The Gauteng Department of Education has issued new admission circulars for the past five years. The necessity for such policy regulation may well point to a problem which remains unsolved. What the circulars regulating the environment do not explicitly deal with is the fact that admissions impact heavily on the planning processes of the school. The process of admissions links to the subsidy received by the school as well as to the post and staff establishments of the school. While the Gauteng Department of Education has put into place a number of mechanism for dealing with admissions, it is at the level of the School Management Team that Admissions are actually dealt with. The research will highlight some of the challenges faced by the School Management Team when implementing the Admission policies of the department. / Dr. P. du Plessis Mr. T.S. Hlongwane

M.B.A. / Gauteng, the smallest of the nine South African provinces, but the largest in terms of its contribution to national GDP (33.9%), generates 10% of Africa’s GDP (Gauteng Enterprise Propeller Overview, 2007) and is therefore a very important geo-economical zone. As South Africa latest unemployment rate is 25.5% (StatsSA, 2006), Government is geared towards promoting small businesses in an effort to grow the economy and reduce unemployment. It is therefore very important to the economy that small businesses succeed, grow and provide employment. Due to the fact that at present, very little research into the success factors amongst small businesses in South Africa has been conducted in South Africa, it seems appropriate at this time to investigate the success factors of small businesses in Gauteng. The problem statement in this research is that there is insufficient knowledge relating to the factors contributing to the failure or success of small businesses in South Africa, Gauteng. To conduct this research, a qualitative and exploratory approach was decided upon. A literature survey on the subject was conducted in order to ground the current research in existing theory and research. A questionnaire was sent out by e-mail to 3776 businesses in Gauteng, to which the response rate was 3.15% (119 questionnaires were returned). The questionnaire was divided into sections and covered the definition of success, entrepreneurial personality characteristics of owner/manager, use of management tools, resource availability and the classification of respondents and their businesses. Due to the small size of the sample this research is not able to conclusively achieve the primary research objective of identifying the success factors of small businesses in Gauteng, but it has nevertheless contributed to the body of research on the matter, since it established that there is a correlation between: • Entrepreneurial personality and the success of small businesses • The use of management tools and the success of small businesses • The availability of resources and the success of small businesses. In addition the following can be reported: • The owner/managers surveyed attributed their success to: - persistence and determination - experience - entrepreneurial personality - business knowledge - a great team - education • The existence and or use of the business plan and its relationship to success remains inconclusive • Financial resources do not feature prominently as a success factor, but business skills do seem to correlate with success. Further research is necessary to pinpoint conclusively which traits and behaviours are conducive to success, by comparing successful and unsuccessful business owners. Other recommendations that arose from this research were: • Research should be conducted into the assumption that economic growth is driven by the proliferation of small businesses • Research into the weight of internal factors ((personality, experience, attitude, knowledge) versus that of external factors (start-up capital, business plans, skill availability, economic and legal conditions) would contribute to the body of knowledge and could trigger a shift in approach.

M.Ed. / South Africa’s current transformation process has effected momentous policy changes that have been designed under extreme pressure of redesigning a whole society. The process of transforming the Education system has been characterised by the passing of new legislation, restructuring of management systems and the decentralisation to a school level authority to make decisions related to the allocation of resources. Implementation problems arose when the policy has been misunderstood by managers at various levels of the department, or at school, perhaps because of insufficient explanation and socialisation from the National Department of Education and the Provincial Education Department. The current financial climate in South Africa has resulted in the responsibility for the financing of education being devolved to the private sectors, particularly the parent and business communities of the institutions. Schools therefore have to generate more funds to supplement the resources supplied by the State to be administered and managed as school funds. It is against the background of a fragile financial foundation for the funding of public education as well as the implementation problems experienced by various levels of the Education Department, that the remedy may then point to the development of awareness campaigns, or a rewording though not a redesign of policies. Therefore we need to look at the process of policy implementation from time to time in order to assess the degree of alignment with policy and effect various changes timeously in our attempt to fine-tune our systemic and individual capacities on an ongoing basis. Chapter one outlines the content of the research study, the declaration of the problem, the objectives of the study and the clarification of the concepts. Chapter two comprises of a thorough literature study which outlines the perspectives of various stakeholders regarding current financial management procedures in public schools in South Africa. Chapter three outlines the research methodology that is used in this research study. A valuable method was used to gather research material for the study of financial management at public schools. Chapter four is about the collection of information, its analyses and its interpretation. Themes and categories are identified and information analysed. Themes are also used as sub-categories during the analyses of the information. Chapter five is the findings of the research study. Theoretical information from the research study was compared with information consolidated from questionnaires and interviews. The last chapter consist of a summary, recommendations and the conclusion of the study.

