The stories in this collection explore the fantastical, the power of memory, and the human capacity to love. Moving between the surreal, the absurd, the allegorical, and the metafictional, they elaborate on life's ordinary madness and the mysteries of the spirit. By challenging the either/or boundaries of the binary of realism and fantasy, the stories provoke the reader to engage actively with the text. Influenced by experimental US author Stacey Levine, the mid‐century British novelist Barbara Comyns, and the adventurous Chinese writer Can Xue, in most cases, they create a playful, experimental world that exists at a slight angle to the world as we know it.

The concept of a distinctively South African poetry in English has been, and still is, derided as a "pipe dream" as part of the fallacy which stems from the desire for a "national" literature. In 1955, for instance, C.J. Harvey (in an article containing much common sense as well as sound literary judgment) denounced the self-conscious hunting for "Local Colour" which engrosses so many South African writers. Harvey claimed: "Our civilization is not "South African", except in trivial details, it is Western European, and more specifically as far as poetry written in English is concerned, English ... ". There is a serious error of emphasis here. It would be more accurate to say that our ancestors brought Western European civilization to this continent. To imagine that this civilisation has not undergone and is not still constantly suffering a subtle but far-reaching metamorphosis in Africa would be to fly in the face of reality. White South Africans do not only carry the same identity-card but they can be distinguished from Frenchmen, Englishmen or Irishmen by more than "trivial details". This thesis is an examination of some af the earliest English written in southern Africa, particularly of the verse produced by our poetasters and near-poets. It attempts, during the course of this examination, to call attention to a few of the more significant changes which have arisen as the result of the importation of Western civilsation to an African frontier. Further I hope to show some at the varying ways in which these differences affected the white pioneer and how this has been reflected in our verse since pioneering times. In this sense the Frontier may be thought of as the background against which South African English writers developed certain characteristic traits. Intro., p. 1-2.

Four plant species traditionally used for the treatment of diabetes by South African traditional healers and herbalists were investigated for hypoglycaemic activity. Species included Schkuhria pinnata (Lam.) Cabrera, Pteronia divaricata (P.J. Bergius) Less Elaeodendron transvaalense (Burtt Davy) R.H. Archer and Euclea undulata Thunb var. myrtina (Burch.) Hiern. Acetone and ethanol plant extracts were prepared and tested in vitro, for glucose utilization, at concentrations of 12.5 µg/ml on three cell lines namely; Murine C2C12 myocytes, Chang liver cells and 3T3-L1 preadipocytes. Metformin, at a concentration of 1 µM (0.166 µg/ml) was used as positive control for hepatic cells and insulin at a concentration 1 µM (5.7 µg/ml) for myocytes and preadipocytes. Toxicity tests were done for all extracts on preadipocytes and hepatic cells, but not on myocytes as these cells were exposed to the extract for only a short period (1 hour) during the hypoglycaemic bioassay. Preadipocytes and hepatic cells were exposed to the plant extracts for 48 hours. The four plant extracts were further investigated for hypoglycaemic activity by evaluating inhibiting effects on carbohydrate-hydrolising enzymes alpha-glycosidase and alpha-amylase. In vitro hypoglycaemic analysis revealed that acetone and ethanol plant extracts of S. pinnata, E. undulata and E. transvaalense, displayed hypoglycaemic activity in one or more of the various cell lines, whereas, P. divaricata showed no hypoglycaemic activity. The best results were obtained with the ethanol and acetone extracts of S. pinnata in preadipocytes with a glucose uptake of 148.2% and 79.6% respectively, above control (100%). However, about 50% preadipocytes survived on exposure to the extracts of S. pinnata at 12.5 µg/ml indicating significant cytotoxicity. Glucose uptake of 63.3% was observed by the ethanol extract of S. pinnata on hepatic cells. E. transvaalense showed hypoglycaemic activity on preadipocytes exhibiting glucose uptake of 38.6% above control 100%. Glucose uptake of 62.2 % were obtained by the E. undulata extract in C2C12 myocytes, with 100% cell viability. E. undulata scored a +3 and was chosen for further analysis. Antidiabetic activity and toxicity of the plant extracts were taken into consideration when scoring was applied. Alpha-glucosidase and alpha-amylase results indicated that P. divaricata extract inhibited alpha-glucosidase (IC50 31.22 µg/ml) whereas E. undulata (IC50 2.80 µg/ml) and E. transvaalense (IC50 1.12 µg/ml) extracts inhibited alpha-amylase. Results obtained indicated that all four plant extracts tested have the ability to lower blood glucose levels to some extent and in different manners and therefore corroborate the ethnomedicinal use of these four species in the treatment of diabetes. Phytochemical studies of a crude acetone extract of the root bark of E. undulata var. myrtina produced a new á-amyrin-3O-β-(5-hydroxy) ferulic acid compound (1), and three known compounds; betulin (2), lupeol (3) and epicatechin (4). The chemical structures were determined by spectroscopic means. In vitro assays on C2C12 myocytes revealed that (2) (21.4%) and (4) (166.3%) were active in lowering blood glucose levels whereas (1) (IC50 4.79 µg/ml) and to a lesser extent (4) (IC50 5.86 µg/ml) and (3) (IC50 6.27 µg/ml) inhibited alpha-glucosidase. These results indicated that the crude, E. undulata acetone extract does contain compounds that display hypoglycaemic activity. The hypoglycaemic activity of four plant species including E. undulata, and the four isolated purified compounds, are reported for the first time. / Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2010. / Plant Science / unrestricted

