Thesis (doctoral)--University of Stellenbosch, 1945. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 331-336) and index.

Nowadays young people and other members of the society often find themselves in many malpractices such as rape, suicide, murder dropping out of school and other harmful activities due to the use of cannabis sativa (dagga) which is on the rise. This study concentrated on the use of cannabis sativa (dagga) in Mzintlava, Ngquza Hill Local Municipality in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa. Young people are actually the victims of the consequences of the use of dagga. Indications are that parents often ignore their children to use cannabis sativa until they can no longer stop them. Earlier researches on substance use in South Africa have always been descriptive. This resulted in sketchy understanding of factors that predisposed young children to the use and even abuse of dagga and the reasons why parents and the community underestimated the practice until the stage of addiction. Without this understanding, it will be difficult to introduce effective ways of abolishing dagga use among young children and other members of the community. Finding effective measures to prevent substance use has been difficult. Research is therefore needed in order to understand the basis of the problem. This study attempts to examine factors that make parents and the communities to leave children to taking substances until the stage where they can longer stop them. It will also lead to establishing factors that put young children or teenagers particularly at risk to the use of dagga.

This study investigated the experiences and survival strategies of informal traders in Mthatha, paying more attention to women. This has included their daily activities to sustain themselves and improve business performance. It has however elaborated on the reasons why people engage themselves in informal trade. Literature review shows that the reasons why people are involved in this form of trade are mainly due to unemployment, lack of education and lack of knowledge. The significance of this form of trade to the economy cannot be underestimated. Emphasis was laid on the challenges encountered by these traders. Such challenges include lack of access to financial facilities such as credit and savings; lack of shelter; harsh weather conditions and harassment and confiscation of their goods by Metro Police. The methodology of this study is primarily based on both quantitative and qualitative methods of research. Several data collection instruments were used. These included questionnaires, participant observation, in-depth interview and photography. Fifty questionnaires were administered to the informal traders and an interview schedule was used to gather information from members of the community and municipality. Description of study site, ethical consideration, limitations and delimitation has equally been presented. Data collected was analyzed using SPSS and manually. The results revealed that informal trading is a survival strategy to a large population of the people in Mthatha and the only source of income. Most of them are breadwinners who support a large number of dependents.

The study investigated the underachievement of Junior Secondary School learners within Ngqamakhwe district in the Eastern Cape Province. The research was conducted from the seven selected junior secondary schools in the Ngqamakhwe sub-district. The primary respondents of the study were one hundred and five (105) learners, forty two (42) educators and seven (7) school principals. Questionnaires were used to collect data. Three different questionnaires were designed, one for learners, one for educators and one for school principals. School schedules were also used to assess the extent of underachievement. The study utilised a quantitative research for the analysis of the data. The analysis was done using SPSS (Statistical Package for Social Sciences, version 19). The study revealed a number of factors responsible for underachievement amongst the learners. These factors were grouped into school and home environments. With the home environmental factors the level of education of parents and whether the parents buy reading material were more significant. With the school environment the age and grade of a learner were significant. Responses from principals and educators were regarded as factors underlying the underachievement and in particular the lack of resources both at home and at school. School principals of the seven schools revealed that there were no libraries, science laboratories, computers or clerks in their schools. Poverty emerged as one of the causes of underachievement. The influence of these may be statistically weak but are nonetheless present. A few other factors were noted to have statistically weak influences on the academic underachievement of learners. These included factors like gender, the parents’ employment status, the availability of a person to assist with homework, the frequency of parents visiting schools, whether television is available at home and whether the children are bored or not.From the findings the following recommendations were made:Creation of jobs by the government; Adult Basic Education must be encouraged in the rural areas; Employment of more educators; Appointment of clerks in every school; Building enough classrooms; Building libraries; Building of science laboratories; Review of teaching methods by educators.

<p>In recent publications and reports it has been outlined that HIV/AIDS is growing rapidly in the rural communities and the levels of poverty are on the increase. HIV/AIDS has been viewed to have a disastrous impact in almost every sphere of life, affecting the business sector, employment/unemployment, poverty, marginalizing a section of the population and tearing families apart. The study was aimed at exploring more issues that evolved around HIV/AIDS and poverty and also to determine if HIV/AIDS can be closely linked to poverty, because it has been reported that these two strongly affected each other.</p>

<p>In recent publications and reports it has been outlined that HIV/AIDS is growing rapidly in the rural communities and the levels of poverty are on the increase. HIV/AIDS has been viewed to have a disastrous impact in almost every sphere of life, affecting the business sector, employment/unemployment, poverty, marginalizing a section of the population and tearing families apart. The study was aimed at exploring more issues that evolved around HIV/AIDS and poverty and also to determine if HIV/AIDS can be closely linked to poverty, because it has been reported that these two strongly affected each other.</p>

Global competition is forcing all organisations, both manufacturing and service or ientated, to review their facil ities and processes from a productivity and quality standpoint. The concept of lean manufacturing has evolved from mass production methodologies developed by Henry Ford. Lean methodology, as developed by the Toyota Motor Company of Japan, yields consistent product quality at a lower cost , while delivering greater variety to the customer. The purpose of this research was to identify lean methodology application to the service industr y and to evaluate its application to UTi South Africa (PTY) LTD. The research presented an empirical study of how a lean tool can be a ppl ied at UTi South Africa (PTY) LTD service operations and possible lean models for UTi Port Elizabeth. The research study found that lean methodology can be applied to the freight forwarding industry and that opportunities exist for lean to improve productivity.

