This study deals with the three orders of Squamata (Sauria, Amphisbaenia, Serpentes) of the Orange Free State, South Africa. Following an intensive systematic survey 4 492 specimens have been examined comprising 77 different species and subspecies of which 25% represent new records for the study area. Variation in taxonomically important characters as well as informa- tion on colour, size, habitat, breeding, predators and diet are discussed. Certain taxonomic changes have been made. Distribution maps have been compiled on the basis of eighth-degree-units. Distributional patterns have been analyzed to establish areas of relative homogeneity separated by transitional zones. A causal analysis of the main distribution patterns of the O.F.S. Squamata indicated that rainfall is the major environmental factor influencing distribution. A comparative analysis of the squamate areas has been done with regard to various biogeographic phenomena. / Thesis (Ph.D.)-University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 1977.

M.Sc. / Please refer to full text to view abstract

A Dissertation submitted to the Faculty of Science, University of the Wfitwatersvand, Johannesburg for the Degree of Master of Science. Johannesburg, 1977,

The taxonomic status, distribution and ecology of the herpetofauna of the Orange Free State are discussed, based on the examination of 10 096 specimens housed in various southern African museums. The majority of specimens were collected during the years 1972 - 1978 and 1983 - 1992, and are housed at the National Museum, Bloemfontein. A total of 25 amphibian and 95 reptilian (one translocated species) forms have been determined as occurring in the Orange Free State, 12 (three amphibians, nine reptiles) of which are new (or recently published) records for the province. An additional 10 amphibian and 28 reptilian forms have been determined as occurring nearby but extralimitally to the O.F.S., and several of these forms are expected to occur in the province. New distributional records have resulted in the amendment of the ranges of several species. Detailed taxonomic data on new material, including rare species, have been given. Some problem areas in the taxonomy of O.F.S. taxa have been higlighted. An analysis of habit utilization indicated that 84,0% of amphibians and 61,1% of reptiles are terricolous, whereas up to 21,5% of reptiles are rupicolous. The majority of snakes (72,2%) are terrestrial in habits, but 13,9% are fossorial. More than half of all lizards (52,8%) are terrestrial, although 34,6% are rupicolous. A total of six amphibian and 27 reptile forms utilize inactive termitaria as a microhabitat, including several basically terrestrial forms. Snake forms were particularly well represented in termitaria, 60,6% of all forms known from the O.F.S. having been recorded from inactive termitaria. General features of the ecology of O.F.S. amphibians and reptiles have also been discussed. The biogeographical analysis indicated that O.F.S. amphibian forms can be classified into one of nine range clusters (common patterns of distribution), and reptiles into 13 such cluster groups. By testing these classifications by means of a transect through the northern O.F.S. (from eastern to western borders), it was determined that a fairly distinct east-west subtraction of amphibian and reptilian species and subspecies occurs in the O.F.S. Clustering of range boundaries and high species and subspecies diversity at the western and eastern ends of the transect zone suggest dynamic biogeographical situations occurring in those areas - the western group being associated with the transition from grassland to bushveld, and the eastern group associated with the transition from Highveld Grassland to Drakensberg Mountains. The general eastern and western groupings of taxa appear to be associated with the cooler, wetter and mountainous east vs the warmer, drier and lower-lying west, respectively. Despite a great deal of collecting having been conducted in the O.F.S. from 1972 to 1992, an analysis of the number of taxa collected in each quarter-degree unit in the O.F.S. indicated that additional collecting would be required in order to conduct effectively a mathematically-based biogeographical analysis. / Thesis (M.Sc.)-University of Natal, 1992.

