MSc (Microbiology) / Department of Microbiology / See the attached abstract below

MRDV / Institute for Rural Development / The study was carried out to assess the community-perceived determinants of access to land for development in Mutale Local Municipality. It was conducted in the Makuya and Mutele Traditional Authority areas of the former Mutale Local Municipality. All the views relating to access to land for housing, agriculture and business development expressed during the Vhembe District Land Development Summits and Forum meetings held in 2008, 2010 and 2014 were consolidated. Using this information, a questionnaire comprising entirely closed-ended answers requiring responses on a Likert-type scale of 1 (strongly agree) to 5 (strongly disagree) was prepared. The questionnaire was administered through focus group discussions in community workshops during which youth (male and female), women, men and community leaders were the respondents. Open-ended questions were also administered focusing on the factors hindering or enabling access to land, and solutions that the community perceived needed to be taken. Mean and mode for each response were calculated. Chi-Square tests for association were conducted to determine whether there was any association in the responses obtained from the traditional authority areas. Kruskal Wallis and Mann-Whitney tests were conducted to determine the level of agreement of perceptions respondents with Vhembe district land development summits resolutions among youth, adults and community leaders. There were no statistically significant differences (P > 0.05) in perception of issues relating to access to land for housing, agriculture and business development of land development. Thus, the issues are real and should form a solid basis for planning interventions that might unlock access to land for different types of uses. Moreover, improving transparency and deepening community participation and consultation over classification and sale of unoccupied land could minimise the likelihood of potential land conflict.

MENVSC / Department of Ecology and Resource Management / This study uses lens to understand conflict over the use of land and its resources in the Mapungubwe area. The main underlying assumption of the study is that various land use activities that are not compatible with each other lead to land use conflict. The aim of the study is to assess land use conflict in the Mapungubwe area. In particular, the study intends to find out the historical and contemporary land-use conflict, compare and contrast the historical conservation objectives with the current conservation objectives in the Mapungubwe area, find out the reasons that made farmers to oppose conservation objectives now and in the 1940s and to investigate the effects of historical and contemporary land use conflict in the Mapungubwe area. In order to achieve these objectives, primary and secondary data were collected. Secondary data that was used included historical documents about Mapungubwe, Hansards or House of Assembly debates of South Africa from 1940 to 1948, newspapers articles, books and journal articles. Secondary data were used to find out the historical land use conflict that took place in the Mapungubwe area. Primary data were collected through semi-structured interviews with private game farmers, commercial irrigation farmers, farm workers (former and current), Mapungubwe National Park officials and land claimants. Field observations were used to corroborate information collected through interviews. Primary data were collected in order to find out the contemporary land use conflict taking place in the Mapungubwe area. The main findings of this study are that land use conflict in Mapungubwe area is not new; rather it started in the 1940s when the United Party government intended to establish the Dongola Wildlife Sanctuary. However, the idea of a wildlife sanctuary led to land use conflict, particularly between farmers and the ruling United Party government. In other words, land use conflict was mainly among conservationists (who were members of United Party) and farmers. Unfortunately, the idea of a wildlife sanctuary in the Mapungubwe area was caught up in political battles between the governing United Party and the opposition National Party that eventually led to its abandonment following the electoral victory of the National Party in the general elections of 1948. The study also found that the contemporary Mapungubwe is also affected by land use conflict. The conflict is mainly because of various land use activities including irrigation farming, game farming, mining, settlement, and land claims that are not compatible with conservation. Land use activities including irrigation and ii game farming, settlement and mining are happening within and around Mapungubwe National Park. This has made it difficult to consolidate the core area of Mapungubwe National Park. As a result, although Mapungubwe National Park has been established in 1995, the park remains fragmented. This study has used Mapungubwe as a case study to demonstrate that the interest over land and its resources in an area by various stakeholders create land use conflict. / NRF

MPM / Department of Public Health / The dawn of democracy in 1994 saw huge strides in the adjustment of various statutory instruments that aimed at opening the systems to all South Africans particularly the previously excluded groups. Health care system was one of the ear marked areas by the South African government for post-apartheid transformation. Resultantly, access to health care was declared a right and incorporated into the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa 1996. Numerous legislative and practical steps towards achieving access to health care for all have been made with notable results. However, due the apartheid spatial planning which persuaded separate development left some sections of the community remote and with no infrastructure to support health care delivery. As a result, this has made the realization of the health care for all dreams elusive. Reportedly, the most affected communities were mainly homelands which were largely rural and townships. Despite notable improvements in the delivery of health care services across the Republic, there are still major challenges faced in this sector mainly in the rural areas and townships. Therefore, the study was set to investigate and evaluate the state of health care service delivery in rural Ndengeza Township. The study employed both qualitative and quantitative method following a descriptive design (cross-sectional) and data was collected using a self-administered questionnaire and interview questions. The results revealed that transport, staff-patient relationship, unavailability of medication and medical staff were the major challenges of health care service delivery in rural areas. The respondents alluded that to improve health service delivery in the area, there is need to make available basic medication and trained medical personnel. It is believed, by the participants, that adding the number of staff will go a long way in changing the negative perceptions such as long queues, unavailability of critical services and unprincipled professionals that the public have of the local health care centers / NRF

