MAdmin / Department of Public and Development Administration / The main thrust of this study was to examine the effectiveness of the Public Protector’s office in enhancing ethical conduct: The Case of Vhembe District Municipal Area. After the attainment of democracy in 1994, South Africa established the Public Protector’s office and other institutions to enhance ethical conduct within the public service. Despite the establishment of the Public Protector’s office, ethical challenges remained a big problem to achieve good governance and efficient service delivery to the masses of Vhembe. This study followed a mixed research methods and employed a descriptive case study design with explanatory features characterised by the sequential explanatory model strategy in which the collection and analysis of quantitative data was done, followed by the next phase of collecting and analysing qualitative data. Participants in this study were Public Protector’s officials, Mayors, Municipal Managers, Civic Organizations and the representatives of the private (tendering) companies found in Vhembe. The empirical data were collected through questionnaire and semi-structured interview schedule and analysed using SPSS and thematic (content) analysis. Data collection and analysis followed the objectives of the study as a framework. The major finding of the study is that the Public Protector’s office is not effective enough to enhance ethical conduct due to its inability and lack of constitutional powers to enforce adherence and compliance with its recommendations after conducting investigations. As a result, this renders the Public Protector’s office ineffective and unable to enhance ethical conduct effectively. The study therefore, recommends that the Public Protector’s office needs to be provided with sufficient resources as well as more constitutional powers to enable it to enforce implementation and compliance with its recommendations. / NRF

MSCNPT / Department of Nutrition / Context: A survey made worldwide (including South Africa) revealed that most teenagers are overweight and obese and that they eat little nutritious food. Obesity and overweight are public health problems and need to be addressed from a community perspective. The reason for exploring this problem in this study was that South Africa has one of the highest rates of overweight and obesity in the world among urban and rural black women. Objective: Investigating the eating and lifestyle habits of overweight and obese female teenagers in Thulamela Local Municipality, Limpopo province, South Africa. Design, setting and participants: This was an exploratory, descriptive study conducted in 2006–2007 amongst 125 female teenagers aged 13 to 18 years from rural schools in Thulamela Local Municipality. A hundred and twenty-five questionnaires were completed and data were gathered on the demographics, social and lifestyle habits, nutrition-related problems, dietary patterns and dietary history of the participants. Measurements: Eating and lifestyle habits, physical activity, meaning of healthy and unhealthy dietary habits, weight, height and body mass index were measured. Results: Seventy percent of the respondents actively consumed three meals in a day, 83% consumed starchy snacks between meals, whilst 72% of the respondents carried lunchboxes to school. Regarding lifestyle habits, 88% of the respondents slept more hours than recommended (8 hours) 88% performed sedentary activities and 66% did physical activities such as walking. Conclusion: The results pointed out unhealthy eating and lifestyle habits influencing teenagers’ weight. Identified factors must be considered in order to develop tailored nutrition interventions to improve teenagers’ consciousness about adopting a healthy lifestyle. / NRF

MA (Sociology) / Department of African Studies / The aim of the study was to investigate the challenges faced by families living with mentally ill relatives in Thulamela municipality in the Vhembe district, Limpopo province. The objectives of the study were to investigate the impact that caring for a mentally ill person had on the family members; to explore the strategies adopted by families to enable them to cope better with the challenges they faced when caring for their mentally ill relatives; and to understand the support services that were provided to families by health care professionals to enable them to cope with such challenges. A Nonprobability sampling, in particular its subtype convenience samplings was used to select five families who participated in the study. A semi-structured interview schedule was used to collect data from the main care givers and a focus group discussion took place to gather more in-depth information from at least three members of each family. Those selected to participate in the study were all family members who were involved in the care giving responsibility. All participants were caring for mentally ill relatives diagnosed with schizophrenia, substance induced psychosis or bipolar affective. The care recipient had to be admitted at Hayani psychiatry hospital. Data extracted from the participants was analysed thematically following the six stages of thematic data analysis.The research findings obtained from family caregivers from Thulamela municipality found in the Vhembe district within the Limpopo province, highlighted that taking care of a family members with mental illness comes with a number of challenges. The impact was experienced by all members of the family irrespective of the age, social or financial status. The impact was experienced emotionally, physically, socially and financially. All participants also reported to be experiencing burnout. They prefer their loved ones to remain living in mental institution as it gives them a chance to live normal lives. / NRF

