the provision of services such as adequate water and electricity and roads in the study area. The research focused largely on how the challenges and problems related to housing affect the lives of the residents, socially and economically. It seems these houses were designed for people who are single and young, and will never grow and have families of their own. When considering the size of these houses, it becomes clear that they do not cater for larger families. The quality of the housing units in this area is of very poor standard. The mixed research methods are used to collect the primary data for this study. The use of both quantitative and qualitative methods are deemed most appropriate for this research study, as most researchers regard them as best methods in answering the research questions. Mixed approaches are also important in identifying issues, factors and relevant questions which can become the focus of a quantitative. The use of mixed methods has the assumption that both approaches can complement each other and help in avoiding unnecessary shortcomings. The findings revealed that the size of the RDP houses was not suitable to accommodate most of the residents in this area. The problem was caused by poor housing designs which resulted in very small, overcrowded RDP houses. Most of the RDP housing units are defective, mainly caused by the use of poor building materials and it was also found out that unemployment was a major challenge in Braamfischerville. The state has not managed to create jobs for the community of this area. It has become very difficult for these people to make improvements to and maintain their RDP houses. Provision of basic services such as water and electricity was found to be in order. The roads in Braamfischerville were found to be in very poor conditions. And that has negatively affected the socio-economic activities in the area. Finally, the land where this settlement has been established, was found to be inadequate. The area is situated very far from the places of employment and other facilities. Several houses were built on damp areas, flooding areas and on the wetlands. These houses are said to pose a serious danger to the occupants. / Geography / M. Sc. (Geography)

Le système de santé français repose sur une dichotomie publique-privée. Cette dualité juridique se retrouve dans l’offre de soins proposée aux patients qui disposent du libre choix de se faire hospitaliser aussi bien en établissement de santé public qu’en établissement de santé privé, l’hospitalisation privée devenant prépondérante en France. Pour le patient peu importe la structure d’hospitalisation, puisque les droits des patients étant des droits fondamentaux, pour certains constitutionnellement garantis, ce dernier doit bénéficier des mêmes droits quel que soit le lieu de son hospitalisation. Or les conséquences engendrées par la spécificité « privée » de l’établissement de santé amène à s’interroger sur une éventuelle disparité dans l’application des droits du patient, qui pourraient être à l’origine d’un statut propre au patient hospitalisé en établissement de santé privé. / The French healthcare system relies on a public-private dichotomy. This difference in legal status is reflected in the actual provision of healthcare, as patients have the right to choose their preferred type of hospitalization with private sector hospitalizations now becoming predominant in France. However, patients must be granted the same rights regardless of which type of hospital they have chosen, due to the fact that patients' rights are fundamental rights, and for some of them they are constitutionally guaranteed. The implications of the specific nature of private hospitals raise questions about a potential disparity in the application of patients' rights, which would result in a different status for patients entering private hospitals.

The study aims to evaluate the Entrepreneurial Seed Fund Programme (ESFP) of the Cape Winelands District Municipality (CWDM). This Programme aims to provide seed funding to emerging and established businesses in order to start and/or grow their businesses. The Programme provides funding through a grant-in-kind by procuring the goods and equipment that the business needs. The businesses qualifying for the funding are not solely focusing on profit-making; they are addressing social issues through business activities in their communities. The population of the study includes five successful and unsuccessful beneficiaries and a questionnaire was designed in order to determine the contributing factors to the success or failure of the business and if the objectives of the Programme was realised. In conclusion, the ESFP can be regarded as a sustainable programme which contributed to job creation and social upliftment. The ESFP should be strengthened with a small business incubation programme in order to enhance its sustainability. / Public Administration and Management / M. Tech. (Public Management)

Since their creation in Europe in the seventeenth century, pension funds have grown to become one of the main sources of capital in the world. A number of role players ultimately manage the pension money of members on their behalf. Accordingly, the focus of this study is on the role players involved in the actual investment of pension fund money. For the purposes of the study, the key role players in the pension fund investment chain are identified as pension fund trustees, asset managers and asset consultants. These role players have a specific responsibility in terms of the service that they ought to provide. One of the key aspects of this dissertation is therefore determining whether their responsibility is a fiduciary responsibility. The main purpose of the study is, however, to answer one overarching research question: Does fiduciary responsibility create barriers to the implementation of responsible investment in the South African pension fund investment chain? Clearly, there are two key terms in this research question, fiduciary responsibility and responsible investment. It is suggested that responsible investment takes at least two forms: a “business case” form1 in which environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues are considered only in so far as they are financially material; and a social form in which ESG issues are considered over maximising risk adjusted financial returns. Three key questions were asked in order to find qualitative descriptions and interpretations of fiduciary responsibility: Question 1: Are the key role players in the pension fund investment chain fiduciaries? Question 2: If so, to whom do the key role players owe their fiduciary duty? Question 3: What are the fiduciary duties of the key role players in the pension fund investment chain? It is also suggested that the duty to act in the best interests of beneficiaries could be described as the all-encompassing fiduciary duty. Two main interpretations of the / Private Law / LL.M.

PhDGEO / Department of Geography and Geo-Information Sciences / See the attached abstract below

Prior to the introduction of section 37C into the Pension Funds Act. 24 of 1956, the benefit payable as a result of the death of a member would devolve in accordance with his last will and testament or the provisions of intestate succession. The advent of section 37C brought a statutory regime which expressly excludes freedom of testation and rather looks to the board of a fund to distribute the death benefit. The board may only pay the dependants of a deceased (either factual or legal) or the persons he has recorded on his nomination form. The section relies on the board to exercise its discretion in a manner which results in an equitable distribution of the death benefit notwithstanding that it does not provide any guidelines as to how this is to be achieved. Accordingly, numerous decisions are challenged by the identified beneficiaries because they are unhappy with the manner in which the board exercised its discretion. This results in complaints being lodged with the Pension Funds Adjudicator. Many such complaints should never have arisen or could have been easily solved by a proper exercise of discretion on the part of the board. The problem is that these complaints are adding to an already burdened office. Adequate training and understanding of the obligations of section 37C would probably result in fewer complaints to the Adjudicator. This dissertation examines whether the determinations which have been issued by the Adjudicator in respect of section 37C indicate a need for such training and understanding and, if they do, what possible remedies there might be to cure such a problem. Recommendations arising from this are that trustees must receive training focused on section 37C and proposed practical protocols to assist a board when exercising its duty to make an equitable distribution. / Jurisprudence / LL. M.