Submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree MA (Counselling Psychology) at the University of Zululand, 2010. / This South African study used a phenomenological approach which researched lived experiences of twenty Black cricketers in the Gauteng region who have been or are currently involved in the transformation process. Data was collected in the form of one-on-one tape recorded interviews from a pre-determined list of qualitative questions. This study explores the factors that are motivating Blacks in Gauteng to take up and play cricket and subsequently persist or drop out; how they have experienced the transformation process; whether or not they consider that they have progressed in the transformation process. The study provides an insight into these young Black Gauteng cricketers‟ perspectives of how Gauteng Cricket Board could make transformation work more effectively and efficiently and contribute meaningfully to the transformation process. This will aid in finding additional explanations to the challenges surrounding meaningful transformation in Gauteng cricket and could hopefully bring a more holistic approach to the issue of transformation. Five themes emerged from the participants‟ responses, namely: Theme one: Dearth of support and resources There are different aspects that are important in the development of a cricketer. A player may have the technical cricketing skills and the talent but a holistic perspective is also necessary. With insufficient off-field requirements that they are experiencing - such as family and community support, cricketing facilities, good cricketing equipment, and independence to travel to and from games - participants say their success in the game is affected negatively. Theme two: Frustration, hopelessness and despair Participants were critical of the transformation process in Gauteng. Relocating to, for example, the Eastern Cape appears to be for many participants their only hope of progression within cricket teams. This continues to entrench their attitude of hopelessness, despair and hurt towards the Gauteng Cricket Board, because the participants‟ views are that there is strong Black cricketing talent in Gauteng. Their frustration is that they contend that transformation in Gauteng is only window dressing. Theme three: Lack of commitment by Gauteng Cricket Board The participants believe there is less focus by the Gauteng Cricket Board on older Black players; they evidence the Gauteng Cricket Board buying players, specifically Coloured players, from other provinces; they experience poor communication and a lack of opportunities; they believe Gauteng Cricket is not doing enough to help Black players progress within the cricket structures; according to them, transformation is not taking place in Gauteng Cricket and is weak in the under-19 structures; they believe Gauteng Cricket does not have enough faith in Black Gauteng cricketers; they feel the Gauteng Cricket structures are weak and are not working efficiently and; Gauteng Cricket is in need of good leadership. Theme four: Increasing racial divide instead of unifying Thirteen participants made ongoing comparisons with their White counterparts, whom these Black players position as being more privileged than them in cricketing terms - even though the directive from the South African Government is to progress transformation. These Black players see the racial integration of the game of cricket more as a comparison and competition between themselves and their White counterparts rather than as unification. Theme five: Value of cricket in personal development and adding value to one’s life The participants cited their learning experiences in cricket as affording them the following: Interacting with people of all races; learning to set a good example; greater self-awareness; learning to make wise decisions; persistence; self-discipline; confidence; tolerance; strengthening of character; self-respect; commitment; aspiring to a greater lifestyle; acquiring leadership skills and educational opportunities; being empowered and empowering others and working together; playing for the team and; acquiring the ability to trust others. The findings of this research allow for a holistic framework that could be developed in conjunction with the Gauteng Cricket Board to help progress transformation in cricket in Gauteng and, therefore, South Africa.

MMed, Ophthalmology, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, 2009 / Aim: To describe and analyse donor demographics; source, utilisation and distribution of corneal tissue procured by the Gauteng cornea and eye bank (GCEB). To further establish the indications for penetrating keratoplasty done by private ophthalmologists in Johannesburg. Methods: A retrospective study of the records from the GCEB for the 8 year period from 1998 to 2005. An analysis for each year was done in respect of donor demographics; corneal donor tissue source and distribution. Records from selected corneal surgeons in private practice in Johannesburg were analysed for indications for penetrating keratoplasty. Results: During the study period, 2504 corneas were retrieved from 1252 donors. The average number of donors per year was 157 (Standard deviation: 20.01). There was a statistically significant increase in the number of donors over the study period (B-coefficient = 6.40, standard error=2, 07, p-value=0.02). Majority of donors were males (68.6%). The mean age of donors was 40.4 years (Standard deviation: 15.97) and ranged from 3 months to 78 years. Whites were in overwhelming majority compared to other races, accounting for 96% (number=1205), followed by Blacks 2% (number=24), Asians 1% (number=18) and Coloureds <1% (number=5). The proportion of donated corneas used for transplantation (corneal utilisation rate) averaged 87%. This rate showed a significant decline over the period studied (Bcoefficient= -1.76, standard error=0.48, p-value=0.01). The commonest reason for discarding corneas was damaged corneas (36%), followed by Human immunodeficiency virus infection (18%) and inconclusive blood results (14%). The majority of donated corneas were used in private practices (91%). vi The majority of donors were referred by mortuaries (50%) and private hospitals (37%). The commonest indication for penetrating keratoplasty was keratoconus (46.8%), followed by corneal scarring (27.8%) and pseudophakic bullous keratopathy (10.1%) Conclusions: This analysis shows that the number of donors increased annually over the study period. There were very few Blacks donating corneas in Johannesburg and most of the referrals were from mortuaries and private hospitals. The distribution of corneal tissue in areas served by the Gauteng cornea and eye bank is in favour of private hospitals. Corneal tissue damage and HIV infection were the commonest reasons for discarding corneas. In private practices in Johannesburg, keratoconus was the commonest indication for penetrating keratoplasty, followed by traumatic corneal scarring.

