Thesis (PhD (Soil Science))--University of Pretoria, 2007. / Plant Production and Soil Science / unrestricted

The purpose of this study is to explore the implementation of an IST in a rural primary school of Northern KZN. The ISTs within an inclusive education context have not existed in the said area, due in part to the way the district support structure was implemented. Previously, the main focus had been on psycho-educational assessment, which was done in a more traditional way, with no specific interventions after assessment. This, however, was not in accordance with the ex-KwaZulu Department of Education modus operandi. Although the Education Support Services (ESS) of the past era provided some support for learners with barriers to learning in Northern KZN, it was not enough. The research site is nestled in a valley amidst rocky land in Northern Zululand, with sparsely populated communities around the school. Acculturation, that is the absorption of other cultures, prevails among the local people, with influences noticeable in some community houses being built in the semi-urban style of neighbouring Swaziland and Mozambique. However, the majority of the community continue to live in traditional houses and the area still operates as a subsistence economy. This is evident along the roadsides, where there are a number of informal small business sites from which the local community sell their wild fruits, arts, crafts and/or firewood to passers-by, including tourists. Many learners assist their parents with these sales after school, over weekends and on public holidays. Some have large fields for growing vegetables, mealies and other crops. It is significant that the majority of the community is illiterate, with this becoming a challenge to the school because the same parents are expected to support their children with their schoolwork, as well as participating in the school activities. The cooperation between the home and the school should be improved, as many learners are not staying with their natural parents but with members of the extended family, including their grandparents. For much of the time these guardians (grandparents and care-givers) have their own personal commitments. The School Governing Body (SGB), including parent representatives, is instrumental in improving educator-parent relationships. / Mrs. O.R. Pettipher

M.Sc. / Richards Bay Harbour is notably one of the fastest growing, economically important harbours in South Africa. However, this economic growth has lead to increased anthropogenic activities surrounding the harbour, which may result in higher contaminant, including metal, concentrations within the harbour. These contaminants may negatively influence the natural ecosystem functioning within the harbour. Consequently, assessment of the extent and effect of contamination, through continuous biomonitoring of Richards Bay Harbour, is essential. In the present study, the main aim was to assess the marine health in Richards Bay Harbour by studying spatial and temporal variation of bioaccumulation and biological responses within the mussel, Perna perna, using an active biomonitoring (ABM) approach. The ABM approach was preferred over the traditional passive biomonitoring of resident mussels since it eliminates several inherent factors that may mask the mussels’ true responses to the ambient environment. This approach entailed the transplantation of reference mussels from a relatively uncontaminated environment into Richards Bay Harbour, which is known to be contaminated by metals. In order to identify the reference mussel population for transplantation purposes, a study was undertaken to assess metal levels in two other P. perna populations within the same ecoregion as Richards Bay Harbour, namely Dawson’s Rocks and Sheffield Beach. The results showed that most metal concentrations were lower at Sheffield Beach, which consequently lead to the selection of this population as a reference. The effect of size differences on metal bioaccumulation was also assessed using the three latter mentioned mussel populations, which showed that, although local conditions strongly influence the relationship between metal bioaccumulation and size, utilisation of a narrow size range would minimise the size effect on bioaccumulation and should be used for ABM studies. / Prof. V. Wepener

Orientador: Omar Ribeiro Thomaz / Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Instituto de Filosofia e Ciências Humanas / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-22T11:30:55Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Vale_MairaCavalcanti_M.pdf: 14775616 bytes, checksum: c1a99ae25623fe8ace3dca1ef185c660 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2013 / Resumo: O presente trabalho é fruto dos aprendizados ao longo do curso de mestrado e de três meses de trabalho de campo na África do Sul. O trabalho foi desenvolvido com foco no cotidiano de algumas mulheres negras, moradoras da região de KwaZulu-Natal e falantes de isiZulu, através dos diversos grupos dos quais fazem parte. Estes estão ligados a funerais e maneiras de poupar dinheiro - nos quais se encontram periodicamente para guardar certa quantia que poderá ser utilizada quando precisarem para os grandes custos de funerais ou rituais para os ancestrais -, como também relacionados ao ganho de recursos pela venda de artesanatos feitos de miçangas, alimentos produzidos em hortas comunitárias ou na criação de galinhas. A partir dessas experiências é também feita nesta dissertação uma discussão sobre a própria forma de se fazer e escrever a pesquisa. Ao usar no texto elementos trazidos de diversas formas de conhecimento, como a literatura, o trabalho de campo e alguns filmes, tentei demonstrar aquilo que aprendi com as pessoas que me receberam, de uma forma que pudesse espelhar a complexidade da vida e transpirar as confusões supostas em se estar na África do Sul. A escolha da narrativa tem como intenção ser instrumento que desenha a importância da terra e da ancestralidade, e de tudo que a ela está vinculado politicamente, na vida das mulheres e casas que me acolheram ao longo da pesquisa. Assim como nas próprias relações traçadas a partir das diferenças de língua e de cor. A ideia é construir conhecimento antropológico de uma forma em que a narrativa faça parte da reflexão, contando as estórias das pessoas que encontrei em diversas linguagens. O pressuposto aqui é, pois, de que é possível que a própria narrativa faça parte da construção de uma linguagem do conhecimento científico e analítico que se paute nas formas com que as próprias interlocutoras de campo pensam suas vidas / Abstract: This work is a result of master's course and of the three months of field work developed in South Africa on 2011. The work was done with focus on the daily activities of black women living in KwaZulu-Natal, isiZulu speakers, through the various groups which they are part of. Those groups are linked to funerals issues and to save money - meeting periodically to get money that can be used when needed for the large costs of funerals or rituals for the ancestors - as well as resources related to gain income from saling handicrafts made of beads, food grown in community gardens or raising chickens. From these experiences, it is also made here a discussion about doing and writing a research, for that, it is used along the dissertation elements brought from various forms of knowledge, such as literature, field work and some movies. In doing so, I tried to show what I learned from the people who received me in a way that could reflect the complexity of life and evidence the confusions supposed on being in South Africa. The narrative choices are intended to be an instrument that draws the importance of land and ancestry, and all that is politically linked to them, in the women's lives and homes which welcomed me along the search. Such as the relationships themselves drawn from the differences of language and color. The idea is to build anthropological knowledge in a way that the narrative is a part of the reflection, telling the stories of the people I met in several languages guided by what really care for the women and what they chose to tell me / Mestrado / Antropologia Social / Mestra em Antropologia Social