M.A. / The Conservancy system was developed in KwaZulu-Natal but is not only limited to this province today. Conservancies are being established across South Africa and can be described as a type of conservation strategy that is constantly increasing. A Conservancy is defined as a group of farms whose owners have combined resources for the improved conservation and well-being of wildlife inhabiting the area. The term wildlife in this case encompasses mammals, birds, fish, natural vegetation and all desirable natural life forms. Local nature conservation authorities assist landowners in a conservancy by the training of staff, motivation of members, provision of animals at reasonable prices for re-stocking, and technical advice on management planning. Conservancies are however run and financed entirely by the farmers or landowners and they therefore do not have any legal nature conservation status. Through the establishment of Conservancies natural resources can be conserved, but emphasis has to be placed on the successful functioning and management thereof. Control over Conservancies, from a governmental point of view, is limited to each province's nature conservation department. This study was undertaken to determine the state and functioning of Conservancies in South Africa, with special reference to Gauteng. A literature study as well as various visits to the Gauteng Department of Nature Conservation and three existing Conservancies in the province were undertaken for this purpose. From this enough information was gathered to formulate various guidelines for the establishment and management of Conservancies. These guidelines are based on certain shortcomings that were identified in the management structure of Conservancies in Gauteng. Should these guidelines be taken into account when Conservancies are established, the functioning and management thereof will be successful and will contribute to effective environmental conservation.

M.Ed. / In 1994 a new era based on equality and non-discrimination dawned on South Africa, which spelt radical reform in all spheres of government and society. In Education, the challenge was to provide schooling that is uniform in standard and accessible for all learners - a paradigm shift from that of separation of race groups. This shift to redress past inequalities was done through the mechanism of the South African Schools Act that implemented funding reforms to meet the philosophical ideas of the constitutional age. The mechanics of reform is a recurrent cost subsidy, a subsidy to redress previous inequalities and protection of indigent parents, through the exemption clause. It is the unforeseen ramifications of social stigma on the working of the exemption clause, and a culture of non-payment of fees that impacted heavily on the cash flow of schools leaving them technical insolvent. This research paper focuses on the impact of non-payment of fees on schools. The literature study identified causes for the great inequality between schools and the purpose and effect of the Act. The research is a qualitative, exploratory, and descriptive deconstruction of the factual actuality at issue. This was achieved through individual interviews with the principals of different schools. The factual complex devolves under four categories: - Finances: especially calculation of subsidies and payment thereof, as well as, communication between schools and the provincial departments in this respect. - Budgeting: to cover the liquidity needs of the school, new managerial skills have been acquired by principals coupled with fee collection to maintain liquidity as required by the Act. - Matters pertaining to the Schools Act: arising from the application of the exemption clause in specific and prevalent scenarios and of the limitations of the Act. -Collection of fees: to maintain liquidity.

M. Ed. / Adolescence is a phase in human development that is synonymous with change, namely, physical, cognitive, emotional and social changes. Educators start playing an important role in the lives of adolescents, and the school as an institution of learning is a place to promote social, emotional and intellectual growth that fosters the development of a positive self - concept in adolescent learners. The researcher was interested in the experiences of learners who witness educator aggression in the schooling environment and the impact this has on the adolescent learner and on the education system as a microcosm of the South African society. Current research on educator aggression indicates that aggression is detrimental to the emotional, social and mental health of learners, because aggression begets aggression. Guidelines are proposed to support both educators and learners who experience educator aggression, to facilitate their mental health. The research objectives were as follows: to explore and describe the learners’ experiences of educatoraggression in a secondary school in Gauteng; and to describe guidelines to assist learners and educators concerning educator aggression in order to facilitate their mental health. The data collected was used to formulate effective guidelines, designed to assist the adolescent learners and educators in a secondary school in Gauteng. Through this approach the researcher was able to gain insight into the experiences of learners related to educator aggression.