M. Tech. Quantity Surveying (Structured) / This research project was aimed at identifying challenges facing emerging contractors around Gauteng Province. The focus areas of the study included: to find out the success rates of emerging contractors; to contribute in assisting stakeholders in creation of monitoring and evaluation programmes and not only development programmes; to find out how some of the barriers can be eliminated in the procurement processes; to find out an easy access to construction projects within the industry, and to establish how government can ensure that payment processes are not delayed.

M.A. / The objective of this study was to explore the experiences of racism of a sample of educated young South Africans and to establish to what extent their understanding of racism is associated with demographic variables. The most prominent recent study on racism in South Africa was the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) inquiry into racism in the media undertaken in 2000. An analysis of the reports that comprised the investigation revealed two key weaknesses. Firstly, racism was not defined adequately. Because of this, and since the terms 'race' and 'racism' are prone to emotive interpretation, a brief historical analysis of the concepts was conducted. A second criticism against the SAHRC inquiry was its failure to engage the audience. This study was done partly in response to that challenge. The respondents were first-year Sociology and Mathematics students at the Rand Afrikaans University (RAU). Their conceptualisations and experiences of racism were gauged in a survey with quotations from mainstream newspapers in Gauteng. Key findings were that sex and race were both associated with respondents’ experience of racism, but that sex was the more important of the two. The joint effect of race and sex was however more significant than either in isolation, and white men were set apart from all other respondents by their lack of sensitivity to discrimination. In conclusion, the results were located in the broader academic debate on racism. / Prof. J.M. Uys Ms. J.E. Lochner

No description available.

M.Comm. (Economics) / The Gauteng provincial government is currently exploring possible sources for raising revenue to finance the increasing demand in social services. In the current fiscal stance, the bulk of provincial government revenue is constituted of funds transferred from the national government in the form of equitable share to provinces. Thus, the main purpose of this study is to assess the overall impact of the increase in the motor vehicle license fees and tourism levy, as important sources of the Gauteng provincial government own sources of revenue, on economic activities in the Gauteng Province. The study uses the provincial Computable General Equilibrium (CGE) model to simulate an increase in motor vehicle license fees and tourism levy, and to determine how such increases in taxation will affect provincial socio-economic variables such as the gross domestic product (GDP), employment and household consumption expenditure. The findings of the study are that a 10% increase in motor vehicle license fees or tourism levy negatively affects the Gauteng GDP, employment and household consumption. Nonetheless, the effect on provincial government revenue is positive. Given the negative effect of such an increase in taxation on key socio-economic variables, the study suggests that an increase in taxation on motor vehicle license fees or tourism levy should not be considered as options for raising revenue for the Gauteng Province.

