The dual agriculture sector in South Africa comprises both a well-developed commercial farming and a smaller scale communal component. It is however, the commercial sector that is relied upon for food security. The multi-dimensional and complex nature of agricultural production in South Africa demands that sustainable commercial farmers of the future need to demonstrate the ability to effectively handle a multitude of tasks, which may be a function of individual personality traits and emotional intelligence. In this paper, the contribution of individual differences in personality and emotional intelligence as drivers for sustainability of South African commercial agricultural producers was investigated for inclusion into a selection model defining the entry-level requirements (skills, knowledge and competencies) for this occupation. Despite several studies that reported on the personality traits of farmers on a global level, no reports are found on similar studies conducted within a South African context. The main objective of this study was to improve the sustainability of all commercial agricultural producers in South Africa by investigating the personality traits and emotional intelligence driving that sustainability. This study focused on the commercial farming sector in South Africa, which has a unique need to integrate emerging/new farmers into the modern agricultural value chain. This is in accordance with the objectives of the Land Reform Bill (South Africa, 2015) as set out in the government’s National Development Plan (South Africa, 2012). The population of the study comprised commercial agricultural producers throughout South Africa and the sample frame was the estimated 40 000 commercial agricultural producers from whom the sample was drawn. The sampling method employed was snowball sampling (non-probability sampling) with the sampling unit selected on a degree of personal judgement. Quantitative questionnaires were administered to 60 commercial farmers throughout South Africa. Quantitative data was analysed using the STATISTICA Version 10.0 (2011) computer software programme and results were presented in tabulated format. The empirical results revealed that amongst the independent variables investigated in this study, only two variables were significantly related to the successful implementation of sustainable farming; they are neuroticism and management of emotions. Emanating from the findings of this study, recommendations were made to respective role-players on how to manage and support these findings.

An agricultural project as implemented by the DRDLR is seen as a strategy and an attempt to alleviate unemployment at improving lifestyle and livelihoods on farms. This study attempts to explore the impact of agricultural projects on alleviating unemployment in the Cacadu District in Grahamstown. The research topic attempts to establish whether these unemployment alleviation projects had sufficient impact and contributed to socio-economic developments of the emerging farmer. A sample of the respondents involved in an agricultural project funded through Recapitalization programme by DRDLR participated in this study. A purposive sampling method was used for this study. Data collected was gathered through semi-structured questionnaires. Related literature that focuses on agricultural projects for alleviation of unemployment has been reviewed. Various recommendations based on findings of the study have also been made. Among findings that were made, it emerged that the Recapitalisation Programme has not made sufficient impact on the alleviation of unemployment. Findings if the study indicates that beneficiaries were not trained sufficiently with financial management skills which are key in equipping them to make substantial profits from their farm. The research findings indicated that the strategies that were used by the department through Recapitalisation were not effective enough to achieve the desired outcomes of alleviation of unemployment.

Information and Communication Technology (ICT) is a catalyst for economic development and has been seen to provide new business opportunities and a source of competitive advantage. The acute ICT skills gap in South Africa is widely acknowledged. Such a shortage has cost the South African economy dearly, resulting in the government adopting a multi-pronged approach to the problem. The various interventions have yielded limited success leaving room for other players to contribute to the solution. The Cisco Academy programme, executed through the establishment of Cisco Academies in educational institutions, is a professional education programme focused on the provision of computer networking skills and other basic information technology technical skills. Its comprehensive approach has seen it playing a complementary role to those of the government and other stakeholders. This study focused on the factors that affect Cisco Academy performance. The primary objective was to improve the academic performance of the Cisco Academies in South Africa. More specifically the study assessed the effect of instructor quality, use of technology tools, multi-culture needs, motivation, supporting infrastructure and accessibility on academy performance. The sample consisted of 166 respondents from five Cisco Academies in South Africa. Techniques such as multiple regression analysis, two sample t-tests and analysis of variance were employed on the empirical data. It was established that instructor quality and use of technology tools were the significant determinants of academy performance. It was also established that the Cisco Academy programme is making a significant contribution towards addressing the ICT skills shortage. A number of recommendations are made for the government, Cisco Academies and Cisco systems itself. Recommendations for future research are also provided.

