Submitted in full requirement for the Degree of Master of Management Sciences Specialising in Hospitality and Tourism, Durban University of Technology, Durban, South Africa, 2017. / Over the years the rapid growth of the tourism industry has revealed itself to be a major source of income and social improvement for many. However, with this growth comes the undoubtable carbon footprint it carries. As a result, the growth and expansion of many tourism ecolabels have surfaced in the hopes of alleviating the negative environmental impacts the tourism industry imposes. This study aimed to ascertain the impacts of tourism ecolabels on businesses. It assessed the level of success of the ecolabel within the organisation as well as ascertained the benefits and challenges associated with ecolabel certification. A quantitative research approach was used and the data was collected by means of online questionnaires that were targeted at managers of tourism businesses in South Africa. The study reveals that tourism businesses in South Africa do experience the benefits of being certified with an ecolabel in terms of the natural, socio-cultural and economic environments. However, the high costs associated with being certified, the lack of general public awareness regarding ecolabels and the absence of government support are still prevalent. Consequently, cost reduction, promotion of public awareness as well as government support are the main areas of improvement required by tourism establishments with regard to ecolabels. / M

Rabbits and goats were inoculated with crude, membrane-associated and soluble components extracted from unengorged adult females and nymphs of the bont tick Amblyomma hebraeum. Inoculation provided some protection against nymphal infestation, however it had little effect on adult feeding. Histological examination of adults fed on inoculated hosts showed evidence of gut damage. Skin provocation testing with tick extracts elicited a Type I immediate hypersensitivity which was influenced by antihistamine. A delayed skin reaction was also evident. Whether this was attributable to Type III Arthus reaction or Type IV cell-mediated hypersensitivity was not determined. A comparative histological study of sites of tick extract injection, on inoculated and naive hosts, demonstrated the role of eosinophils in the hosts response to tick feeding. Serological examination revealed elevated anti-A hebraeum lgG titres following inoculation. These titres were found to decrease in the ten weeks after inoculation, despite the hosts being repeatedly infested with A hebraeum. Although the IgG titres of naive control hosts increased after each tick infestation, they failed to reach the titres achieved through inoculation. Western blot analysis of serum from inoculated hosts recognized most of the A. hebraeum proteins against which it was screened.

M.Phil. / In order for developers to provide reasonable engineering services as well as a liveable dwelling unit within the existing housing subsidy, a substantial increase in residential density is required. Increased urban densities will decrease engineering services costs due to a greater sharing ability. This study was undertaken in order to quantify the benefits of urban densification on engineering services. The financial problems of Local Authorities in South Africa due to the entrenched culture of non-payment for services, is causing a rapid decline in the sustainability of engineering services due also to low, or non-existent maintenance. The "housing" currently delivered, its nature and continued sustainability are being severely criticized. Few differences exist between the housing currently being delivered and those provided under the previous government. Houses are provided in areas on affordable land normally far from the work place. The type of housing being constructed consists mostly of the single storey, free standing units on separate erven. These types of developments encourage urban sprawl, require very expensive engineering services and discourage the establishment of an economic public transport system. Possible solutions to the workforce/job opportunity problem include mixed land use and residential densification.

M.Comm. / Marketers have historically found it convenient to bundle the Asian consumer market together with the black consumer market or the white consumer market depending on the product or event under consideration. As we move toward an era of customised products and individualised service, minority markets become more difficult to overlook. Their unique characteristics demand that they be targeted as separate and unique market segments distinct from the mass markets that dominate the marketing environment.

M.A. / Marxist historiography started during the late sixties and early seventies in response to the so-called "crisis" in the social sciences. The inability of these sciences to explain prolonged poverty and backwardness in areas of capitalist development and dependency in areas in close connection with the capitalist core, directed social scientists towards Marxist explanations. The conventional explanation of the implacability of capitalist development with racial stratification no longer rendered any explanation of Third World circumstances, since, especially in the South African case, the economy maintained high growth rates in spite of and under circumstances of sustained and intensified racial differentiation...