The new world of work requires managers to be performance coaches. Traditionally, coaching was viewed as one of the lesser responsibilities of a manager. With more emphasis being placed on the leadership role of managers, there has been a shift in the role of managers from controller to coach. On-the-job performance coaching remains a neglected management function in many organisations in South Africa. Coaching is imperative for the future success of an organisation because it helps employees build their competence and results in improved performance. The purpose of this study is to identify a core set of coaching values, knowledge and skills that underpin management practices amongst a sample of Eastern Cape managers. The literature review highlights the need for managers to become coaching managers. Five values (building trust, collaborating, learning, helping and empathy) and six knowledge/skills competencies (effective questioning, active listening, problem solving, giving feedback, motivating and reflecting) were identified as being used in best coaching practices. The research design used is predominantly quantitative. A survey questionnaire was designed around the eleven core coaching competencies identified in the literature review. A total of 72 questionnaires were distributed and 40 questionnaires were returned. The response data was analysed using descriptive statistics. The main value of the study is that it proposes a tentative coaching model that can be used by managers to help them function effectively in their new role of coaching manager. The research study has highlighted three broad competency areas (values, problem solving and facilitating) and their related competencies. At the core of the coaching model are five values (building trust, collaborating, learning, helping and empathy) that promote rapport and a coaching friendly environment. iii The model advocates a systematic problem solving process. When coaching opportunities arise on-the-job, the coaching manager uses facilitation skills (effective questioning, active listening, giving feedback, motivating and reflecting) to engage the employee in the problem solving process. / Human Resources / M.Tech. (Human Resources Development)

The new world of work requires managers to be performance coaches. Traditionally, coaching was viewed as one of the lesser responsibilities of a manager. With more emphasis being placed on the leadership role of managers, there has been a shift in the role of managers from controller to coach. On-the-job performance coaching remains a neglected management function in many organisations in South Africa. Coaching is imperative for the future success of an organisation because it helps employees build their competence and results in improved performance. The purpose of this study is to identify a core set of coaching values, knowledge and skills that underpin management practices amongst a sample of Eastern Cape managers. The literature review highlights the need for managers to become coaching managers. Five values (building trust, collaborating, learning, helping and empathy) and six knowledge/skills competencies (effective questioning, active listening, problem solving, giving feedback, motivating and reflecting) were identified as being used in best coaching practices. The research design used is predominantly quantitative. A survey questionnaire was designed around the eleven core coaching competencies identified in the literature review. A total of 72 questionnaires were distributed and 40 questionnaires were returned. The response data was analysed using descriptive statistics. The main value of the study is that it proposes a tentative coaching model that can be used by managers to help them function effectively in their new role of coaching manager. The research study has highlighted three broad competency areas (values, problem solving and facilitating) and their related competencies. At the core of the coaching model are five values (building trust, collaborating, learning, helping and empathy) that promote rapport and a coaching friendly environment. iii The model advocates a systematic problem solving process. When coaching opportunities arise on-the-job, the coaching manager uses facilitation skills (effective questioning, active listening, giving feedback, motivating and reflecting) to engage the employee in the problem solving process. / Human Resources / M.Tech. (Human Resources Development)

The government of South Africa has seen many financial reforms in the finance industry since the attainment of freedom in 1994. Many microfinance institutions (MFIs) have emerged in the name of poverty reduction, however the impact of MFIs on poverty reduction in rural areas has not been significantly high. Poverty has been reduced but still the inequality gap has even widened (HSRC, 2004). The study is concerned with analysing the impact of MFIs in poverty reduction among the rural poor. Empirical evidence from many developing nations around the world has shown that microfinance is a tool that is relevant in reducing poverty within rural areas. This study investigates the impact of microfinance institutions on household income levels, education and business skills. The study followed a qualitative approach in terms of the research methodology and a survey research design. Data was collected using questionnaires, scheduled interviews, focus group discussions and key informants. Two sample techniques were used for the selection of the MFIs and the household respondents, that is purposive sampling and cluster sampling. In total, 150 households, 15 MFIs and five key informants were interviewed. Descriptive analysis methods were employed and the study showed that only 10 percent of the total households have been able to access microfinance. The number of people who gained business skills was also low (10 percent). The MFIs who provide financial services excluding the other services like business training programmes were 80 percent of the total number of MFIs interviewed. This data showed that only a few (20 percent) MFIs are willing to go an extra mile rendering business skills to their clients. Overally the major finding of the study was that although, MFIs are reaching out to the rural communities, their levels of outreach is still very low within the rural areas. However this does not mean that the impact of MFIs funding is not felt among the rural poor. The levels of income and educational benefits have been increased and felt by the 10 percent of the rural poor clients. This study advocates for an entrepreneurship development pathway to poverty reduction. Microfinance should be used as a source of finance to initiate entrepreneurial activities among the poor in order to generate income. In this study, the use of microfinance finance for consumption by the poor is discouraged because it depletes the funds that can be channeled for selfhelp projects within the rural communities. The study findings motivated the recommendations that encourage an inclusive financial system that is capable of reaching out to the rural poor.