The objective of the study was to determine the species composition and geographic distribution of ticks in the eastern region of the Eastern Cape Province. Ninety out of a total of 1 057 communal cattle dip-tanks in the region were selected by means of a table of random numbers, and 72 of these were eventually allocated to the survey. At each of the chosen dip-tanks an attempt was made to collect ticks from five cattle, five goats, five dogs and two hen coops, and free-living ticks from the vegetation by means of flannel strips, and ticks were collected from January 2004 and 2005 to May 2004 and May 2005 respectively. The geographic coordinates of the dip-tanks at which the ticks were collected were recorded, and used for plotting the distributions of the various tick species. The ticks were stored in 70 % ethyl alcohol in internally labelled vials for later identification and counting. Eleven ixodid tick species were collected from cattle, goats, dogs and the vegetation, namely Amblyomma hebraeum, Haemaphysalis elliptica, Haemaphysalis spinulosa, Hyalomma marginatum rufipes, Ixodes pilosus group, Rhipicephalus (Boophilus) decoloratus, Rhipicephalus (Boophilus) microplus, Rhipicephalus appendiculatus, Rhipicephalus evertsi evertsi, Rhipicephalus sanguineus and Rhipicephalus simus. Of these R. e. evertsi and R. appendiculatus were the most numerous, and constituted 38.8 % and 34.9% of the 13 768 ticks collected respectively. They were followed by R. (B.) microplus (17.4 %) and A. hebraeum (5.3%). Two argasid tick species were collected, namely Otobius megnini from the ear canals of two cattle, and Argas walkerae from fowl houses. A. walkerae was collected from 102 (70.8%) of 144 fowl houses in the vicinity of 57 (79.2%) of the 72 selected dip-tanks, and seemed to be present only when there was wood in the structure of the fowl house. Adult A. hebraeum was present in areas where there are trees and bush as well as grass, particularly along the coast, but also surprisingly far inland beyond the distribution limits previously illustrated for it. R. (B.) microplus, R. appendiculatus and R. e. evertsi were present throughout the survey area region, and from their distribution maps there are strong indications that the exotic R. (B.) microplus is displacing the indigenous R. (B.) decoloratus in this region. A large percentage of goats were infested with the adults of ticks normally associated with cattle, namely A. hebraeum, R. (B.) microplus, R. appendiculatus and R. e. evertsi. A more significant finding, however, is the large proportion of R. (B.) microplus females measuring 5 mm or more in length on the goats, a good indication that they were successfully completing their life cycles. In the light of these findings, it is imperative to include goats in any tick control programme aimed at controlling a tick-borne disease outbreak in sympatric cattle. Eight ixodid tick species were collected from the dogs, and H. elliptica, followed by R. appendiculatus and R. simus were present on these animals at the largest number of dip-tanks. The kennel tick R. sanguineus, a parasite of dogs in urban environments, was collected from dogs only at two localities. / Dissertation (MSc (Veterinary Science))--University of Pretoria, 2007. / Veterinary Tropical Diseases / MSc / unrestricted

Cut-Off Lows (COLs) are certainly amongst the most important synoptic-scale rain producing weather systems in South Africa. Rainfall associated with COLs is usually widespread, while about 20% of COLs are associated with heavy rainfall. Both these attributes of rainfall associated with COLs are important to agriculture. Widespread rainfall secures good grazing potential, while heavy rainfall not only contributes largely to maintaining dam levels that are needed for irrigation, but also to flooding and erosion. Agriculture in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa is predominantly rain-fed, while agricultural activities that depend on irrigation are mostly located along the western coastal belt of the province. Despite of the fact that all COLs do not pass directly over the Eastern Cape Province, most of them appear to have a direct or indirect influence on the rainfall of the province, and in turn, impact on agricultural production and even the economy. In this study, the contribution of COLs to rainfall over the Eastern Cape Province is investigated. In order to achieve this, a climatology of COLs for the period 1979 to 2009 (31 years) was constructed by utilizing the National Centers for Environmental Prediction-National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCEP-NCAR) reanalysis data to create 6-hourly contour images of geopotential heights and air-temperatures at the 500 hPa pressure level. All COLs that occurred over South Africa bounded by 200S to 400S and 00E to 500E from the day they started (at the formation of a closed low pressure system) until the day they ended (at the disappearance of the closed low pressure system), and that were cold cored, were considered as potential COLs in this study. In addition, low level circulation maps obtained from the South African Weather Service’s (SAWS’s) daily weather bulletins were used to ensure that the defined COLs were indeed extending from the 500 hPa pressure level to the land surface. Daily rainfall totals from 22 well-distributed weather stations over the Eastern Cape Province were used to determine the contribution of COLs to the rainfall over the province. It was found that 64% of COLs that lasted for more than 24-hours over the study domain had an influence on the total rainfall over the Eastern Cape Province. Monthly frequency distribution of COLs reveal that April and May had the highest occurrences, while December and January have the least occurrence. Long-term seasonal frequencies distributions of COLs show the highest occurrence during March-April-May (MAM) with the least occurrences during December-January-February (DJF). Most COLs lasted for 2-4 days over South Africa and the Eastern Cape Province for the study period of 31-years. The contribution of rainfall associated with the occurrence of COLs is found to be approximate 37-38% annually along the coastal areas, while it is less than 10% annually over the interior of the Eastern Cape Province. / MSc / gm2014 / Geography, Geoinformatics and Meteorology / unrestricted