Sports facilities increasingly feature amongst the most expensive development projects world-wide. One such facility includes world-class stadia. Such facilities tend to commit a considerably large amount of a country's public funds to the project. This public expenditure on new stadia, and the required public taxation, may be economically justified if the benefits from the new stadia outweigh the costs. 15 May 2004 saw South Africa winning the bid to host the FIFA 2010 Soccer World Cup tournament. This mega-event was played in 10 stadia across nine chosen host cities. Five of these stadia were newly constructed, while the other five needed upgrading. Both South Africa's national government and local governments of host cities bore the expenses of the new stadia construction and the upgrading to the existing stadia. This amounted to a total public expenditure of R13.5295 billion on the stadia alone. The Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium on the banks of the North End Lake in Port Elizabeth was amongst the five newly constructed stadia costing R1.7 billion. Many international studies have been conducted to assess the impact of new stadia on the economies of host cities. One particular aspect which has received a lot of attention as far as empirical research is concerned is the impact of stadia on residential property prices (Carlino & Couslon, 2004; Davies, 2005; Tu, 2005; Coates & Humphreys, 2006; Ahlfeldt & Maennig, 2007, 2010; Dehring, Depken & Ward, 2007; Feng & Humphreys, 2008, 2012; Kavetsos, 2010; Ahlfeldt, Maennig & Scholz, 2010; Kiel, Matheson & Sullivan, 2010; Ahlfeldt & Kavetsos, 2011; Coates & Matheson, 2011). The majority of the studies conducted have indicated that the presence of a new stadium in an area has a significantly positive effect on surrounding house values that decays with distance from the facility. As no study has yet been done in South Africa to investigate the impact of the announcement of the construction of new stadia on nearby residential property values, this study examines, by means of the hedonic pricing model, the effect of the announcement to construct the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium on the banks of North End Lake on adjacent residential property values. The study period for this study was 2004 - 2006. This time period captured the stadium announcement effect. The residential properties in North End that were traded at least once during the period 2004 to 2006 made up the target population. According to the South African Property Transfer Guide (SAPTG), a total of 417 property transactions (excluding repeat sales) took place over the study period (2004 - 2006). The 417 transactions were deemed to be the size of the target population and a list of 100 property transactions were used as the sampling frame. As the study period was from 2004 - 2006, it was necessary to adjust the market prices to constant 2006 prices. For this purpose, data from the Port Elizabeth and Uitenhage section of the ABSA house price indices were used so as to eliminate any inflationary effects on the property values over the study period. The results of the study revealed that the stadium has a statistically significant positive effect on adjacent residential properties situated within a 1 200 metres radius from the stadium. The average owner of a residential property in North End would be willing-to-pay between R10 7898 and R11 704.6 to be situated 435 metres closer to the stadium.

Renewable energy technology has received much attention over recent years. The depletion of known fossil fuel reserves and the volatility of international fuel prices require that society looks beyond the current coal-dominated electricity generation methods. Wind energy is an internationally well-established technology with large markets in major countries around the world, such as the USA and Germany. South Africa has the potential to generate large amounts of electricity from the wind because of the strength of the country’s wind resource. The long coast line and open areas are ideal for the exploitation of wind energy. A wind farm project has been proposed for development near the town of Jeffrey’s Bay, in the Eastern Cape. The proposed project involves the construction and installation of a 15MW wind farm, consisting of 6-10 turbines standing 120m tall, over an area of 20ha.There are indirect costs and benefits (externalities) associated with a wind farm project and it is important that projects such as these are evaluated from a social standpoint. The aim of this study was to determine the compensation required by residents for siting a wind farm in their area. This compensation was then used as a component of an overall evaluation of the project.