The objective of the treatise is to review the sample methodology and the exploration methods at a heavy mineral sands deposit. The level of confidence and the risk associated with the resource calculations will be established based on the sample methodology. Two drilling methods used at Hillendale are compared statistically and visually. It is clear from the comparison that the Wallis Aircore (WAC) method is significantly better than the Reverse Circulation (RCN) method. This is evident also when comparing results of the two methods with the recovery from the mined out areas. The WAC drilling method reduces the risk of downhole contamination due to the change in the drilling method allowing air to be forced back in an inner tube after the sample is collected compared to the air blowout of the RCN method. The WAC method reduces the variability introduced in the sample collection as compared to the RCN method. The average calculated value (for total heavy minerals (THM) and Ilmenite) of the global population for the two methods is similar. The reduced variability in the sample population of the WAC method results in a lower population being required for the confidence interval about the mean at a 95% confidence level. The lower number of required samples results in a lowering of project cost. Blockmodels created from the two drilling methods are compared statistically (mode, median, standard deviation). The global mean of the input data compares well with the global mean of the estimated blockmodel. In reconciling the resource blockmodels with actual production data, the variability as introduced by the RCN drilling method is clear. The WAC drilling information produces a blockmodel with an acceptable level of variance (deviation of the geological model from the actual values obtained during mining) as defined by Hillendale mine management of less than 10%. This is determined by reconciling the estimated geological blockmodel for a specific mined out area against the actual tonnages and plant recovery values achieved in the same area. Ultimately, because the drill spacing is standard in the mining operation under study, the required confidence in the mean might not be achieved by either of the two drilling methods in certain portions of the mine, but the results from the WAC method will be closer to the reality than the RCN method with the same number of drillholes. Three main risks are identified in the sample methodology; they have a high probability to occur or have a high cost impact. The risk inherent in sampling and analysis is the most important of the risks identified in this study. The risk can be effectively reduced by implementing a quality assurance and quality control programme (QAQC). The other high risks are introduced by the drilling method and drillhole spacing. The risk can be reduced by continuous improvement and keeping up to date with new developments in the industry such as improved drilling techniques and by improved knowledge of the ore-body. The knowledge will help in understanding the risk - It may become clear in the text how this can reduce the risk. In conclusion, the improvement and implementation of systems such as improved drilling technique and quality assurance and quality control programmes enables one to establish an acceptable confidence level in the resource calculation as well as reducing the inherent risk to an acceptable level for future decisions. Copyright / Dissertation (MSc)--University of Pretoria, 2012. / Geology / unrestricted

Submitted to the faculty of Arts in fulfilment of the requirements for the Doctor of Philosophy in the History Department at the University of Zululand, 2006. / The purpose of this thesis is to present the critical understanding of how KwaZulu and its people have changed and developed under the abnormal conditions of apartheid.

This was an original case study that aimed to locate South African post-apartheid rural land social movements within existing theoretical approaches. The land social movements organize around land rights and access for landless people and for those whose land rights are weak or threatened. The study analyzed conditions contributing to the emergence of land social movements in the post-apartheid South Africa and struggle methods they employ, using a case study of the Tenure Security Coordinating Committee in KwaZulu-Natal.