MESHWR / Department of Hydrology and Water Resources / Lebalelo area of Sekhukhune district is one of many areas in South Africa experiencing portable water scarcity, especially during prolonged dry season. Due to the dominance of low yielding aquifers in South Africa, it is essential to manage groundwater resources in these low yielding aquifers. However, the management of low yielding aquifer is difficult in areas like Labelelo where the hydrogeological characteristics of the aquifers are understudied. This study investigated the hydrogeological characteristics of the aquifers in the area using combined geophysical method and analytical groundwater models. Four newly drilled borehole and five existing boreholes were used for this study. Geophysical survey was carried out using magnetic and electromagnetic methods. The magnetic survey was used to locate the position of magnetic bodies such as dolerite dykes and different lithologies with different magnetic properties. The electromagnetic survey however, was used to determine zones of high permeability associated with the intrusive bodies as well as high permeability zones in fault planes. Step test, constant discharge test and recovery tests were conducted on all the boreholes to stress the borehole. This was used to determine a suitable and sustainable pumping rate of the aquifer. Pumping test data from the pumping period and recovery was evaluated and interpreted using AQTESOLVE. Aquifer transmissivity, storativity, internal and external hydraulic boundaries were determined from the data. The transmissivity in the area ranges from 0.08 to 124.7 m2/day. The aquifer types in the area are double porosity aquifer, radial flow aquifer with single porosity. Inductive Coupled Plasma (ICP-MS) was used to measure heavy metals, trace metals and cations while Ion Chromatography (IC) was used to determine anions in groundwater of the study area. The groundwater in the area is dominated by calcium carbonate as a result of long residence time with dolomite. The hydrochemistry of the water indicates that the chemistry of the groundwater in the area is mainly controlled by rock-water interaction. / NRF

Thesis (MSc)--University of Stellenbosch, 2006. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Rural development problems faced by the impoverished communities in the Transkei, South Africa, are numerous, and environmental degradation has already taken much of its toll. By working at a micro-catchment-level both the socio-economic and biophysical appreciation of the land resources were captured as encapsulated in the concept of resource management domains. Participatory decision-making allowed functional land use goals and evaluation criteria to be incorporated into computerised multi-criteria evaluation and multi-objective land use allocation models in order to reach an idealised or more sustainable land use situation. In the execution of the decision-making process seven procedural steps were followed, which are discussed in detail and applied in the case study. Synthesis of the results emphasised the envisaged rural planning potential of the methods used. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: In terme van plattelandse ontwikkeling staar talle probleme die behoeftige gemeenskappe van Transkei, Suid-Afrika, in die gesig en omgewingsdegradering neem ongehinderd sy tol. Deur op ‘n mikro-opvangsgebied vlak te werk kon beide die sosio-ekonomiese en biofisiese waarde van die gebied se hulpbronne bepaal word en uitgebeeld word in hulpbron bestuursdomeine. Deur deelnemende besluitneming is funksionele grondgebruiksdoelwitte en evaluasie kriteria gebruik in gerekenariseerde meervoudige kriteria evaluering en veeldoelige grondgebruiksaanwysingsmodelle ten einde die ideale of ‘n meer volhoubare grondgebruik situasie te verkry. Vir die uitvoering van die besluitnemingsproses is van sewe opeenvolgende stappe gebruik gemaak en die uitvoering daarvan word in diepte bespreek in hierdie gevallestudie. Sintese van die resultate het die potensiaal van hierdie beoogde landelike beplanningsmetodes beklemtoon.