Crime in South Africa has been escalating over the past few years. Crime affects all societies in South Africa. It occurs amongst the rich and the poor, in the suburbs as well as in the townships. Serious and violent crimes are reported in most of the national newspapers almost on daily basis. There is no single satisfactory answer as to the causes of crimes and its impact on the economy of South Africa. The aim of this research report is to assess the impact of crime in the South African economy. In order to formulate a conceptual and theoretical framework of the study, growth theories, namely neoclassical growth theory, Harrod-Domar growth model classical growth theory and endogenous growth theory were presented. Although all these growth theories relate to this study as crime cuts-across all sectors of the economy the endogenous growth theory was chosen as a theoretical framework on which to base this study. Endogenous growth theory deals with domestic absorption. Crime interferes with this absorption as it constitutes a cost to the economy. Firms lose profits whilst the opportunity cost of running prisons using a tax payers’ money continues to grow. This study is based on a quantitative research technique, using a vector error correction model (VECM) on a quarterly time series data over a period 2003 to 2011. The variables used to explain variations in economic growth over this period are crime, real interest rates, real exchange rates, unemployment and poverty. The findings of this study suggest that crime exerts a negative impact on economic growth in a long run in South Africa. However, this relationship is not statistically significant both in a short run and a long run. . However, no evidence of short run adjustments between crime and economic growth were found. There is a long run negative relationship between real interest rates and economic growth. This relationship is also statistically significant in a long run but not in a short run. However, the relationship between real interest rates and economic growth is positive in a short run. This can be explained by the fact that high interest rates attract foreign investments causing a rise in economic growth but in a long run high interest rates dampen domestic investments thereby aggravating the unemployment problem. Rising unemployment is likely to lead to increase levels of crime in South Africa. The results also show that unemployment has a negative relationship with economic growth both in the short run and a long run. However this relationship is not statistically significant in a short run but in a long run. Poverty has a negative relationship with economic growth in a short run but a positive relationship in a long run. However, in both instances the relationship between poverty and economic growth is not statistically significant. Real exchange rate has a positive relationship with economic growth in a long run but a negative relationship in a short run. This relationship is statistically significant in a long run but not in a short run. This means that the benefits of a weak currency in South Africa are realised in a long run. The implications of this study with regard to the variable of interest namely crime, is that crime constitutes a cost to the economy of South Africa. The econometric modelling used in this study suggests a negative relationship between crime and economic growth. This means that the problem of crime in South Africa goes beyond just simple counts on a number of offenses. Based on the findings of this study it is recommended that crime prevention is better than cure. Crime prevention should use a wide range of ideas and abilities found throughout the society. Community planning, neighbourhood action, juvenile advocacy, security planning, education and training are some of the ways in which crime actions can be mitigated in South Africa.

The central objective of the research study was to evaluate the role of Mnquma Local Municipality in poverty alleviation in Mbiza Administrative Area. The key debates after apartheid have been on the successes and shortcomings of the social and economic policies that were adopted. The ANC-led government decided to approach poverty reduction by closing the inequality gap between racial groups in South Africa. It planned to provide services that would improve the lives of the poor and also create employment to sustain development. To provide the necessary services, the Government formulated two broad, but linked macroeconomic policies namely: the RDP and GEAR. This indicated the importance with which the people’s welfare and growth are regarded by the South African government. This guided research report attempted to investigate and analyse the role played by Mnquma Local Municipality to alleviate poverty in the Mbiza Administrative Area. This report shows that poverty is still extreme. The Municipality has achieved limited success in alleviating poverty and prioritising skills development among the community. This research demonstrates the IDP and its mechanism process in trying to address poverty alleviation in the Municipality’s geographical area of responsibility. This report also reveals that much has to be done to improve the effectiveness of the IDP in enhancing and fulfilling its intended goals and objectives.

