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The study critically explored the tabloidisation of political news in Zimbabwe by focussing on the coverage of the expulsion of Joice Mujuru from ZANU PF and government by selected newspapers. The study analysed three national dailies across the ownership divide; The Herald, Daily News and NewsDay. The objective of the study was to establish whether or not the decline in standards of journalism and performance in Zimbabwe could be attributed to tabloidisation. The study employed a qualitative methodology through qualitative content analysis and in-depth interviews to assess whether the framing reflected tabloid or broadsheet journalism styles. The framing of Joice Mujuru by The Herald was pejorative and derisive as she was depicted as corrupt, traitor, inept and a simplistic thinker who cannot handle issues to do with statecraft. Daily News sympathised with Joice Mujuru as a victim of chauvinistic factional politics in ZANU PF, especially, after the death of her husband, General Solomon Mujuru. The study argued that Joice was also depicted as a brave leader who could challenge for the office of the president, if she formed a coalition with MDC –T leader Morgan Tsvangirai. Daily News sought to counter all the negative framing of Joice Mujuru by The Herald. NewsDay framing was sympathetic, like Daily News but was more inclined on creating an image of a moderate leader in Mujuru, one who would be acceptable to all Zimbabweans because she had the critical liberation war credentials that Tsvangirai lacked and Mujuru’s perceived abilities to extricate the country from the economic challenges by mending relationships with the West. Despite the diametrically opposed frames in terms of The Herald versus Daily News and NewsDay, all the newspapers are undergoing the damaging process of tabloidisation by employing tabloid styles and formatting in their political news coverage through sensationalism, trivialisation and emotionalism. It was argued that the media needs self-introspection and recommitment to ethical and objective journalism as the watchdogs of society. / Communication / D. Litt. et Phil. (Communication)

My mini-dissertation gives the autobiography of Talent Nyathi, who was born in rural Zimbabwe in 1961. Talent was unwillingly conscripted into the Zimbabwean Liberation Struggle. On her return to Zimbabwe, she has worked tirelessly for the education of her compatriots. Talent's story casts light on subject-formation in conditions of difficulty, suffering and victimization. Doubly oppressed by her race and gender, Talent has nevertheless shown a remarkable capacity for self-empowerment and the empowerment of others. Her story needs to be heard because it will inspire other women and other S/subjects and because it is a corrective to both the notions of a heroic Struggle and the `victim' stereotype of Africa. Together with Talent's autobiography, my mini-dissertation offers extensive notes that situate her life story in the context of contemporary postcolonial, literary and gender theory and further draws out the significance of her individual `history-from-below'. / English Studies / M.A.

Thesis MA (Political Science. International Studies))--Stellenbosch University, 2008. / Liberation movements came into being across the entire African continent as a political response to colonisation. However, Africa has in this field, as in so many others, been largely understudied, in comparison to revolutionary movements in South America and South East Asia. While many case studies on specific liberation movements exist, very few are comparative in nature. This study will do precisely that using the framework of Thomas H. Greene. The resistance movements in South Africa and Zimbabwe, then Rhodesia, consisted of several organisations, but the ones that emerged as the most powerful and significant in the two countries were the ANC and ZANU respectively. Although their situations were similar in many ways, there were other factors that necessarily led to two very different liberation struggles. This study looks closer at these factors, why they were so, and what this meant for the two movements. It focuses on the different characteristics of the movements, dividing these into leadership, support base, ideology, organisation, strategies and external support. All revolutionary movements rely on these factors to varying degrees, depending on the conditions they are operating under. The ANC and ZANU both had to fight under very difficult and different circumstances, with oppressive minority regimes severely restricting their actions. This meant that the non-violent protests that initially were a great influence for the leadership of both movements – especially with the successes of Mahatma Gandhi in South Africa and India, inevitably had to give way to the more effective strategies of sabotage and armed struggle. Like other African resistance movements, nationalism was used as the main mobilising tool within the populations. In South Africa the struggle against apartheid was more complex and multidimensional than in Zimbabwe. Ultimately successful in their efforts, the ANC and ZANU both became the political parties that assumed power after liberation. This study does not extend to post-liberation problems.

