M.Ing. / Risk is an integral part of engineering projects, and it is necessary to manage the risks in order to ensure that the project achieves its objectives. A key part of the risk management effort is the risk identification aspect. This dissertation discusses risk identification and how it forms part of risk and project management. The dissertation builds from a macroscopic view of project management, which includes the phases in the project life cycle, the project structure and project control processes. This is followed by a focus on risk management within the project management framework, exploring how identifying, quantifying and controlling risks form part of the risk management structure. Next is an investigation into a risk identification framework, expanding on how aspects like hazard and peril identification, planning, staffing and resource allocation form part of the risk identification framework. A case study is then used to further explore risk identification and demonstrate it in practical engineering project management. Finally, recommendations to improve risk identification in project risk management are made.

Magister Artium - MA / The researcher has been working for CIAT, as a community development facilitator and research assistant for past five years (2001-2006). CIAT has been involved in testing tools and methods for promoting participation and tracking changes at community level under different pilot projects in Eastern and Central Africa in partnership with national research organizations of respective countries. One of CIAT’s areas of research is developing participatory monitoring and evaluation systems that are appropriate for rural communities. The researcher has been involved in designing and setting up community-driven participatory monitoring and evaluation systems on a pilot basis with communities in Eastern and Southern Africa. / South Africa

A water use and availability study was conducted at the Dzindi Irrigation Scheme in Limpopo Province. The problems experienced at Dzindi Irrigation Scheme regarding water allocation, concern water availability at a field level. Although water is continuously being diverted into the main canal, farmers at the bottom end of the system claim not to receive adequate water supplies, forcing them to practice dry land irrigation (farming). Water losses occur between the source and the point of application, and the causes of loss need to be identified so that water availability can be improved. The study focused on water released to Block 2, and an analysis was made of all losses which occur from the weir where water is released to the point of application in the fields. An estimation of water supplies that return to the river as an unused delivery, and conveyance losses that occur along the distribution channels, were determined through a water balance drawn up from measured canal inflows, such as seepage and evaporation. A total volume of 371096 m3 was supplied to Block 2 during a 45 day monitoring period. For a planted area of 16.52 ha, this works out to 22463 m3 /ha supplied, or a relative irrigation supply of 14.2 times the irrigation requirement. Losses originate from a number of sources. Results indicated that losses that occurred in the main canal were very low, with a conveyance efficiency of 96% recorded. Knowledge of irrigation water management and practical irrigation scheduling at a scheme level is weak. The biggest immediate need is to improve the management of the infrastructure. The main system capacity is adequate, and losses due to seepage, evaporation and return flows are within acceptable limits. The return flows are mostly caused by the farmers’ lack of understanding that led to them removing the entire sluice gates at the head of the secondary canals of Block 2. This results in water running to the first two secondary canals only, and not reaching the rest of the Block. Based on the requirements identified by all the stakeholders, training should be provided to the water bailiffs and farmers to implement management practices that are both effective and sustainable. Together with prioritised infrastructure upgrading, more acceptable water delivery should be possible. The challenge lies in making the technical and the social aspects converge in such a way that the result is acceptable to both systems and can be sustained over time. The opportunities for capacity building by equipping thestakeholders with new skills are considerable, but the time and effort required to achieve this should not be underestimated. / Dissertation (M Inst Agrar (Rural Engineering Technology))--University of Pretoria, 2007. / Civil Engineering / unrestricted