The aim of the research is to quantify the HIV prevalence in human resources of forestry contracting businesses and to develop a management framework to promote economic sustainability of forestry contractors. HIV tests were conducted in the forest industry on the employees of contracting concerns from 2002/2003 to 2004/2005 with an accompanying questionnaire to collect demographic data. The HIV test results were analyzed with the demographic data to determine relationships between HIV prevalence and demographic factors. Contractors responded to a questionnaire on the effect of HIV and AIDS prevalence on (their) contracting businesses. The questionnaire also collected information about HIV and AIDS interventions and assistance to HIV and AIDS affected employees. Key stakeholders of other forestry sub-sectors were interviewed to facilitate comparison of the different sub-sectors and to establish if there were major differences between the sub-sectors, however, the focus was on the human resources of the forestry contracting sub-sector. The research results indicated that the HIV prevalence was increasing for the research period and was, in some regions, exceeding 40 per cent. The highest prevalence was recorded in the Highveld and Zululand regions and the lowest prevalence in the North-Eastern Cape. The HIV prevalence for females was constantly higher than the incidence for males and the ratio of males to females (all regions) approximated 68 per cent to 32 per cent. The high prevalence of HIV results in major social and economic impacts. The economic impact is aggravated through regulation (due to perceived market failure) and a bid for more equal distribution of wealth in the economy. The result of the sum of the impacts alludes to a conversion from labour to capital; however, to make well-informed decisions, various scenarios should be simulated to establish the optimum labour to capital ratio. The research further established that appropriate staffing is increasingly difficult and that the development of human capital is under pressure due to the high prevalence of HIV and AIDS. HIV and AIDS mitigation programmes will make a significant contribution to the return on human capital assets, as the economic life and productivity of such assets will be enhanced by such interventions. The management framework developed was assessed to be visually acceptable and useful by domain experts; however, to realise the full potential of the framework it should be used with anticipation of the research results regarding prevalence and future estimated AIDS releases and in conjunction with industry cost simulation models.

Agriculture plays an important role in the economy of every nation. Most countries depend on agriculture and other industries to survive. Economies around the world experience difficulties. There are many countries that have the potential to stimulate their economic growth through agriculture. The untapped resources have the potential of providing food, jobs and increased financial stability. Many countries utilise their agricultural sector to grow their economy. The growth of unemployment in South Africa has a big impact on our economy. This has caused an increase in poverty and unemployment (Ukpere & Slabbert, 2009). Women’s role in agriculture and food security is critical, but there is still lack of visibility regarding their participation and contribution in agriculture and development in general. This has led to two forms of agriculture in South Africa; so-called subsistence farming in the communal areas and white commercial farming (Kwa, 2001). Most emerging farmers are on communal land where they share decisions and ownership is unsecured, which discourages investment and limits productivity (Farmer's weekly, 2012). The main objective of the research was to determine if the women in the Tsitsikamma (Eastern Cape, South Africa), area have knowledge and strategies to manage their agribusiness in order to create an enabling environment and be competitive in their farming businesses. The qualitative method was used to answer questions in order to understand people’s perceptions, perspectives and understanding of particular situations. It is based on the belief that the researcher’s ability to interpret and make sense of what he or she sees is critical for an understanding of any social phenomenon. In seeking to create an enabling environment, a qualitative analysis investigated this particular situation. The sample consisted of 25 out of a possible 30 women in the agriculture industry. A structured questionnaire was used and interviews were conducted with women involved in agriculture regardless of owning a farm. This study was based in the farming industry, particular farm women who are interested or involved in agribusiness in the Tsitsikamma region. The results of the questionnaire revealed key findings, which enabled the researcher to draw meaningful conclusions and recommendations. The findings have suggested that the women farmers can overcome the identified constraints affecting the opportunities to grow their farming businesses. Further empirical results indicated that they do not have any strategies in running their farming businesses. The study also highlights areas in agribusiness that should be improved.

In this research the conflict between economic and conservation imperatives in the proposed exploration of shale gas in the South Western Karoo Basin was investigated. The primary aim of this study was to come to a theoretical understanding of the situation through a critical analysis of existing documents which allowed me to outline in detail the two opposing perspectives that either promote or resist a shale gas exploration project. The second objective of this research was to present empirical data from both a questionnaire completed by 20 respondents and two interviews, that helps amplify and verify arguments for or against a shale gas exploration project. The theoretical and empirical components of the research offer the basis for a balanced assessment of the viability of shell gas exploration in the Karoo. Using three fundamental assessment criteria (social, economic and environmental) for what constitutes a sustainable development project the gathered data was analysed in order to help ascertain whether or not the shale gas exploration project is a worthwhile development project. The question answered was whether a shale gas exploration project meets its social, economic and environmental mandates. From this, the final objective of this research was to make recommendations concerning what a responsible policy would be concerning land use in the Karoo.