The school effectiveness, the school's ability to deliver (produce results), and the improvement of the matriculation (Grade 12) results in the Limpopo Province has been a priority ever since the new democratic government took over in 1994. The Limpopo Province has always scored lower than all the other nine provinces in the country in the matriculation (Grade 12) results. Among the reasons given as contributing to this state of affairs, was the ineffective way of governing and administering schools. This research investigated the development of the school governing structures in the Limpopo Province. The focus was mainly on revealing the nature of the school governing structures that existed in the province and how those governing structures influenced the overall performance of the schools. The researcher found that the most suitable school governing structures for the Limpopo Province schools are those that will provide parents with more meaningful participation in the education of their children and will inculcate democracy in the governance of schools. / Educational Studies / M.Ed. (History of Education)

Despite educational legislation and school reforms to promote improved performance and quality education, underperformance among secondary school learners is still the norm in the rural schools of KwaZulu-Natal (KZN). This dissertation investigates the problem of learner underachievement by means of a literature study and an empirical inquiry. The former provides an overview of the provisions for and problems of rural schooling in both an international and local context and it is followed by a discussion of learner assessment and learner achievement in the South African education system, with specific reference to KZN's schooling system and the problem of learner underachievement. The empirical inquiry investigates the experience of learner achievement in four rural schools in KZN and makes use of qualitative data gathered during individual and focus group interviews conducted with a small sample of underachieving learners and their parents, educators and school managers. Based on these findings, recommendations for improvement are made. / Comparative Education / M.A. (Comparative Education)

The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of negative influences facing children with physical disabilities living in rural areas. Children with physical disabilities living in rural areas of South Africa have to deal with many negative influences in addition to their disability. The main theme is that all children in rural areas face negative influences, but these are far worse for the children with physical disabilities. Societal and educational exclusion and poverty continue to place these children at a disadvantage despite South Africa’s policies that promote inclusion and equality. These rights are central to a meaningful democracy yet; research indicates that children with physical disabilities remain in a hopeless situation in the rural areas. To escape their plight inclusive education is pivotal. It is argued that the government’s capacity to deal with all the negative influences is limited and this therefore necessitates community involvement. Bronfenbrenner’s Bio-ecological approach was used both to investigate the impact of the negative influences facing children with physical disabilities as well as providing a framework that tackles the barriers that prevent this marginalised group of children having an equal opportunity to education. A qualitative and ethnographic study was undertaken to investigate these issues. This entailed the researcher living in four rural areas in KwaZulu-Natal, and collecting data through community participation, observations, questionnaires and interviews as well as photographs and drawings collected from the children. Data was analysed and poverty and exclusion clearly impacted not only on the children with physical disabilities, but their parents/caregivers. It became clear to the researcher that unless this group of children received early intervention to prepare them for education they would not be able to be included in formal education from Grade 1 but would need to begin their schooling in a specialised and exclusive environment. A framework for intervention based on Bronfenbrenner’s model was formulated that involved community involvement on the micro and mesosystemic levels. This framework is unique in that it will provide intensive early intervention for children with physical disabilities with the explicit aim of preparing them for inclusion and at the same time giving their parents/caregivers an opportunity to escape their plight of poverty.Every child in South Africa according to our Constitution and other policies is guaranteed equality. This equality needs to be provided to children with physical disabilities before they attend formal schooling and end up floundering never having had the opportunity to lift themselves out of the cycle of poverty that they face. Contemporary models for understanding these negative impacts and exclusion suggest that an important outcome of rehabilitation services is to optimise children with physical disabilities participation in the home, school and community life. Bronfenbrenner’s Model is based on the premise that disability involves an interaction between features of the child and features of the environment that can be adapted to promote educational inclusion and thus reduce the cycle of poverty. / Psychology of Education / D. Ed. (Inclusive Education)

This study is about the gender dimensions of land reform in South Africa. The case study is that of a housing and resettlement project in Daggakraal, Mpumalanga Province. The aim of the study was to describe and analyse empirical realities for rural women, in relation to land, in Daggakraal. The focus was on the research questions for the study namely the nature of land reform practice; whether gender issues were central in land reform at all stages of the project; whether or not participation of women was truly genuine; and the constraints that were faced in the process of land reform delivery. The study was conducted in Daggakraal, a rural town in Mpumalanga province, South Africa. Research methods employed were both quantitative and qualitative with more emphasis on the latter. A total of 100 respondents participated in the study. This number included 10 key informants 3 of whom were trained as research assistants. The findings indicate that there was very little gender analysis carried out prior to land reform. For this reason land reform has not benefitted the women and men of Daggakraal. Land reform policies and other legislation put in place were not followed to the letter in Daggakraal and in other areas of the country where land reform was implemented; the first land reform (SLAG) has not benefitted the poor, especially women; the rural terrain is an area of contestation and competing interests between women and men. There is also a lack of institutional arrangements to implement a gendered approach to land reform. This study demonstrates the need to tackle and transform the existing power relations at the household level, if government is serious about the gender dimension of land reform in South Africa. In a small way it is hoped that this study will contribute to the limited writing on land reform and gender and also provide a gendered critique of the land reform programme in South Africa. The Gender Analysis Framework (GAF) and the feminist and gender perspectives have helped the researcher to understand and explain the gender dynamics in Daggakraal. / Development Studies / D. Litt. et Phil. (Development Studies)