A Dissertation Submitted to the Faculty of Science University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg for the Degree of Master of Science. / Beatrix Mine is located 35 km south of the city of Welkom in the Welkom Goldfield and as such forms the most southerly of the Witwatersrand-type gold mines. The Beatrix Reef overlies an angular unconformity at the base of the Turffontein Subgroup, Central Rand Group Significant, southerly truncation of over 600m of the Johannesburg Subgroup, and the lower formations of the Turffontein Subgroup, occur at this unconformity in the Beatrix area.. characteristics of the Beatrix Reef conglomerates such as the morphology, sorting and packing of clasts, and the arrangement. of the sediments in various sedimentary structures and facies/ sequences, suggest deposition within a braided fluvial environment on a coarse-grained braid-delta. Sedimentation occurred after the fluvial degradation of previously deposited units, and culminated in a marine/ lacustrine transgression. Low aggradation rates led to significant reworking and concentration of placer materials in a depositional model probably typical of ventral Rand Group placer formation. Heavy minerals (and gold) are concentrated in response to hydraulic conditions and show a close association with large and small scale sedimentary features. Transport directions deduced from the sedimentary structures suggest a north to south dispersal of sediment down the braid plain. Sedimentary structures in the finer rained units at the base of the Eldorado Formation are indicative of tidal influences and document the marine transgression as the culmination of the degradational events. The lithologys sedimentary structures and facies sequences of the coarser grained units of the Eldorado Formation well as the overall coarsening upward of these lithologies indicate sedimentation in a braided , fluvial system, on an alluvial fan prograding across the preyiously deposited units" Sedimentary ~tructures and lithologic variations confirm a continued north to south dispersal pattern. In the area south of the Sand over the period of fluvial degradation and transgression after the formation of the Beatrix: Reef was followed by more rapidly aggreding fluvial progradation due to a major change in base level in response to compressional tectonics and uplift along the Western Margin Structure. Only in post-Central Rand Group times did relaxation and extensional tectonics result in the outpourings of the Ventersdorp .supergroup lavas and the cessation of active Witwatersrand Supergroup sedimentation. / Andrew Chakane 2018

M.Ed. (Curriculum Studies) / Various observations by the researcher aroused an interest to investigate the position of Religious Education on Black Senior Secondary level. This study may in part be seen as a model as to why this subject has been introduced in Black Secondary schools. This study is also designed to enquire as to why the subject is taken as an examination subject in some schools and not in others.

The grounds for asserting that parents of all cultures can be held responsible and accountable for the care and education of their children derive from sources such as the primordial nature of humanity, the precepts of state statutes and international protocols that refer to educational issues and the tenets of scripts that apply to adherents of a particular philosophy of life - for example the Bible as the guide for parents who subscribe to a Christian philosophy of life. The issue of parental say in formal education as provided for in current education legislation is perhaps not an entirely unique development. In this thesis the development of the concept of parental responsibilities and rights in relation to formal schooling in South Africa during the Colonial period was investigated. An attempt was made to determine what Colonial parents - who were predominantly Protestant Calvinist and who consequently subscribed to a Christian philosophy of life - did to ensure that their children's formal education met with their approval and fulfilled their expectations. A further aspect examined related to the identification of the specific issues in education that these parents believed they should be afforded the right to regulate in order to ensure that their children's formal education - as an extension to their primary education - conformed with the fundamental principles of their philosophy of life. The research affirmed the significance a philosophy of life holds for the perception of what it is that constitutes authentic education. It can consequently be concluded that parental involvement in formal schooling should not be seen as intrusion in a realm beyond the jurisdiction of the parent, but as cases of judgement, discernment and selection dictated by the parent's philosophy of life. / Educational Studies / D. Ed. (History of Education)

The grounds for asserting that parents of all cultures can be held responsible and accountable for the care and education of their children derive from sources such as the primordial nature of humanity, the precepts of state statutes and international protocols that refer to educational issues and the tenets of scripts that apply to adherents of a particular philosophy of life - for example the Bible as the guide for parents who subscribe to a Christian philosophy of life. The issue of parental say in formal education as provided for in current education legislation is perhaps not an entirely unique development. In this thesis the development of the concept of parental responsibilities and rights in relation to formal schooling in South Africa during the Colonial period was investigated. An attempt was made to determine what Colonial parents - who were predominantly Protestant Calvinist and who consequently subscribed to a Christian philosophy of life - did to ensure that their children's formal education met with their approval and fulfilled their expectations. A further aspect examined related to the identification of the specific issues in education that these parents believed they should be afforded the right to regulate in order to ensure that their children's formal education - as an extension to their primary education - conformed with the fundamental principles of their philosophy of life. The research affirmed the significance a philosophy of life holds for the perception of what it is that constitutes authentic education. It can consequently be concluded that parental involvement in formal schooling should not be seen as intrusion in a realm beyond the jurisdiction of the parent, but as cases of judgement, discernment and selection dictated by the parent's philosophy of life. / Educational Studies / D. Ed. (History of Education)