The research is an Afrocentric engagement that analyses selected songs by Tongai Moyo and Hosiah Chipanga in post-independence Zimbabwe. The study is informed by Afrocentricity, which provides the theoretical anchorage to the exposition and elucidation of the pursuit for independence, liberation and freedom of Zimbabweans in the post-independence era. The study analyses selected sungura songs composed and sung by Hosiah Chipanga and Tongai Moyo in post-2000 era. The study indicates that post-independence Zimbabwe of 2000 to 2010 reflects a decade of crisis. The exposition unfolds through a critical exegesis of selected songs by these sungura artists. The two sungura musicians are among the leading musical voices in Zimbabwe. The study is largely qualitative in nature and used interviews and questionnaires to solicit information from research participants. Respondents comprise musicians, music producers and academics in the Zimbabwe. The study stimulates more interest and research in sungura music as well as illuminating the significance of their messages to ongoing debates on the Zimbabwean crisis/crises thereby establishing the relationship between music and politics. This position is made against the backdrop of their commitment and courageous efforts by such protest musicians to comment on ‘big’ political and economic issues seriously affecting the performance of Zimbabwean economy. The study also establishes that cronyism, patronage and corruption have become major industries of the day in Africa. Through fighting for the voiceless masses, the study argues that Zimbabwe is faced by the crisis of governance and the nation has taken the medals of humiliating its own people. Pertaining to the leadership crisis in Zimbabwe, the study also shows that musicians who include Hosiah Chipanga and Tongai Moyo insinuate that the deep seated Zimbabwean challenges are a manifestation of a nation that is parentless. In their protest music, the artists reiterate that poverty, hunger, diseases and other forms of sufferings that the country encountered and continue to face are a sign of a country that is an orphan implying the dearth of people centred leadership. Additionally, findings from the study show that the land issue is one of the commonly identified factors that are ascribed to partial independence in Zimbabwe translating into crisis. The land question invited attention from Hosiah Chipanga as reflected in his post-2000 music where he suggests that Zimbabweans were to a larger extent betrayed by ZANU (PF) leadership. / Linguistics and Modern Languages / D. Phil. (Languages, Linguistics and Literature)

My mini-dissertation gives the autobiography of Talent Nyathi, who was born in rural Zimbabwe in 1961. Talent was unwillingly conscripted into the Zimbabwean Liberation Struggle. On her return to Zimbabwe, she has worked tirelessly for the education of her compatriots. Talent's story casts light on subject-formation in conditions of difficulty, suffering and victimization. Doubly oppressed by her race and gender, Talent has nevertheless shown a remarkable capacity for self-empowerment and the empowerment of others. Her story needs to be heard because it will inspire other women and other S/subjects and because it is a corrective to both the notions of a heroic Struggle and the `victim' stereotype of Africa. Together with Talent's autobiography, my mini-dissertation offers extensive notes that situate her life story in the context of contemporary postcolonial, literary and gender theory and further draws out the significance of her individual `history-from-below'. / English Studies / M.A.

The present thesis entitled “Design, Synthesis and Characterization of Novel Nanomaterials” is divided into five chapters, staring with a general introduction. The remaining chapters focus on four different areas/projects that I have worked on. Chapter 1: Introduction to nanomaterials This chapter reviews the basic concepts of nanomaterials and their fabrication methods. Nanomaterials are defined as materials whose dimensions (at least one) are below 100 nm. One of the most exciting aspects of nanomaterials is that their properties may differ significantly from those of the corresponding bulk materials. Nanomaterials fabrication methods can be broadly classified according to whether the assembly follows either i) the bottom-up approach or ii) the top-down approach. These methods have been discussed with various examples including the self-assembly of proteins, peptides and small molecules. In the top-down approach synthetic procedures for Graphene Oxide and its application are discussed. All characterization techniques that are used for characterizing the nanomaterials are also described briefly. Chapter 2 Section A: Self-assembly of 1-Hydroxy benzotriazole (HOBT) in water The studies presented in Chapter 2 identifies HOBT as the smallest non-peptide building block that spontaneously self-assembles into hollow micro tubular structures upon evaporation of water. The tubes form under ambient conditions by rolling over of crystalline sheets of HOBT. The packing of HOBT in the tubes seem to be predominantly driven by intermolecular π-stacking interactions between the aromatic rings of HOBT. These structural and packing patterns are similar to those