Whole-school development was introduced in South Africa by the Department of Education (DoE) after 1994 as a method of effectively addressing barriers to learning. Whole-school development is an effort that requires the combined contribution of all stakeholders to manage and facilitate effective change at schools. In this respect the school is recognised as an organisation with various interdependent systems, of which all contribute to the functioning of the school. In South Africa it is evident that schools are faced with many and various barriers to learning. One such barrier, and the topic of this study, is bullying. In primary and high schools alike, bullying is rife, occurring not only on the playground but also in the classroom. Bullying is an external barrier that contributes to internal trauma, such as fear and anxiety amongst victims. These consequences then filter through to the various systems at the school, like the parents, teachers, and the school system which are negatively influenced by bullying. The result of bullying then impacts on every system at the school thus enhancing the negative consequences associated with bullying. The trauma associated to bullying has been recognised. South African researchers recommend that bullying should be addressed in order to facilitate an inclusive learning environment. In this respect whole-school development has been suggested to effectively address bullying from a systemic perspective. Although the trauma of bullying has been recognised, these researchers have all concluded that limited information is available with regard to addressing bullying in South Africa. Vorster (2002) has researched the development of anti-bullying guidelines using a whole-school approach; however these guidelines have not been applied to discuss the effectiveness of it. In this study, Vorster’s guidelines are implemented with the aim of understanding the educators’ experiences of using whole-school development during the process of drawing up the anti-bullying guidelines at the school. A subsidiary aim of this research is to make recommendations for future development of anti-bullying guidelines. Action research has been selected as the research design with the motivation that participatory research is aimed at providing those who experience the problem to engage in the research process with the purpose of seeking suitable solutions to the problems. It allows such people to take ownership of the process of finding appropriate solutions and thus empowering them. Whole-school development originated from the need to allow stakeholders to participate in decisions that influence their schools. It further emanated from the need to facilitate effective change in schools in an attempt to build an inclusive learning environment. Vorster’s (2002) guidelines include the process of creating an awareness of bullying at the school, suggesting feedback sessions with both learners and teachers on the findings and the development of an anti-bullying committee who would be responsible for the development of the anti-bullying guidelines. In conclusion, these guidelines allowed the teachers to explore various strategies that can be implemented at the school. The research process in turn allowed the teachers to take charge of the process thus empowering them. It is apparent that each school needs to experience this approach in an attempt to contextualise and understand the school and thereafter explore feasible and realistic guidelines that are appropriate to their context. In this manner South African schools will be actively taking charge of addressing barriers to learning. / Mrs. H. Krige