The purpose of this study is to determine whether all costs over the life cycle of metallurgical research projects are included in the initial cost estimate, whether these costs are estimated accurately and whether they are managed throughout the project’s life cycle. The impetus for this study came from the observation that costs in metallurgical research projects are often not accurately estimated and are not managed over the entire life cycle of these projects. Cost estimation and cost management over the life cycle of a project were an integral part of the project and crucial to its success. The initial cost estimate can seal a project’s financial fate. Projects often overrun estimated costs because the costs are not estimated accurately enough and not well managed. The project leaders of metallurgical research projects are engineers and not always trained to estimate and manage costs effectively. Project management textbooks are of little assistance in this regard because they tend to focus on timeous delivery, and fail to include enough information on cost estimation and cost management. To facilitate an effective and objective analysis of the survey, an extensive literature review was conducted. Life cycle costing, methods of cost estimation and cost management techniques were examined in detail. An empirical study was conducted to determine whether these methods of cost estimation and cost management are being used over the entire life cycle of metallurgical research projects, and whether all costs are being included in the initial estimates of costs. It was deemed that results of the empirical study would provide useful information on the factors contributing to the success, failure or early termination of these projects. This study is a descriptive research study. The research methods used in the research design were structured and quantitative. A survey was used to gather information by way of face-to-face and telephonic interviews as well as an e-mail questionnaire. The population was small and consisted of the entities involved in metallurgical research projects in South Africa. There were only 12 entities in the population. The 10 largest entities in terms of project size were selected. A nonprobability sampling approach was used. The e-mail questionnaires were analysed manually by means of spread sheets to obtain graphical information. The processed data were used to draw conclusions. The answers to the questions were linked to the theoretical framework by means of interpretation. It was concluded that all costs over the life cycle of metallurgical research projects are not taken into account in the initial cost estimate of a project, and the cost estimates may therefore not be accurate. The final costs, including discontinuation costs, are often not included in the cost estimates. The costs are mainly managed during the growth phase of a project and not during the introduction phase when 80% of the costs are normally committed. This study emphasises the importance of including all costs during a project’s life cycle, and introduces engineers to modern cost management techniques. Copyright / Dissertation (MCom)--University of Pretoria, 2009. / Financial Management / unrestricted

Research shows that information technology (IT) projects have a poor success rate. Many IT projects exceed the allocated budget, take longer than the time allocated or do not meet the project requirements. The purpose of this study is to identify the critical success factors for implementing an IT project plan in automotive assembly firms in South Africa. The factors identified during the study cover the following topics: the project manager as a factor of success; project communication; knowledge management; the role of management; business strategy; project success measurements; and training and development. For the empirical study an online questionnaire was used as a data collection tool. The study consisted of 40 participants who are involved in the implementation of IT projects in automotive assembly firms with a minimum of 1 year experience. The questionnaire requested the biographical information of the participants and then asked the participants about their perception of the current project activity as well as their perceived importance of the project activities mentioned. The participants’ responses were structured according to a Likert-type scale. Participants had to indicate the extent to which they agreed with each statement in the questionnaire. The responses obtained from the survey were presented and analysed. The researcher observed in this study that aspects of the critical success factors were in place however there were areas which showed large variances. The researcher recommends that management of automotive assembly firms in South Africa should look into project communication and knowledge management. These factors showed large variances with regards to the current project activities and the perceived importance of the activities.

The South African policy framework on Local Economic Development encourages the establishment of community-based projects in an attempt to address the challenges posed by poverty in local communities. It appears that community-based projects have a role to play in poverty alleviation. Municipalities are supposed to encourage and support the establishment of projects aimed at poverty alleviation in their jurisdictions. The Mbombela Local Municipality has played its role in this regard by supporting the establishment of the Daantjie Bakery Project in 2000. In an attempt to evaluate the impact of community-based projects on poverty alleviation, this study investigated the role played by the Daantjie Bakery Project in local economic development of the Daantjie local community in the Mbombela Local Municipality. Participants included community members of Daantjie, employees of the bakery, and the project manager. The study found that, indeed community-based projects play a role in local economic development since they contribute towards employment creation and poverty alleviation.