found in nanotubes formed by the self-assembly of peptides and other larger molecules. The cavities of these thermolabile microtubes act as molds for casting gold nanoparticles for the synthesis of gold microrods with monodisperse dimensions. The non-reacting inner surfaces of the cavities have been used to uniquely synthesize R6G-functionalized gold microrods. With these features, HOBT is an important novel non-peptide building block for accessing micro and nanometric materials for their applications in medicine, biology and molecular biotechnology. Section B: Controlling the orientation of self-assembly of HOBT microtubes The studies presented in this chapter address the self-assembly of HOBT into microtubular structures in different solvents of varying polarities (H2O and DCM:MeOH) to understand the role of solvent volatility and its direction on the orientation of the HOBT microtubes. HOBT self-assembles from DCM:MeOH mixtures in its bipolar canonical form and is coordinated with its water of hydration, similar to its crystals obtained from water. FTIR and TGA data shows that MeOH is also integrated with the microtubes. We observe for the first time that the orientation of microtubular self-assembly is controlled in the direction of evaporation of the solvent. We demonstrate further this feature by controlling the orientation of HOBT self-assembly in exclusively vertical direction through controlled vertical evaporation of the solvent mixture DCM:MeOH (9:1). Additionally, the unique transition between vertical and horizontal orientations for self-assembled HOBT microtubes is achieved by simple change of solvation between aqueous and organic solvents. These results reveal a dynamic relationship between the rate of evaporation of solvent and the rates of formation of different self-assembled morphologies. The rate of evaporation of the solvent primarily governs the rate of formation of the tubes, rather than their orientations in three dimensions. Chapter 3: Chemical origins of debris in Graphene Oxide (GO) This chapter is focused on the investigation of the carbonyl rich fragments arising from GO and provides an understanding of its formation. The fragments are expelled from GO due to an uncontrolled nucleophile driven reaction in aqueous medium leaving the holes on the sheet. These fragments are carbonyl rich small (5 ± 2 nm) nonaromatic molecules that form as by-products of oxidative chemical reactions that occur at the sp3 clusters on the basal surface of GO sheets when they are treated with nucleophilic bases under aqueous conditions. The structure and size of the debris, and hence that of the hole, depend on the size of the sp3 cluster on the sheet. These debris fall out of the GO sheet surface, leading to formation of nanometer sized holes. Formation of debris and hence the holes can be avoided by using anhydrous polar solvents. This work sheds new light on the fundamental structure of GO and the prevention of debris from it during redox reactions enabling better control over functionalization of the GO surface. Chapter 4: Measurement of mechanical properties of polypeptide fragment from Insulin like growth factor binding protein nanotubes by the Peak Force QNM method This chapter describes the discovery of Polypeptide fragment from an IGFBP-2. This fragment self-assembles spontaneously and reversibly into nanotubular structures under oxidizing conditions. These nanotubes were characterized by using Transmission electron microscopy. Notably as compared to the monomer, an increase in intrinsic fluorescence upon self-assembly. The thermal stability of these nanotubes is realized form the fluorescence studies. Peak Force Quantitative Nanomechanical Mapping method of AFM was used to measure the Young’s modulus of the nanotubes. These nanotubes were found to have Young’s modulus value of ~10 Gpa, which is comparable to those of bones presumably due to intermolecular disulphide bonds. These nanotubes will have potential applications in tissue engineering. Chapter 5: Probing the pathways of n→π* interaction in peptides This chapter deals with the theoretical study of n→π* interaction in designed peptidomimetics. The n→π* interaction involves the delocalization of the lone pair of the donor group into the antibonding orbital (π*) of a carbonyl group. However despite beeing extensively studied there exists a debate over the validation of these n→π* interaction which is reminiscent to Bürgi and Dunitz trajectory. This chapter present our findings that peptidomimetics containing the 5,6-dihydro-4H-1,3-oxazine (Oxa) and 5,6-dihydro-4H-1,3-thiazine (Thi) functional groups at the C-terminus of Pro selectively stabilizes the cis conformer by reverse n→πi-1* interaction. These systems have been used to study the n→πi1* interaction using Natural Bond Orbital (NBO) method. Our study reveals that the energetically most favorable trajectory of a nucleophile for a favorable n→π* interaction presumably to facilitate the overlap between the lonepair of the nucleophile and the antibonding orbital of the carbonyl group. The geometrical requirements for the optimum n→π* interaction depends on the relative orientations of the orbitals that are involved. This study has implications for more accurately identifying long distant n→π* interaction.