M.A. (Geography) / Please refer to full text to view abstract

Abstract in English, IsiZulu and Sepedi / Business Management / M. Com

The researcher started the study with the premise that Theological Docetism which is defined as the tendency to theologise or spiritualise apparent social issues without due regard for other possible factors (Hawthorne & Martin 1993: 893), is widespread among pastors. This hypothesis, based on intuition and observation rather than on science, required investigation and the researcher set about doing so with the aim of showing how some social and cultural practices of the first century influenced the issues in the church at Corinth and then to do a parallel study on the way issues are dealt with by pastors in the Church of the Nazarene in Gauteng in particular. The purpose of the study is to create awareness of the practice of Theological Docetism among pastors in the Church of the Nazarene and to encourage a change in attitude and conduct with regard to dealing with church related problems. Selected issues in 1 Corinthians chapters 5 to 11 were used as reference for possible socio-cultural influence. A literary review of the work of notable scholars in the field of the socio-cultural and historical background of the New Testament such as Wayne Meeks, Victor Furnish, Bruce Malina, Abraham Malherbe, and others, was done to determine their findings on what influenced the issues in the church at Corinth. The issues under scrutiny in the church at Corinth were incidences of immorality and 5 lawsuits, questions concerning marriage, the apparent abuse of Christian freedom, uncertainty about whether to consume meat offered to idols, the conduct of some women during worship and the sharing of food at the love feast. Based on the literary review, a socio-historical summary revealed that the congregation’s understanding of their “newness in Christ” (2 Corinthians 5: 14 – 20) was compounded or seriously influenced by their socio-cultural environment. For instance, the researcher focused attention on the issues of lawsuits, the immoral man, food sacrificed to idols and the factions at the love feast and found that the way the members of the Corinthian congregation thought and acted was habitual because they had learnt to do so from others before them (Nolan 1995: 73). The immoral man (1 Corinthians 5: 1 – 13) was tolerated by the congregation because he was a patron to some of them and the rest were afraid to offend him because of the social ramifications inherent in patron – client relationships. The love of honour (Neyrey 1998: 15 – 34) fuelled the dispute between the Christian brothers (1 Corinthians 6: 1 – 11) because public attestation and consent to claims of honour was best obtained in courts of law. Class, status and honour contributed significantly to the issue surrounding the eating of meat sacrificed to idols (1 Corinthians 8: 1 – 13) while class distinctions was at the root of the problems experienced at the love feast or common meal (1 Corinthians 11: 17 – 34). It is the researcher’s conclusion that the issues or problems at Corinth did not have purely spiritual origins and that this needs to be taken into account when the text is interpreted by modern readers. 6 The parallel study relating to Theological Docetism in the Church of the Nazarene in Gauteng was done by means of a survey in which a questionnaire containing both open-ended and closed-ended questions was used as the primary tool for collecting data. There are rules that govern the design and use of questionnaires and the researcher was careful to follow these very closely. The research process for this section was done in three stages. The first stage involved the identification of the intended respondents and the construction of the survey questionnaire. The intended respondents were pastors of the Church of the Nazarene in Gauteng who are presently involved in pastoring churches on the District. The questionnaire was carefully and objectively designed for gathering data surrounding demographics, Scriptural information and church information. Since data in descriptive survey research is susceptible to distortion through the introduction of bias into the design of the questionnaire, the researcher was careful to state questions that fulfil his specific research objective and that they were constructed in such a way that only the most important and relevant data was generated. The second stage involved the pilot test of the questionnaire, the creation of the cover letter that accompanied it and a discussion with the District Superintendent of the Gauteng churches during which the aims and purpose of the study was explained and permission sought to conduct the survey. The pilot test was conducted among ordained elders of the Church of the Nazarene who are all former full time pastors and are now serving as faculty and staff at the academic institution where the researcher is employed. The third stage involved the distribution and collection of the questionnaire. A full sampling of the intended respondents resulted in a fifty percent response and return rate. 7 Data generated by the survey led to the conclusion that pastors of the Church of the Nazarene in Gauteng knew of the problems in the church at Corinth but understood the causes of the problems to be fundamentally spiritual in nature. Responses generally referred to “unsanctified people, lack of love for each other and compromise with sin”. The respondents know what the cultural background of the Christians at Corinth was but indicated that the major influences on the problems were, again, essentially spiritual. Present application indicated that the pastors know and can communicate the doctrine of Sanctification (fundamental to the Church of the Nazarene) which is defined as a subsequent work of grace by the Holy Spirit that cleanses the believer from the principle of sin, enabling him or her to live in harmony with God and man. Problems (specifically moral and interpersonal) would generally be construed to be due to an unsanctified spirit or compromise with sin. Respondents further indicated that cultural values that are in conflict with the Bible and Christian values should be rejected but there is reservation with regard to whether a sanctified person should struggle with moral and interpersonal issues. The persuasion in this regard is that as the believer grows in grace these issues that cause struggle will become less. However, more pastors believe unreservedly that a sanctified believer should not struggle with moral and interpersonal issues. The implication is that if the sanctified struggles there must be something wrong with the consecration or there is compromise with sin. People who cause problems are generally told to pray and ask God for guidance. This advice generally corresponds with the understanding of the origin of 8 problems. The belief surrounding this understanding is that moral and interpersonal struggles which generally result in problems in the church stem from persons who are unsanctified and compromising with sin. It is further postulated that Sanctification or the second / subsequent work of grace cleanses the heart from the principle or inclination to sin. Therefore, if the person sins, he or she cannot be sanctified and must be encouraged to seek the experience by asking God for guidance. The hypothesis of the study was proven to be correct by the data generated through the survey. Recommendations to remedy the current practice of Theological Docetism in the Church of the Nazarene in Gauteng involve the pastors making a conscious effort to learn the cultural backgrounds of their increasingly diversified congregants, gaining crosscultural communication skills and embarking on lifelong learning endeavours. / Prof. J. A Du Rand