Ph.D. (Economics) / In this thesis the primary research objective is to construct quality of life measures to measure and compare the quality of life across the Gauteng City-Region in South Africa, while considering the diversity of the population residing in the region. In addressing the primary research question we also investigate secondary research objectives, namely to validate a new instrument of quality of life, to determine the interrelationships between the dimensions of quality of life, to construct a composite index with fixed weighting to measure and compare the quality of life across different demographic and socio-economic groups, to measure and compare the quality of life within diverse municipalities, each with its own unique character, and to analyse the factors that influence the wellbeing of a unique group of people in Gauteng, namely refugees and asylum seekers. A validated measuring instrument of quality of life contributes to the construction of robust composite indices, which can give a good estimate of quality of life in a region. Furthermore, identifying the interrelationships between the dimensions of quality of life can assist in the formulation of integrated policies aimed at improving quality of life. The measurement and comparison of quality of life of different socio-economic groups and different municipal regions can contribute to identifying the groups and municipal areas with low levels of quality of life, as well as the dimensions of quality of life that are below average and should be attended to in order to increase quality of life in the region. Lastly, determining the factors that influence the wellbeing of urban refugees and asylum seekers can contribute to better understanding of this unique group of people. To address the primary and the secondary research aims various novel methodologies are utilised. The methodologies used include Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) to validate an instrument of quality of life and determine the interrelationships between the quality of life dimensions; Nicoletti et al.’s method based on Principal Component Analysis (PCA) to build a fixed weighted composite index of quality of life; Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) and Value Efficiency Analysis (VEA) as weighting methodologies to construct composite indices with flexible weighting that considers the unique characteristics of the municipalities in the region; and cross-sectional regressions to analyse the determinants of the subjective wellbeing of refugees and asylum seekers. In the analysis of the primary and the secondary research questions two data sets were used. In Chapter 2 to 4 a data set collected by the Gauteng City-Region Observatory (GCRO) on quality of life in the Gauteng City-Region (GCR) was used. In Chapter 5 we used a data set collected by the Forced Migration Studies Program (FMSP) on Migration in New African Cities. A key finding of Chapter 2 is that the indicator variables of the dimensions ‘housing and infrastructure, ‘social relationships’, ‘socio-economic status’, ‘health’, ‘governance’ and ‘safety’ were found to be good measures of the dimensions of quality of life. Positive relationships were found between all the dimensions of quality of life, with the exception of the relationship between ‘housing and infrastructure’ and ‘health’, which was found to be statistically insignificant. Using the newly constructed composite index, in Chapter 3 we found the quality of life among African, lower-income groups, females and older people to be lower than that of other socio-economic and demographic groups. In addition, we found that ‘housing and infrastructure’ contributes most to the variance in the data set of the group with lower levels of quality of life. Using the flexible weighted composite indices to measure the quality of life within the different municipal regions of the GCR in Chapter 4, we found that the municipalities with the highest levels of quality of life to be Johannesburg and Midvaal, with, overall, above-average scores on all the dimensions of quality of life. The municipalities with the lowest quality of life in the GCR are Nokeng, Westonaria, Madibeng, Matlosana and Merafong. In the municipalities with the lowest quality of life scores, for those municipalities in the Gauteng Province, the ‘housing and infrastructure’ dimension was below average, while for the municipalities outside the Gauteng Province’s borders, it was found that the ‘health’ dimension was below average. In all the municipalities with low levels of quality of life it was found that the income variable is relatively low, except in Nokeng, which has relatively high income levels. Chapter 5 analyses the determinants of the subjective wellbeing of refugees and asylum seekers. It was found that additional factors to the standard determinants that explain the wellbeing of people in general should be added to the model to explain the wellbeing of urban refugees and asylum seekers.

A report on a study project presented to the Department of Social Work School of Human and Community Development, Faculty of Humanities University of the Witwatersrand in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree Masters in Occupational Social Work, March 2017 / Managing absenteeism is one of the most challenging issues that managers have to deal with because it is an issue that affects all businesses regardless of sector, size or age. The aim of the study was to gain an insight and explore the experiences of line managers when it comes to managing absenteeism within the Gauteng Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (GDARD) focusing on the gaps, challenges, what they encounter or undergo and the dynamics involved when managing and addressing absenteeism within the department. A qualitative research approach using a case study research design will be used to understand the challenges associated with managing absenteeism. The population of the study comprised of managers. Eleven managers from the GDARD were purposively sampled for the study. Data was collected using in-depth; semi-structured interviews to allow the researcher a platform to ask open response questions, when exploring the managers experiences and perceptions about the management of absenteeism. Data was analyzed using thematic analysis by carefully identifying significant themes that emerged from the informants’ experiences and perceptions about management of absenteeism. The findings revealed that managers have negative perceptions and experinces when it comes to the challenges that they have encountered. The study derived recommendations on how to enhance the management of absenteeism within the department. / XL2018

A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Engineering, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science / Existing priority assessment procedures are reviewed with a view to identifying a methodology which will be appropriate for use in the Central Witwatersrand Regional services Council area. It is concluded that a two stage methodology is most appropriate, adopting a.successive sub-setting technique and a detailed sufficiency rating technique respectively, The methodology is tested on the 1992/93 project list. / AC2017

A dissertation submitted to the Faculty of Science, University of the Witwatersrand, in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science Johannesburg 2017. / Pre-colonial Stone Walled Structures (SWS) in southern Africa have been studied since the 17th Century. Studies focused on establishing the origins of SWS, classification and other socio-economic components associated with these settlements. The physical environment played a significant role in shaping these communities, therefore making it important to establish the correlation between these pre-colonial cultures and the physical environment. Using Google Earth and GIS Sadr and Rodier (2012) undertook a settlement analysis of a 350 area near the Suikerbosrand nature reserve in southern Gauteng. They observed that settlement patterns revealed a shift from small and dispersed egalitarian societies to more stratified communities between the 15th and 19th century. Using the same techniques that Sadr and Rodier (2012) employed, a settlement pattern analysis was conducted on the rest of the research area in southern Gauteng which is slightly under 9000. Results from an exploratory and a statistical analysis from the research area revealed observations made by Sadr and Rodier 2012 from a 350 concur with the observations made from the rest of the study area. / LG2018