The aim of the research was to generate a way of identifying resilient and non-resilient middle-adolescent learners in Grade 8 and 9, in a South African township secondary school. The theoretical frameworks on resilience, the developmental context and middle-adolescence were explored and two questionnaires were developed using the literature reviews and the theoretical frameworks. A Resilience Scale was developed to identify resilient and non-resilient learners in a township school, in terms of self-evaluation. A Learning Behaviour Scale was developed to determine the ability of teachers to identify learners’ resilient and non-resilient (academic and social) behaviours. In-depth interviews were conducted to identify themes of resilience and non-resilience in the coping behaviour of adolescents in township schools, and to evaluate the credibility and dependability of the Resilience and Learning Behaviour Scales. The Grade 8 and 9 learners of the school were targeted for the research, since they are within the middle-adolescent age range (14-16 years). The participants were 190 Grade 8 and 9 learners, who all completed the Resilience Scale. In-depth interviews were conducted with twelve learners (in three groups of four according to their Resilience Scale scores, that is, highest, lowest and those grouped most closely around the mean). The curricular teachers were requested to complete the Learning Behaviour scale for the selected interviewees. Although all the items of the Resilience Scale proved statistically reliable, the scale appeared not to reliably identify resilient and non-resilient learners, as judged by the interview data, which indicated ten to be resilient and two to be non-resilient. The interview data were used to determine the resilience status of each learner according to the Resilience Process Models of Kumpfer and Boyd and Eckert. Interviews were found to be the most reliable research tool to identify the resilience and non-resilience status of the participants. The Learning Behaviour Scale yielded strongly inconsistent results and thus failed to identify resilient and non-resilient learners. / Dissertation (MEd (Educational Psychology))--University of Pretoria, 2006. / Educational Psychology / unrestricted

The task entrusted to the South African National Roads Agency Limited (SANRAL) is to provide and manage a world class, sustainable national roads network for the country as cost-efficiently as possible, in order to encourage economic growth and develop the quality of life of all South Africans. Underlying this task was the acknowledgement that transport plays a vital role in the economic and social development of any country. To achieve this, the South African Government currently provides government-guarantees of several billion Rands to enable SANRAL to negotiate loans from the capital markets to fund the development and maintenance of the national toll road network. With regard to non-toll national roads, SANRAL receives per annum budgetary amounts to maintenance and development. However, such funding is only sufficient to maintain approximately 40% of the non-toll national road network. The abovementioned information and statistics imply that currently SANRAL may have insufficient funds available to develop and maintain the required primary national road network. SANRAL’s main objective is to obtain the funding required to develop and maintain the proposed primary national road network and to reduce the dependency on government-guaranteed debt. As a result the toll roads policy alternative was elected as a vehicle towards executing SANRAL’s mandate. This article explores the modalities associated with the toll road policy alternative pursued by SANRAL. Copyright / Dissertation (MAdmin)--University of Pretoria, 2010. / School of Public Management and Administration (SPMA) / unrestricted