M.Sc. / The lower Thukela River catchment supports the highly industrialised Mandini/Sundumbili Industrial Complex, which in turn supports Tugela Rail, a textile factory, a vegetable-oil factory, as well as the Sundumbili Sewerage Treatment works. All of these industries release their wastes into the Mandini River that leads into the lower Thukela River. Another major potential impacting factor on the lower Thukela River is the Sappi Tugela pulp and paper mill that has both abstraction and discharge points in the same region. In 2004 the Department of Water Affairs and Forestry completed a comprehensive Reserve Determination study for the Thukela River. Upon reviewing the results it was clear that many of the variables assessed were of low confidence or there was not sufficient data collected within the region of the Mandini and Thukela River confluence and further downstream (Resource Unit K). Therefore the previous studies were not able to determine the degree to which the industries in the lower Thukela system impacted upon the integrity of the system. The aim of this study was therefore to assess the contributing impacts of the Tugela pulp and paper mill and other industrial activities on the ecological integrity of the lower Thukela River. This was done by through a toxicity assessment of the potential impacts of effluent and wastewater using the Direct Estimation of Ecological Effect Potential (DEEEP) methodologies. The toxicity of pulp and paper effluent from the Thukela mill and the receiving water body was compared to effluents from two other mills (Stanger and Ngodwana), assessing the water quality in relation to the input of different industrial effluents in the lower Thukela River. The general integrity of the lower Thukela River in relation to the input of different industrial effluents was assessed using the Habitat Quality Index (HQI), Habitat Assessment Index (HAI), macroinvertebrate and fish population studies. These studies were integrated to derive the Ecostatus of the lower Thukela River using the Macro-invertebrate and Fish Response Assessment Indices (MIRAI and FAII respectively). The toxicity testing (DEEEP) showed the paper mill effluent in the Mandini River was the least hazardous whilst Ngodwana effluent showed the highest potential to elicit a harmful impact on the receiving water body. The latter effluent displayed the highest LC50 values for the fish and the Daphnia toxicity tests, as well as an extremely high base-pair substitution mutagen activity. Toxicity was also found in algae at 100% raw effluent exposure. Tugela and Stanger mill effluent samples were very similar in their toxicity, except that Stanger effluent showed greater mutagenicity potential with exceptionally high values of revertants. The Tugela effluent samples showed no concerning levels of mutagenicity. The fish showed lower levels of response to the Tugela sample when compared to the Stanger sample. Thus comparatively the Thukela system is regarded to be the least at risk with regards to effluent discharge into the receiving water body. The lower Thukela River integrity assessment showed a sharp increase in temperature below the discharge point of the pulp and paper mill effluent. This was attributed to the excessive temperatures recorded in the pulp and paper effluent itself. There was further decrease in dissolved oxygen, which was due a combination of the industrial waste water in the Mandini River and the pulp and paper effluent. The increased organic content in the sediments of the lowest site situated downstream (TR5) is a combination of both reduced velocity of the stream flow entering the upper reaches of the estuary as well as increased organic material entering the river via the pulp and paper effluent and the Mandini River above TR3-D. This was accompanied by increased contribution of fine particle size sediments to the overall sediment composition. Habitat conditions were near natural at sites upstream of the Mandini River and effluent discharge confluences with the Thukela River. The exception was at TR1 as the weir results in unnatural inundation of biotopes upstream. The habitat conditions around the confluences of the Mandini River and pulp and paper mill effluent discharge are diminished with a recovery noted further downstream at TR4 and TR5. Invertebrate assessment shows the upstream sites to be natural, while the impact sites were largely to seriously modified. Once again the downstream sites (TR4 and TR5) show an improvement to recover to a moderately modified state. The fish assessment also shows a decrease in the FAII score below the impacts when compared to the integrity above the impacts. However these results are of low confidence due to insufficient sampling effort as only electronarcosis, seine and cast nets were used. The Ecoclassification assessment indicated a clear decrease in Ecostatus between the sites that are upstream of the impacts caused by the industrial effluent from the Mandini River and the pulp and paper mill effluent from the effluent discharge stream. The MIRAI also clearly indicated that the major impacts are caused by the combination of the Mandini River and the pulp and paper effluent. However there was a recovery in the river further downstream from the impacts.

This Special Report attempts to capture, in a very readable journalistic style, the fundamental complexity of the conflict in the Weenen District. It is an honest attempt to look beyond the comfortable stereotypes. Hopefully, it will contribute to a clearer understanding of attitudes to land and the conflict around land. There are no easy solutions to this problem. But, hopefully, this report will assist in the process of finding workable solutions to land struggles in Weenen and other neglected parts of South Africa. / Special Report no. 8

This was an original case study that aimed to locate South African post-apartheid rural land social movements within existing theoretical approaches. The land social movements organize around land rights and access for landless people and for those whose land rights are weak or threatened. The study analyzed conditions contributing to the emergence of land social movements in the post-apartheid South Africa and struggle methods they employ, using a case study of the Tenure Security Coordinating Committee in KwaZulu-Natal.