The recent political conflict in Zimbabwe has attracted the attention of policymakers, academics and the media alike in the neighbouring countries of the region, across the African continent and internationally. While the story of an ageing African liberation hero turned dictator who, through autocratic rule, has governed his country and his people to the ground in order to maintain power is captivating, a key element of the fascination is the critical diplomatic role played by South Africa from 2000 onward. Foreign policy in post-apartheid South Africa on paper is driven by human rights and democracy, conflict prevention and conflict resolution through peaceful means, and the promotion of African interests in world affairs. However, after observing South Africa’s involvement in the Zimbabwe conflict between 2000 and 2009, South Africa’s foreign policy appears to be propelled more by African solidarity and sovereignty, anti-imperialism, and a softer interpretation of preventive diplomacy than its international counterparts. Thabo Mbeki’s preventive diplomacy toward Zimbabwe during his presidency was slow to produce results, lacked transparency and frustrated many, yet, when examined under a preventive diplomacy theoretical lens, Mbeki’s policy did eventually garner success through the signing of the Global Political Agreement (GPA) and the formation of an inclusive government in Zimbabwe. This dissertation examines the role of preventive diplomacy in South Africa’s foreign policy toward Zimbabwe under Mbeki’s leadership and determines the point at which South Africa switched from an approach of preventive diplomacy to one of conflict resolution and conflict management. The concept of ‘preventive diplomacy’ is often focused on government-to-government relations or the high level diplomacy of intergovernmental organizations such as the United Nations (UN). Multi-track diplomacy expands on this traditional interpretation and considers the preventive diplomacy contributions of a variety of non-state actors to the practice of conflict prevention. This dissertation uniquely moulds the preventive diplomacy theoretical framework of Michael Lund with Kumar Rupesinghe’s concept of multi-track diplomacy to form a more comprehensive illustration of the role of preventive diplomacy in the approach of multiple actors towards the Zimbabwe conflict. The more inclusive preventive diplomacy theoretical framework is then applied to the conflict in Zimbabwe between 2000 and 2009. Through the application of a preventive diplomacy framework which incorporates the concept of multi-track diplomacy it is then possible to observe the South African government’s preventive diplomacy approach toward Zimbabwe first between 2000 and 2007 and then as mandated by SADC between 2007 and 2009 and finally compare it with the diplomacy of multi-track actors such as the UN, Zimbabwe-based and South African-based civil society organizations, the Zimbabwean Diaspora, religious groups, and financial institutions. The examination of the larger role of preventive diplomacy in the Zimbabwe conflict situation leads to the understanding that each diplomatic effort is interlinked. Therefore the culminating event of the South African government’s preventive diplomacy approach in the Global Political Agreement could not have been achieved without the preventive diplomacy efforts of a multitude of actors who were also committed to preventing violence and finding a lasting solution to the conflict in Zimbabwe. / Dissertation (MA)--University of Pretoria, 2012. / Political Sciences / unrestricted

The experience of complex childhood trauma produces a ripple-effect that psychologically impacts trauma survivors’ functioning in multiple areas. The aim of the current study was to investigate and describe the interplay between complex trauma, subsequent personality development and later psychopathology by means of the multiple case study method of six female psychiatric patients attending treatment at a tertiary psychiatric hospital within Gauteng, South Africa. This was accomplished by assessing and qualitatively analysing the results of a carefully selected battery of personality and other psychometric assessments presented to study participants. The results indicated that the experience of complex childhood trauma impacted the study participants’ personality in predictable ways, which further influenced the psychopathology they displayed as psychiatric patients. These findings aid in describing the psychological impact of complex trauma on the research participants, and also offers support for reconnecting past traumas to the current psychopathologies of psychiatric patients. / Psychology / M.A. (Clinical Psychology)