MCur / Department of Advanced Nursing Science / Malnutrition is globally considered the key risk factors of illness and death which affect over 90 million children under the age of five. The study aim was to determine the perception of caregivers regarding factors contributing to malnutrition in children under 5 years in the Vhembe District of the Limpopo province. A qualitative approach, explorative, descriptive and contextual design was used in the study. Nine participants were sampled through simple random sampling. Data was collected through in- depth individual interview and was analysed through Tesch‘s analytical approach. Measures to ensure trustworthiness and ethical consideration were adhered to throughout the study. Three themes emerged from study, namely: caregivers perceived contributory factors to malnutrition, financial difficulties and help that were sought from various available resources. In conclusion, feeding practices to most of the participants was a challenge, they had financial difficulties since they were not working and depended on social and child grants for living, and the study recommends the development of strategies to assist caregivers in preventing malnutrition in children. / NRF

MCur / Department of Advanced Nursing Science / Nursing students’ absenteeism has become a very serious concern in every higher educational institution in the whole world especially those of nursing. This study was conducted to investigate factors leading to student nurses’ absenteeism in Limpopo College of Nursing during Psychiatric Nursing Science clinical placement. A quantitative approach using descriptive design was used. Purposive sampling method was used to get a sample of two hundred and six (206) of students who have absented themselves before. Data was collected through a self-report scale in the form of questionnaires of structured questions, entered and analysed using SPSS version 24. Ethical considerations were adhered to throughout. The correlation between clinical factors and absenteeism was determined. The main reported factors for absenteeism were: student nurses being treated as a workforce in the clinical areas; shortage of staff in the clinical areas; study for tests and examinations; inadequate supervision of student nurses by professional nurses; and being inconsiderate of student nurses request for days off in the clinical area. This study recommends that the college should make a provision of one week of study for student nurses between the period of clinical placement and tests or final examinations as most of the respondents indicated that they absent themselves due to study for tests and examinations. The Department of Health should find a way of not overworking students due to shortage of staff in the wards but consider them for experiential learning. A research study should be conducted to develop a model to reduce student nurses absenteeism. / NRF

MPH / Department of Public Health / Unplanned pregnancy is a major medical, social and public health problem worldwide. This problem affects learners’ performance and leads to a high learner drop-out rate at schools. The purpose of this study was to investigate the factors influencing unplanned pregnancy among high school learners in the Collins Chabane Municipality, Limpopo Province, South Africa. A quantitative study using survey methods was used. A structured questionnaire was used to collect data. The total sample size was 362 female learners ranged between learners whose ages ranged between 16 and 24. Only female learners in the school were recruited to participate in the study. Validity and Reliability were ensured. Data were analyzed using SPSS version 25.0 program. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used to summarize and present the data. Permission to conduct the study was obtained from the Department of Education, Limpopo Province, the Malamulele Circuit and the Principal of the school. Informed consent was obtained from parents on behalf of female learners under 18 years of age. Confidentiality and anonymity was ensured. The study found that about 58.2% of adolescents had used contraceptives, while 64.1% indicated that they needed more information on contraceptive methods and their use. The study also found that about 71.8% of the respondents had abstained from sexual activities in order to avoid unplanned pregnancy. Unplanned pregnancies were found to be associated with ignorance of the consequences of sexual activities, information about sex from their peers and the power imbalance in sexual relationships between male and female adolescents. It is recommended that adolescents be given adequate information about contraceptives, addressing the advantages, disadvantages, side effects and how to manage their side effects. This would help mitigate against the negative attitudes that the adolescents have toward contraceptives owing to misinformation and misconceptions. In addition, school health nurses should use Information Education Communication (IEC) materials on family planning to increase awareness about family planning and to prevent unplanned pregnancies. The IEC materials should be in the most common languages of Limpopo Province, i.e. Sepedi, Xitsonga and Tshivenda for clear understanding of the content. / NRF