LL.D. / Please refer to full text to view abstract

Masters in Public Administration - MPA / This research report examined the key policies of globalisation namely, privatisation and deregulation of services and also their implication on the Tri-partite alliance. Because they have impacted negatively on major economic sectors, particularly to those that help the needy. Therefore, the study explores these initiatives, which has been debatable in South Africa under the dominant understanding of ‘progress’ or ‘development’. The Objective of the study is to lay the basis for the examination and evaluation of policy option with regard to privatisation and deregulation of services in South Africa and to engage South Africa effectively in global policy debates and adjust in global trends and negotiations within the region (SADC) and other international countries. It examines global challenges and opportunities / threats for South Africa as a developing country in the emerging global order. This study also attempts to provide answers to several questions concerning privatisation and deregulation of public services in South Africa. To the poor, is deregulation and privatisation of state assets threatening to become the new apartheid, which is an instrument of exclusion, not just from a better life but even from the very basic services? How are workers and including the poorest of the poor affected by the status of deregulation and privatisation? Do the timing and specifics of these processes matter? Who should attempt to regulate the auction, as some of government officials seems to be corrupt? And which prior restructuring policies are worth implementing? / South Africa

Magister Scientiae - MSc / The reservoir quality (RQ) of well E-BA1 was characterized using thin sections and core samples in a petrographic study. Well E-BA1 is situated in the Bredasdorp Basin, which forms part of the Outeniqua Basin situated in the Southern Afircan offshore region. Rifting as a result of the break up of Gondwanaland formed the Outeniqua Basin. The Bredasorp Basin is characterized by half-graben structures comprised of Upper Jurassic, Lower Cretaceous and Cenozoic rift to drift strata. The current research within the thesis has indicated that well E-BA1 is one of moderate to good quality having a gas-condensate component. / South Africa

The white margined sole Synaptura marginata (Soleidae) was isolated as the most likely candidate for flatfish aquaculture in South Africa. The aim of the study was to screen the sole as a candidate aquaculture species by way of a comprehensive study of its biology and life history strategy and to identify possible "bottlenecks". The study was undertaken on the assumption that the biological data would provide valuable information for developing specific technologies that might be required for the farming of this species. Specimens were collected monthly by spearing along the Eastern Cape coast of South Africa between December 2000 and March 2002. Length-at-age data required for modeling the growth of S. marginata was obtained from sectioned otoliths. A Von Bertalanffy growth model with an absolute error structure best describes the growth for this species. The model parameters were: L∞ = 429.5 mm TL, K = 0.24 and t₀ = -1 .79 years. Analysis of gut contents showed that S. marginata feed exclusively on polychaete worms, mainly of the genus Morphysa. S. marginata shows a protracted summer spawning season of six months, from October to April. This was determined by the calculation of a monthly gonadosomatic index and a macroscopic maturity scale. Histological examination of the ovaries revealed five ovarian developmental stages. Size at 50% and 100% sexual maturity for females was calculated to be 235 mm TL and 300 mm TL (ca. 1.5 - 2.5 years of age) and all males> 154 mm TL were mature. S. marginata is a batch spawner, releasing a minimum of 3 batches of eggs per year. Relative fecundity is high (34000 eggs per year I kg) and this coupled with the protracted spawning season would make it possible to obtain adequate numbers of juveniles (for farming) for approximately five to six months of the year. Comparative analysis of the biological characteristics in relation to other soles farmed elsewhere in the world suggests that S. marginata is a suitable candidate for marine fish culture in South Africa.

The dissertation details the experimental work on the attempt to develop rhenium(V)phthalocyanine complexes directly from its +7 oxidation state (perrhenate). Different reducing agents (PPh3, Na2S2O5 and NaBH4) were employed and consequently, different results were acquired, such as rhenium(V)-mediated oxidative hydrolysis of the phthalocyanines (Pcs), the formation of a rhenium-phthalocyanine complex and phthalocyanine-capped nanoparticles. The rhenium nanoparticles that were formed were optimized from a synthesis point of view and, cancer localizing ability of the rhenium nanoparticles was investigated. The complexes were synthesized through direct metalation of pre-formed metal-free phthalocyanines using the “cold isotopes” of the rhenium metal. Rhenium nanoparticles (Re NPs) were synthesized in aqueous saline medium so as to imitate the environment on which Re is produced from its reactor. The nanoparticles (NPs) were capped with phthalocyanines which were covalently biofunctionalized with a folic acid moiety to enhance the targeting ability of the Re NPs. These NP systems were characterised with techniques such as ultraviolet-visible UV-Vis spectroscopy and transmission electron microscopy TEM. Cytotoxicity of the NPs was tested against four different cell lines and subsequently their cytotoxicity profiles were elucidated, and the profiles shown a dose-dependent responsealthough the results in some cell lines were unclear. Their fluorescence properties were also studied to provide photophysical information for investigation of their tumor localization using human cancer cells lines via confocal fluorescence microscopy studies. Particle size effect on localization of NPs was also investigated using confocal fluorescence and TEM. Two sizes were chosen (10 and 50 nm), and the smaller NPs (10 nm) were found to exhibit stronger fluorescence properties than the 50 nm NPs, and they were also found to have a better localization ability than the 50 nm NPs. Finally, their tumor and organ biodistribution studies will be carried out using micro-SPECT kits and model mice (using the “hot” isotopes in a radiopharmacy laboratory).