In this study, the focus will be on the possibility of a lack of learning during execution of projects, which could lead to poor performance in development effectiveness. This study will particularly look at the lessons learnt by individual road infrastructure projects and examine whether or not the learning points were embraced into other projects. The African Development Bank (AfDB) is an example of a multilateral donor agency that predominantly operates in Africa where there are some challenges with aid effectiveness as described earlier. The study is not an attempt to represent the use of lessons learnt and knowledge management in multilateral agencies in general; it is rather a start from which other researchers can build on in order to answer the question: What can donor agencies do to improve aid effectiveness in their project execution? The major contribution of this study is to encourage donor agencies to look at whether their organisations are learning from their different projects as they seek better development effectiveness.

Property development, by its very nature is an element of the economy and can be regarded as a multifaceted business, encompassing activities that include the development of undeveloped land by constructing residential, commercial and industrial buildings, either for leasing or selling. Based on the aforesaid, property development therefore has direct, indirect and induced impacts on the economy. Economic impact refers to the effects, positive or negative, on the level of economic activity in a given area. Measuring economic impact requires a baseline assessment conducted before the activity (property development) occurs and a second, comparable assessment conducted after the activity (property development) occurs. By using the Input- Output Model methodology, various anticipated direct and indirect economic impacts can be quantified. These economic impacts are derived using an understanding of economic cause-effect relationships. The principle of cause-effect is that for any economic action, there can be a multitude of different economic reactions (effects). For the purposes of this treatise, the main cause/action is the implementation of the proposed Alphen Aan Den Rijn Retirement and Lifestyle Village development in Oudtshoorn. The result is a number of direct potential/probable effects, which also have a range of indirect potential/probable effects. Based on the findings of the Input-Output Model, it is clear that the implementation of Alphen will have significant positive socio-economic benefits, e.g. additional business sales, additional GGP and additional employment for the local and regional environment. To ensure that these positive impacts are maximised for the benefit of the overall economy of Oudtshoorn as well as the population of Oudtshoorn, management strategies and mechanisms pertaining to the following are suggested for incorporation into the development proposal: • Workplace Skills Plan; • Labour Contracts; • Service Carrying Capacity Management Plan; • Economic Sustainability; and • Social Sustainability.

Thesis focuses on issues of inflation and risks in evaluation of PPP projects. It sets the basic assumptions and standards for risk identification and administration in PPP projects and furthermore discusses their impact on Value for money and Availability payment. The thesis sets the basic rules for incorporating the inflation and risks into the PPP alternative and sets the rules for economic evaluation of PPP against PSC alterantive (Public Sector Comparator). For the illustration a hypothetical project of construction of primary and secondary schools has been worked out. For the evaluation of economic impact and selection of PPP vs. PSC alternative a standard financial model has been prepared. It focuses on analyzing the Value for moeny and seting up the Availability payment.

M.Tech. / This research project explores the use of visual arts-based methodologies as tools to create exposure, increase sales of products and enhance social networks for a small craft enterprise called Kutloano Papermaking. Visual strategies of Photovoice, resource mapping and mural-making have been widely used in different contexts. This research considers the benefit of combining these three tools in a series of interventions with participants from Kutloano Papermaking and Thabong township of Welkom, Free State Province, South Africa. This project emerges out of a multi-year research activity, Cultural Action for Change: a Ford Foundation-funded project investigating the role of visual arts and social change. The partnership between the University of Johannesburg, Artist Proof Studio, Phumani Paper and sixteen papermaking enterprises across South Africa uses visual tools such as Paper Prayers, Photovoice and resource mapping to explore issues of health, economic development and creativity. My research expands on the work of Cultural Action for Change, building on the successes of Photovoice and resource mapping. Participatory Action Research (PAR) principles of collaboration, participation, action and dialogue underpin this research project. PAR as the framework of this research attempts to create an environment of horizontal knowledge creation and sharing. Findings from this research demonstrate that culture can awaken the spiritual, material and emotional well-being of individuals and communities. This research supports the role of the arts in contributing to economic action and organizing communities that are socially and economically marginalised.