MSc (Microbiology) / Department of Microbiology / Background: The high on-going incidences of infectious diseases, specifically those caused by multi-drug resistant bacteria in the last decade has made it a necessity to investigate a variety of antimicrobial drug sources, such as plants. Medicinal plants have played a significant role in drug discovery for western pharmaceuticals recently and have also been used successfully by traditional healers and herbalists to treat various infectious diseases for centuries. Currently, a few medicinal plants are commercialized, reason being most medicinal plants phytochemicals have not been studied yet, although they have been traditionally used by healers. Due to the constant development of multi-drug resistance of bacteria to antibiotics, S. africana extracts can provide an opportunity to finding new antibacterial compounds that can be used as the foundation for formulating new antimicrobial drugs. Objectives: The aim of this study was to screen antibacterial activity of the crude extract and fractions of S. africana against multi-drug resistant bacteria and to also evaluate other biological properties. Methods: Preliminary screening of phytochemical constituents of S. africana and fractions was done using standard qualitative and quantitative methods. Antibacterial activity of the extracts was evaluated using the agar well diffusion method and the microdilution assay against MDR bacterial strains. Antioxidant activities of the MCE and its fractions were measured by DPPH and reducing power assays, and the toxicity of the MCE and its fractions was tested on Vero cells using Cell-based high content screening assay. Results: Phytochemical analysis of the MCE and fractions obtained in this study showed the presence of phenolics, flavonoids, alkaloids, steroids, saponins, cardiac glycosides and terpenoids in most of S. african’s test samples. Fraction F1 and F2 both lacked alkaloids and saponins. The micro-plate dilution assay demonstrated that the MCE and all its fractions can inhibit the growth of all selected MDR bacterial strains tested against at different concentrations (0.1mg/ml to >12.5mg/ml), wherein the lowest MIC averages were obtained from fractions F3 and F6, with 0.59 mg/ml and 0.71 mg/ml MIC averages respectively. Contrary to the micro-plate dilution assay, the well diffusion assay demonstrated that MCE and all its fractions were not active against all the selected MDR bacterial strains tested against, as no inhibition was shown against the growth of K. pneumonia by any of S. african’s test samples. For DPPH assay, the IC50 of S. african’s test samples ranged between 0.01 ±0.34 mg/ml to 0.62 ± 0.05 mg/ml, whiles for the reducing power assay, EC50 measured ranged between 0.61 ± 0.01 mg/ml and 11.30 ± 0.04 mg/ml. The MCE and fraction F2 exhibited the highest toxicity to Vero cells. Conclusion: The MCE and fractions of the plant S. africana have antibacterial activity against MDR bacterial strains, beneficial biological properties and contains potential antibacterial compounds that may be valuable in the discovery of new potential drugs for treatment of infectious diseases / NRF

MSc (Microbiology) / Department of Microbiology / BACKGROUND: Human norovirus (NoV) is the etiological agent associated with acute gastroenteritis (AGE) in both children and adults worldwide. Children of <5 years of age, the elderly and individuals suffering from chronic diseases are potentially at high risk of NoV-associated illness. High morbidity and mortality rate associated with NoV have been reported worldwide. In children under the age of 5 years about 1.8 million death cases have been reported in developing countries alone. Despite the fact that the virus is affecting people of all age groups, there is lack of data to elucidate the importance and the role of NoV in children of the age above 5 years and adults. OBJECTIVE: To characterize human norovirus in patients with diarrhoea in rural communities of Vhembe district, Limpopo province. MATERIALS AND METHODS : From August 2017 to October 2018, outpatient between 5 and 68 years of age from rural communities of Vhembe district, Limpopo province were recruited for this study. A total of n=80 stool samples were collected from patients with diarrhoea and were kept at 4˚C throughout the transportation to the laboratory and refrigerated at - 20˚C prior to RNA extraction. Stool samples were tested for norovirus using the RIDA©GENE NOROVIRUS I & II real-time RT-PCR. The RNA extracts tested positive for norovirus were subjected to RT-PCR amplification. The RT-PCR products of the amplified fragments were sequenced, and phylogenetic trees were constructed by the neighbor-joining method using MEGA 7 software. RESULTS: NoV was detected in 13(16%) out of 80 stool samples collected, of which 6 (46%) strains belonged to norovirus GII and 7 (54%) strains to norovirus GI. A total of 5 genotypes were detected (GII.Pg, GII.1, GII.2, GII.4 Sydney 2012). The phylogenetic analysis revealed circulation of NoV genotypes with considerable diversity. CONCLUSION: This study illustrates NoV prevalence and substantial genetic diversity in patients above 5 years of age living in rural communities of Vhembe district, Limpopo province. Continued systematic surveillance to evaluate norovirus association with diarrhoea is needed to have a full picture on the epidemiology and disease burden in people of all the age groups. / NRF