[pt] Atualmente está bem difundido o uso de novas modelagens matemáticas para o estudo do comportamento de micro e nano sistemas mecânicos e eléctricos. O problema de escala é notável quando o tamanho das moléculas, partículas, grãos ou cristais de um sólido é relativamente considerável em relação ao comprimento do microdispositivo. Nesses casos a teoria clássica dos meios contínuos não descreve apropriadamente a solicitação estrutural e é necessária uma abordagem mais geral através de teorias generalizadas não-clássicas que contém a elasticidade clássica como um caso particular delas, onde os parâmetros constitutivos que representam às partículas são desprezíveis. Quando os efeitos microestruturais são importantes, o comportamento não responde como um material homogêneo se não como um material homogêneo. Cem anos atrás os irmãos Cosserat desenvolveram uma teoria de grãos rígidos imersos dentro de um macromeio elástico; posteriormente Toupin, Mindlin e outros pesquisadores na década de 60 formularam a chamada teoria gradiente de deformações, que recentemente é um objeto de muitas investigações analíticas e experimentais. Na década de oitenta, Aifantis e colaboradores conseguiram desenvolver uma teoria de gradiente de deformações simplificada, baseada em só uma constante elástica adicional não-clássica representativa da energia de deformação volumétrica para caracterizar satisfatoriamente os padrões dos fenômenos não-clássicos. Beskos e colaboradores estenderam o campo de aplicações da proposta inicial de Aifantis e fizeram as primeira implementações de elementos de contorno 2D e 3D para análises de elasticidade gradiente estática, no domínio da frequência e a mecânica da fratura. Desde o tempo de Toupin e Mindlin, procura-se estabelecer uma base variacional da teoria e uma formulação consistente das condições de contorno cinemáticas e de equilíbrio, o que parece ter tido êxito com os recentes trabalhos de Amanatidou e Aravas. Esta tese apresenta a formulação do método híbrido de elementos de contorno e finitos na elasticidade gradiente desenvolvida por Dumont e Huamán decompondo o potencial de Hellinger-Reissner em dois princípios de trabalhos virtuais: o primeiro em deslocamentos virtuais e o segundo em forças virtuais. Com esta finalidade é considerado além dos parâmetros clássicos, o trabalho realizado pelas tensões, deformações, forças e deslocamentos não-clássicos. É apresentado o desenvoltimento das soluções fundamentais singulares e polinomiais atráves das equações diferenciais de sexta ordem obtidas da equação de equilíbrio em termos de deslocamento na elasticidade gradiente. É apresentada também a aplicaçõ do método híbrido de contorno para problemas de tensão axial unidimensional e flexão bidimensional de vigas. Finalmente mostra-se a aplicação numérica do método em elementos finitos, é verificado o patch test de elementos finitos de diferentes ordem e mostra-se também análises de convergência. / [en] The use of new mathematical modeling in the study of micro and Nano electro mechanical systems is currently becoming widespread. The scaling problem is apparent when the length of molecules, particles or grains immersed in the material is relatively important compared with the whole micro device dimension. Under this approach the classical theories of mechanics cannot describe suitably the structural requirement and it is necessary a more general outlook through non classical generalized theories which enclose the classical elasticity as a particular case where the non-classical constitutive parameters are negligible. When the microstructural effects are important, the material does not respond as a homogeneous but as a non-homogeneous one. A hundred years ago Cosserat brothers formulated a new theory of rigid grains which were embedded in an elastic macro medium; later Toupin, Mindlin along others researchers in 1960s developed a gradient strain theory which has been recently the source of many analystics and experimental investigations. In 1980s Ainfantis et al could develop a simplified strain gradient theory with just one additional non classical elastic constant which represents the volumetric elastic strain energy and characterized successfully the whole non classical pattern phenomenon. Beskos et al extended the treatment proposed initially by Aifantis and developed the first numerical applications for 2D and 3D boundary element methods and solved static as dynamic and crack problems. Since the times of Toupin and Mindlin it is looking for to establish a variational theory with a consistent cinematic and equilibrium boundary conditions, which seemed to have had success in the recent works of Amanatiodou and Aravas. This work presents the formulation of the hybrid boundary and finite element methods under the strain gradient scope which were developed by Dumont and Huamán through the versatile decomposition of the Hellinger-Reissner potential in two work principles: the displacements virtual work and the forces virtual work; both principles contain the virtual work performed by the non-classical magnitudes. Following, it is presented the complete development of singular and polynominal fundamental solutions abtained through the sixth order strain gradient differential equilibrium equations in terms of displacements. Next it is shown an application of the method to unidimensional truss element and bidimensional beam. Finally, it is presented a numerical application to strain gradient finite element, it is checked the patch tests to different elements orders and it is also shown a series of convergence analysis.