The researcher has since 1996 been involved professionally in the field of Employee Assistance and has been witness to its evolution, growing complexity and potential to make a positive impact on the development of individuals and organizations through employer-employee relationship and workplace dynamics. The motivation for this study came from an interest to gain deeper understanding of the concept and implementation of EAPs by organizations in the researcher’s immediate environment and circle of potential influence. The development of EAPs in South Africa, influenced by various professions, has evolved as a result of different organizational needs which occur in varying forms and levels of sophistication depending on staffing, availability of resources and capacity within organizations. There is limited information available to EAP as a developing profession in terms of how programmes occur in South Africa. This study sought to analyze the prevalence and nature of EAPs in work organizations within the Buffalo City Municipal Area (BCMA) in the Eastern Cape Province, mainly to obtain reliable information on these programmes so that implementation of employee assistance can be evaluated and improved. This investigation provides a critical description of the implementation of EAPs in the BCMA with a view to establish prevalence, critically analyze the nature of EAPs, and to benchmark against existing Employee Assistance Professional Standards. The literature review includes a detailed examination of the history of EAPs in South Africa, contributions of the different professional disciplines, definitions of EAP, models currently in practice with the advantages, disadvantages and factors that influence the organizations choice of model and core technology of EAPs, as well as a critical examination of the 27 EAPA-SA Standards of 2005. The study is quantitative, exploratory and descriptive in nature as it sought to measure prevalence and provide descriptions of implementation methodologies in terms of form, shape, scope, staffing and services offered. These descriptive elements are benchmarked against the Standards for EAPs in South Africa, developed by the EAPA-SA, the official voice of the EAP profession. Questionnaires were administered to respondents that attended the local EAPA Branch and Occupational Health Nurses Association as well as Provincial Forum for Public Sector EAPs meetings. The respondents that were not reached this way were administered questionnaires personally. The population included organizations from both the private and public sector that employed a minimum staff compliment of two hundred. Since there are only 47 such organizations in the BCMA (both public and private sector), the entire population consisted of respondents and no sample was selected. Univariate analysis was used to assess data collected. The findings of the study indicate that EAPs are prevalent in BCMA organizations but they vary considerably in the way they have been developed and implemented. Benchmarked against the EAPA-SA Standards it is evident that while employee assistance programmes have certain basic elements in common, the overall design and implementation is fortuitous at best. Since the EAPA-SA standards have been developed concurrently with EAPs it is hoped that newly established EAPs will be a product of careful design rather than an inadvertent incident. EAPA-SA, educational institutions and business development forums need to collaborate and partner to provide comprehensive support to organizations and EAP practitioners to strengthen their EAPs. Correctly implemented, capacitated and resourced, EAPs can assist organizations to effectively manage their human resource behavior and health risks, maximize productivity as well as support individual employees to optimally manage personal and work challenges and function at their best. Copyright / Dissertation (MSW)--University of Pretoria, 2010. / Social Work and Criminology / unrestricted