Tax revenue forms the backbone of the South African economy. Although the tax gap in South Africa has shrunk in recent years, there is still a large tax gap in South Africa. Hence, there is an urgent need to enhance taxpayer compliance. The South African Revenue Service’s (SARS’s) image in the community is a key driver of voluntary taxpayer compliance. The quality of the services provided by SARS is therefore crucial, as service quality directly affects SARS’s image in the community and thus voluntary tax compliance. The objective of the present research was therefore to establish the perceptions that tax practitioners hold with regard to the services rendered by SARS in order to develop a service quality model that can be used to measure SARS’s service quality continuously. The development of a service quality model for the assessment of the services provided by SARS is justified, because it is an essential means to improving the services that SARS provides and therefore also voluntary compliance. The present research defined services, quality, service quality and perceived service quality on the basis of a literature review. These definitions served as a theoretical underpinning for the development of the proposed service quality model. The literature review suggested that a user-based approach to quality was the most relevant approach to this study and that it is important to build the “lens of the customer”. In order to develop the specific “lens of the customer” needed to evaluate the services of SARS, an in-depth, qualitative approach was required to identify a comprehensive range of determinants that potentially drive service quality in the revenue service industry and setting. One such qualitative method is the critical incident technique, which was chosen as the method to be used for building the “lens of the customer” to measure tax practitioners’ evaluations of the quality of the services SARS provides. The critical incident technique relies on a set of procedures to collect comments on service experiences, to perform a content analysis and to classify the observations of service experiences. The critical incident data were collected by means of open-ended questionnaires which tax practitioners registered with SARS were asked to complete, first in a focus group and then individually, using an e-mailed questionnaire. The main data collection instrument was administered by SARS to all tax practitioners registered with SARS country-wide. The data analysis of the responses provided by the tax practitioners involved three processes. The first was the identification of usable critical incidents, the second was the development of a classification scheme for the content analysis and the third was a content analysis of the critical incidents that had been identified. After a content analysis process that involved the preparation of summaries of the frequencies of the responses in accordance with a relevant classification scheme, a process of natural language argument was used to convert the data analysis results and the relevant elements of the theory from the literature survey into two proposed models, one for the traditional services and one for the electronic services provided by SARS. These service quality models can be used as a basis for studies to establish the perceptions of tax practitioners with regard to the quality of SARS’s services. The conceptual models of service quality that were proposed should also enable SARS to identify quality problems and assist SARS in planning for the launch of a quality improvement programme, and thereby improving the efficiency and overall performance of SARS. Copyright / Thesis (DCom)--University of Pretoria, 2009. / Taxation / unrestricted

The comments submitted by The South African Institute of Chartered Accountants (hereinafter referred to as “SAICA”) to the Discussion Paper issued by the South African Revenue Service (hereinafter referred to as “SARS”) in respect of Interpretation Note 61, included the following important introductory comments: “We heartily welcome and endorse the revised approach, which brings the South African interpretation closer to international norm. South Africa is too small an economy in the world to be out of step with the general consensus view, including the views of our main treaty partners (who are mainly OECD members). It also reduces the prospect of having to resort to a mutual agreement procedure; not to mention reducing the likelihood of litigation in the South African courts.” South Africa‟s approach to the determination of a legal person‟s “place of effective management” (hereinafter referred to as “POEM”) differs from the international approach and has resulted not only in adverse tax implications, but also in a lot of uncertainty for various taxpayers. / Dissertation (LLM)--University of Pretoria, 2013. / Mercantile Law / unrestricted