PhDH / Department of Advanced Nursing Science / Background: The National Committee for the Confidential Enquiries into Maternal Deaths recommend the implementation of “Saving Mothers’ recommendations” as a measure to reduce maternal deaths. However, this objective has not been achieved because the Maternal Mortality Rate in South Africa was standing at 134.33/100 000 live births and Limpopo Province at 165.16/100 000 live births. The national target for reduction of maternal mortality was 20% for all provinces for 2016. Limpopo Province’s reduction was below 12.5% for 2016. Purpose: The purpose of the study was to develop a strategy to enhance the implementation of the Saving Mothers’ recommendations in the maternity units of Limpopo Province. Methods: The convergent parallel design was used in this study. The study was conducted in phases, namely: Phase 1(a) was a qualitative research approach and a non-experimental, descriptive and exploratory design. The population consisted of district managers who were managing the Maternal Health Services and registered midwives who were working in the maternity units of Limpopo Province. Non-probability purposive sampling was used for both the district managers and the registered midwives. Data were collected using a central question for the managers managing Maternal Health services which was “What support are you giving to facilitate the implementation of the recommendations by the Saving Mothers Report?” and the question for the registered midwives was “What challenges are you experiencing when implementing the Saving Mothers’ recommendations.” Tesch’s open-coding technique was used to analyse qualitative data. Trustworthiness was ensured through credibility, confirmability, dependability, transferability and authenticity. Phase 1(b) was a quantitative and a non-experimental descriptive design. The population comprised of 200 patients who were included in the study. Questionnaires were developed and used to collect ABSTRACT vi data. Data was analysed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS, version 24.0) with the assistance of the statistician. Discussion of data were done in an explanatory sequential way where data from Phase 1a was discussed and supported by data from Phase 1b. Findings: The themes that emerged were: Challenges related to implementation of the recommendations of the Saving Mothers Report in maternity units, Description of existing training programmes and in-service education for health care professionals, Knowledge on implementing recommendations for the Saving Mothers Report when providing care in maternity units and Suggestions related to improvement of adherence to recommendations for the Saving Mothers Report in maternity units. Some of the themes were supported by the quantitative results whilst some not supported. Validity and reliability were ensured by giving the questionnaires to experts on the subject, colleagues and promoters to analyse and determine if items adequately represent content in the correct proportion. Ethical considerations were ensured by obtaining ethical approval from the University of Venda Ethics Committee and permission to access the facilities from the Limpopo Province Department of Health. The participants signed informed written consent. Phase 2 entailed strategy development and validation of the developed strategy. Recommendations: The recommendations included that the Department of Health should employ more staff and put operational managers in permanent positions. Sufficient equipment and supplies essential for maternal health care and maternal health infrastructure should be procured and a good plan for the managing thereof implemented. It is also recommended that health care workers should work hand in hand with the community structures and the ‘mosate’. / NRF

PhD (African Studies) / Department of African Studies / Moral degeneration is rampant among the youth across the globe. Juvenile delinquency and diversified social ills are prevalent and manifesting moral degeneration among the youth. This study sought to explore youth moral degeneration at Makuya area in the Vhembe District, Limpopo Province, South Africa. The study is qualitative and exploratory in nature. Non-probability purposive sampling technique was used to select twenty-eight research participants comprised of the parents, educators, youth, religious leaders, traditional leaders, social workers and SAPS officials. Data was collected using unstructured face-to-face interviews and focus group discussions to gain insights of youth moral degeneration challenges. The narrative analysis method was used to analyse and interpret data. The study found that moral degeneration among the youth at Makuya area is rife and is exemplified by the high rate of teenage pregnancies, teen parenthood, school dropout, alcohol and substance abuse, bullying trends, vandalism and other criminal acts committed by the youth in the Makuya area. The study recommended the use of a multi-pronged comprehensive youth moral regeneration strategy which emphasises the restoration, among the others, humanness, love, discipline, integrity, respect for authority, promotion of accountability and responsibility. / NRF