The control of ticks, and to some extent tick-borne diseases, over much of South Africa is currently dependent on acaricides and will probably remain so for the foreseeable future. Resistance to these chemicals by ticks thus poses a major threat to the livestock industry especially as these chemicals constitute an ever-diminishing resource with fewer being discovered and the cost of their development becoming prohibitive. In order to determine the extent of acaricide resistance in the eastern region of the Eastern Cape Province one-, two- and three-host ticks were collected from cattle at 58 dip-tanks over a period of 2 years. The one-host tick selected was Rhipicephalus (Boophilus) microplus, the two-host tick Rhipicephalus evertsi evertsi and the three-host tick Rhipicephalus appendiculatus. The ticks were tested for resistance to three compounds, namely amitraz, cypermethrin and chlorfenvinphos. The Shaw Larval Immersion Test detected emerging resistance to amitraz in the one-host tick R. (Boophilus) microplus at two dip-tanks and resistance at a third. It also revealed resistance in this tick to cypermethrin at one dip-tank, and emerging resistance to chlorfenvinphos at eight dip-tanks and resistance at two. The two-host tick R. evertsi evertsi was susceptible to amitraz and cypermethrin at all dip-tanks, but showed emerging resistance to chlorfenvinphos at seven dip-tanks and resistance at four. The three-host tick R. appendiculatus was susceptible to amitraz and chlorfenvinphos at all dip-tanks and demonstrated emerging resistance to cypermethrin at one. With the exception of R. (Boophilus) microplus, in which emerging resistance to amitraz was detected at one dip-tank by the Reproductive Estimate Test, all three tick species at all dip-tanks at which sufficient numbers of ticks had been collected, were susceptible to the three acaracides in both the Egg Laying Test and the Reproductive Estimate Test. Thus despite its fairly long and widespread use in the eastern region of the Eastern Cape Province very little or no resistance to amitraz was detected in three tick species regularly encountered on cattle in this region, namely R. (Boophilus) microplus, R. evertsi evertsi and R. appendiculatus. On the other hand resistance to chlorfenvinphos was detected in both R. (Boophilus) microplus and R. evertsi evertsi at a number of dip-tanks even though it, or other organophosphorous-based compounds, had probably not been used for tick control in the region for a number of years. The localities at which ticks were collected had already been mapped and the localities at which acaricide resistant ticks were encountered were mapped during this study. The three tick species that were targeted for acaricide resistance testing were widespread throughout the study region, but no pattern of geographic distribution for the acaricide resistant strains of these species that were detected, emerged. The rapidity of selection for acaricide resistance appeared to be closely related to the life cycles of the three ticks and the number of days that they theoretically would spend annually on their preferred host animals. Thus a greater number of acaricide resistant strains were encountered amongst the one-host tickR. (Boophilus) microplus and the two-host tick R. evertsi evertsi than the three-host tick R. appendiculatus. The fist two ticks both complete more than one life cycle a year and hence spend a longer time on their cattle hosts than the three-host tick R. appendiculatus, which completes only one life cycle a year and in addition is a rapid feeder in all its stages of development. To counter selection for acaricide resistance it is proposed that regular testing for resistance should be carried out, and that as soon as emerging resistance is detected in ticks on cattle at a particular dip-tank, that the acaricide in use at that dip-tank should be changed to a compound belonging to a completely different group of chemicals. Copyright / Dissertation (MSc)--University of Pretoria, 2009. / Veterinary Tropical Diseases / unrestricted

A total of 143 blood samples of nyala (Tragelaphus angasii) from two regions in South Africa were tested for the presence of tick-borne haemoparasites by means of polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and reverse line blot (RLB) hybridisation. While most blood samples taken in EDTA blood turned out negative for the presence of haemoparasites, the majority of blood samples collected on Whatman® filter paper contained several different haemoparasites, often in combination. Samples from the Eastern Cape Province as well as from KwaZulu- Natal turned out positive. Prevalent haemoparasites were Theileria sp. (kudu), T. buffeli, T. bicornis, Theileria sp. (sable), T. taurotragi, Ehrlichia sp. Omatjenne, Anaplasma bovis and A. marginale. This serves as the first report of T. buffeli, T. sp. (kudu), T. bicornis, T. taurotragi, Ehrlichia sp. Omatjenne, A. marginale and A. bovis in nyala. Copyright / Dissertation (MSc (Veterinary Tropical Diseases))--University of Pretoria, 2009. / Veterinary Tropical Diseases / unrestricted

Please read the abstract in the section 00front of this document Copyright 2000, University of Pretoria. All rights reserved. The copyright in this work vests in the University of Pretoria. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the University of Pretoria. Please cite as follows: Bediako, A 2000, A study of fruit and vegetable vendors in the central region of the Eastern Cape Province, MInst Agrar dissertation, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, viewed yymmdd < http://upetd.up.ac.za/thesis/available/etd-04302007-120638/ > / Dissertation (M Inst Agrar (Agricultural Economics))--University of Pretoria, 2007. / Agricultural Economics, Extension and Rural Development / unrestricted