A comprehensive deposition and dispersion model was built for the South African Highveld and Waterberg areas using CALPUFF with the aim of studying the effects of biogenic NOx emissions on sulphur and nitrogen deposition. The effect of industrial H2S emission on sulphur deposition was also investigated for the Highveld. Emission sources inventoried or the Highveld and Waterberg area included industrial sources, vehicle exhaust emissions, household fuel burning emissions and emissions from power stations. The Highveld model was the most extensive. Three scenarios were modelled: average rainfall year (2001), below average rainfall year (2003) and above average rainfall year (2010). The modelling domain was 350 km × 350 km. The Waterberg priority area was only modelled for 2006 and the domain size was 130 km ×100 km. To quantify biogenic soil NOX emissions, models was constructed for both areas using land use data from CALMET, rainfall data and atmospheric ground level temperatures covering each modelling domain. Use was made of work done by Yienger and Levy (1995). To accommodate CALPUFF each area was divided into smaller area sources, each with a specific hourly NOX emission rate. The biogenic NOx emitted made up 3.96 %, 4.14 % and 3.34 % of total released NOx for 2001, 2003 and 2010 respectively. This is significantly more than is released by household fuel burning, small industrial sources and biomass burning. Dry nitrogen deposition rates were affected most, adding between 1.69 - 6.19 % at various receptor locations. Wet deposition rates were affected very little (0.13 % to 0.75 %). Effect on total nitrogen deposition rates ranged from 0.32 % to 1.77 %. CALPUFF was unable to account for H2S conversion to SO2 in its reaction scheme model, therefore conversion rates had to be approximated from observations made on the Highveld by Igbafe (2007). Assuming different conversion percentages for each season, and inputting the converted emissions rates as SO2 emissions sources into CALPUFF, it was predicted that H2S contributes an average of 4.85 %, an average of 5.95 %, and an average of 5.15 % for wet S, dry S and total S deposition respectively Highveld dispersion and deposition predictions are reported on for the three modelling periods of 2001, 2003 and 2010. The modelled biogenic emissions were included in the model. Spatial plots for wet, dry and total S and N deposition were produced. Wet, dry and total S and N deposition rates at specific receptor locations are reported on. Waterberg biogenic emission are only 2.3 % of total NOx emissions for the Waterberg area and would affect nitrogen deposition values very little compared to the nitrogen deposition produced by the emissions from Matimba and Medupi power stations. Because of this it was decided not to run a CALPUFF dispersion and deposition model for the Waterberg area. / Dissertation (MEng)--University of Pretoria, 2017. / Chemical Engineering / MEng / Unrestricted

PhD (Xitsonga) / M. E. R. Mathivha Centre for African Languages, Arts And Culture

Bibliography: p. 362-393. / In this thesis, the discussion of South African English poetry is undertaken in terms of critical questions to which the body of work, to date, has not been subjected. In the nineteen-seventies and -eighties, several anthologies of South African English poetry were published which, despite their differing foci, attested to the strength, innovation, and international stature of the work. Their editors made claims which emphasised both the importance of Sowetan poetry and the emancipation of white poetry, particularly in the last three decades, from the legacy of a stultifying colonial past. This thesis sets out to examine the validity of these critical evaluations. The impetus for such an examination is threefold. Firstly, in comparison with a world literature, South African English poetry has had little impact on the kinds of aesthetic questions which have led to the radical work of international figures like Milosz, Walcott, Neruda. Secondly, South African English poetry tends to be bifurcated by critical analysis, both locally and internationally, into the work of black poets and the work of white poets. Despite the realities of social history which have indeed dichotomised the human experience of South Africa in racial terms, this dichotomy does not seem the most fertile assumption from which to approach the achievement of a nation's poetry. Thirdly, as a poet himself, the writer of this thesis embarked upon the scholarly analysis of a poetic ancestry to which his own work looked ,in vain for location. The re-examination of the roots and value of South African English poetry begins in the thesis with the dilemmas posed by a legacy of romanticism in its displaced relation to a British colony. From this point the discussion argues that this legacy is visible in the unsatisfactory work of liberal poets in the nineteen-seventies and eighties, and argues that such choices cannot be nourishing to a South African cultural originality. Turning to the work most forcefully emphasised as culturally original - i.e. the work of the Soweto poets in the nineteen-seventies and after - the thesis explores this poetry's claims to stylistic and conceptual innovation. The poetry of the late eighties is then examined in relation to its desire to support, and even to drive, anti-apartheid philosophy and practice. The conclusions of the final chapter, presaged throughout the entire argument, suggest that earlier critical estimations of South African English poetry ignore crucial aspects of what has usually been meant by a fully achieved poetic tradition and that such neglect amounts to the betrayal of the very meaning of the term "poem".