This study is aimed at investigating specific preferences for various types of maize meal in two rural communities of Mthatha. Consumption data shows that in very poor households, maize was the only and most consumed foodstuff. The acceptability and opinions of different maize meal types were investigated by this study, as well as awareness of technologies, food fortification and genetic modification. The first phase of the study employed a qualitative approach in which numerical data was collected using sensory evaluations and second phase being a qualitative approach in the form of focus group interviews. In determining consumer acceptability, sensory evaluations were done amongst villagers from Ngqeleni and Mqanduli of selected age groups and gender. The sensory evaluation findings of the study indicate that fortified (special) maize meal is preferred over all other maize meal types, based on a higher liking of the aroma and colour. This was followed by unfortified (special) maize meal, although it was not significantly different to sifted white maize meal, sifted yellow maize meal, white sifted non-genetically modified maize meal, white genetically modified maize meal, in descending order. Younger adults (18-25years) had a stronger preference for white fortified maize meal, with older adults (>40years) all maize meal types similarly with the exception of yellow sifted maize meal. Males and females revealed equal liking behaviour. The Ngqeleni villagers preferred white fortified maize meal. Mqanduli participants preferred sifted maize meal, probable due to the fact that this is the staple food produced in the village. Focus groups were used to capture understanding and/or opinions of food fortification and genetic modification. Ngqeleni and Mqanduli are two villages approximately 30km east of Mthatha and south east of Mthatha, respectively. Findings from the two villages differed. Somewhat the Mqanduli community was more subsistence farming based, therefore aware of farming practices and their technical benefits but not the facts behind the technology. In Ngqeleni, the community was more aware of the concepts even though they were not exposed to them. This deduced a low illiteracy rate in Mqanduli compared to Ngqeleni and it was confirmed during discussions and through a mini survey. Poverty was also evident in Mqanduli as most of the community was unemployed. This encouraged the community to use locally grown maize meal more than the commercial fortified maize meal. The issue of yellow and white maize brought good discussions, which led to conclusions that the choice of yellow maize depends on individual preferences. Most of the respondents in these communities consumed yellow maize in one state or another, with a few who did not prefer it at all as maize meal. Most men preferred yellow maize and yellow maize meal, as they believed that it had higher satiety level than white maize and white maize meal. In conclusion, the study revealed very interesting differences in preference of different maize meal types. This could form part of understanding the dynamics related to staple foods in a rural context. / Dissertation (MConsSci)--University of Pretoria, 2009. / Consumer Science / unrestricted

The majority of the existing urban areas in South Africa began as colonial centres. This study seeks to evaluate the role the Royal Engineers played in the development of the Cape Colony from 1806 until the acceptance of responsible government by the Cape Colony in 1872. The Colonial State implemented a capital works programme of staggering breadth and scale. During this time South Africa was delineated, urbanised, developed and connected to the world markets. This was achieved via a highly trained and professional military establishment; the Royal Engineers. The role of the Royal Engineers and the legacy of towns, forts and infrastructure are studied in depth in this thesis. British imperial approach to colonial expansion and development in both a spatial and theoretical manner forms the basis of this thesis. The case study covers the Eastern Cape of South Africa. The physical and spatial development of this region are analysed in order to glean any lessons which could be learnt from the approach adopted to colonial settlement. This Study illustrates that a small highly trained group of military engineers had a significant impact on the establishment of early towns and infrastructure in South Africa. They have left a lasting footprint on South Africa’s spatial development and many of the towns and much of the infrastructure is still in use today (specifically the harbours, railways and mountain passes). The Royal Engineers’ approach to development and background training is studied and then reduced to its theoretical approach. This theoretical approach is then analysed in order to glean the lessons history can teach us about development, specifically development on ‘terra nova’. An attempt is made to extract planning theory from historical analysis of developmental elements which worked in the past. The study begins by analysing the background and training of the Royal Engineers and then moves on to assessing the spatial and physical impact their plans had on the development of South Africa. The discussion then moves beyond what the Royal Engineers did to understand how they made it happen; to arrive at a positive theory of planning or to ask when does planning work ? The Royal Engineers were schooled in the sciences and trained to be experts in almost all things; they were the master craftsmen and skilled problem solvers of the era. The training they received at Chatham, is a very early example of professional training; it was comprehensive, high quality and practical. Those who emerged from this training carried out vast public works around the British Empire; they produced very few theories of development but they did challenge ideas. The avant- garde designs of some colonial towns such as Queenstown, Khartoum, Adelaide and Savannah show a desire to improve on settlement forms and to provide design solutions to urban problems. The Royal Engineers adopted a pragmatic approach to development, they initially received a very good scientific academic training, they then learnt by example whilst serving under engineer commanders. As a unit they learnt by observation, experimentation and example. What is striking in their approach is that they saw a problem and simply went about solving it and their solutions were inevitably physical structures and infrastructure. / Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2011. / Town and Regional Planning / unrestricted