The goal of this thesis was to examine submerged macrophoe biomass, distribution, and ecosystem effects at scales large enough to incorporate the littoral zone into models of whole lake structure and function. Submerged macrophyte biomass and distribution was shown to be highly variable between growing seasons and primarily dependant upon air temperature and the timing of the onset of the growing season. Within a growing season, a mass balance study showed an undisturbed macrophyte bed to markedly lower phytoplankton biomass: total phosphorus ratios, although the net effect of the bed on the growing season phosphorus budget was minimal. The weedbed preferentially retained phytoplankton biomass while being a source of bacterial production to the open water. These findings were mirrored at the among lake scale, as planktonic respiration and bacterial production were higher in macrophyte dominated lakes than would be expected based on phytoplankton biomass alone. Further, phytoplankton biomass was lower than would be expected based on epilimnetic phosphorus levels, showing that the classical view of pelagic interactions that proposes phosphorus determines phytoplankton abundance, which in turn determines bacterial abundance through the production of organic carbon, becomes less relevant as macrophyte cover increases. Long term phosphorus accumulation in the littoral zone was shown to be linked to macrophyte biomass, and on average almost an order of magnitude higher than calculated from the growing season (June--October) phosphorus budget, suggesting that the bulk of phosphorus accumulation in weedbeds occurs outside of the growing season. Finally, sediment core data showed that while submerged weedbeds accumulate up to four times as much bulk sediment compared to the profundal zone, phosphorus accumulation in weedbeds is much less than observed in the profundal zone. These results strongly indicating that submerged macrophyte beds play a central role in trapping ep

The goal of this study is to develop a sustainable tourism strategy for the Soshanguve Township. The motivation for this study arose out of the acute developmental challenges facing many township communities in South Africa, mainly due to the absence of economic opportunities. This results in a high unemployment rate, poverty and an elevated number of crime incidences. A sustainable community tourism strategy could alleviate this situation by availing itself of the opportunities presented by the booming tourism industry to the Soshanguve township, and other communities with similar characteristics. To this end, a firm conceptual framework was laid through the review of literature on the tourism system and indicators of sustainability, tourism development planning, tourism development in South Africa, and community tourism. Literature on the tourism system was instrumental in conceptualising the components required for tourism development to take root in Soshanguve township, namely the potential demand for Soshanguve tourism (including tourists’ region of origin), the infrastructure and services required for visitors en route to the destination, and the readiness of the local community and tourism industry in Soshanguve for tourism development (products, facilities and services). The concept of sustainability and indicators thereof are explored in order to provide a benchmark for monitoring tourism development in Soshanguve, and to ensure that the gains from tourism are preserved for the future. Literature on tourism development planning provided the necessary organisational dimension needed to avoid chaotic development and any potential negative impacts. Furthermore, an analysis of tourism development in South Africa was instrumental in positioning the Soshanguve tourism development strategy within the national, regional and local government context. Finally, the community tourism development component provided vital input from existing research on community tourism initiatives. The research paradigm was both quantitative and qualitative. Following the exploratory research approach, three surveys were conducted by means of self-administered questionnaires. The aim was to explore the demand side of the Soshanguve tourism product through a survey of potential visitors to the Soshanguve township, as well as the supply side through a survey of residents of Soshanguve (ascertaining perceptions of tourism impacts on their community) and another survey of tourism business managers (to assessing product availability and quality). This process was complemented by a qualitative study by means of interviews with three community leaders to explore in greater detail the unique selling points in Soshanguve, tourism planning issues, and the objectives of tourism development in the community. The following literature sources constituted the pillars of the questionnaires, World Economic Forum, 2008:38; Keyser, 2008:37; Simpson, 2008:1 and Oyola et al., 2012:662-665. The interview questions were largely drawn from tourism planning literature (Commonwealth of Australia, 2004:7; Lee, 2012:2; Chi & Dyer,2010; Nunkoo & Ramkissoo, 2011). The demand side questionnaire was administered to 401 (N) visitors to City of Tshwane between the 23rd and 27th of September 2013. These were considered to be potential tourists to Soshanguve because these visitors were in the Pretoria Central Business District which is just about 45 kilometres away from Soshanguve. The second survey (supply side) was administered to 429 (N) residents of the Soshanguve community between 5th October 2013 and 9th October 2013. The product managers’ questionnaire was administered to all 29 (N) managers of tourism businesses identified in Soshanguve from 11th October 2013 to 16th of October 2013. Finally, interviews with the three community leaders were held between the 28th of September 2013 and the 10th of October 2013. The data collected was processed by the Statistical Consultation Services of the North-West University (Potchefstroom campus) using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) software programme. The results were analysed using descriptive statistics, exploratory factor analysis, factor correlation analysis, Spearman’s rank correlations, ANOVA tests and t-tests. The results of the descriptive analysis revealed the travel behaviour of the visitors as highly favourable to day visits with most holidays lasting between two and three days. The majority of respondents used hotel accommodation and arrived at the destination by car. The greatest motivation for taking a holiday was to relax, with the most preferred holiday activity being to visit historical places, followed closely by appreciating nature. The most important determinant of the holiday destination choice was finances, with security featuring next. It was also evident that most of the visitors were not familiar with townships around the City of Tshwane as just about half of them had visited a township in the past. The greatest motivation for visiting a township was to experience traditional dance, drama and music. The study further conducted three factor analyses on visitor motivations for taking a holiday, visitor holiday activities, and holiday destination choice determinants. The exploratory factor analysis identified five factors in the travel motivations (socio-cultural motivators, interpersonal motivators, physical motivators, status motivators, and recovery motivators), four factors among the preferred activities (adventure activities, cultural activities, social activities, and outdoor activities), and five factors among the holiday destination choice determinants (familiarity, physical well-being, economic factors, safety and recommendations/references). The factor correlation matrix revealed no significant correlations between them, although there were visible correlations between the socio-cultural motivators for taking a holiday and recovery motivators. The same could be said of adventure activities and cultural activities. The t-test indicated no significant differences between visitors who had previously been to the township and those who had not. Regarding the results of the supply side analysis, the focus was on the residents of Soshanguve, the tourism product managers in the community, and interviews with the community leaders. The descriptive statistics revealed that many residents had a strong attachment to their community as they would not consider living elsewhere. Generally, they have a positive perception of tourism impacts on their community, as most of them agree that tourism development would be beneficial to both the community and themselves. The product managers think business has been good, but the quality of the products is questionable considering that most of the tourism businesses neither belong to an industry association for peer evaluation nor have received any grading. Results of the qualitative study indicated that even though there is a tourism product development plan for Soshanguve at the City of Tshwane tourism office, none of the community leaders interviewed was aware of this. This seems to suggest that the public consultation process was either not followed or was flawed. The interviews also unearthed the rich history, natural environment and cultural heritage of the Soshanguve people. Finally, a factor matrix analysis was performed on the perceptions of the residents on the impacts of tourism development on their community and the general tourism business success factors in Soshanguve. Five impact factors (economic, social, infrastructure, environmental, and recreational) were identified with the factor correlation analysis revealing visible correlations between infrastructure and recreation/entertainment. An ANOVA test was conducted to determine if there are any correlations between the community attachment of respondents and their perceptions of tourism impacts. No significant correlations were found. The exploratory factor matrix analysis on the general tourism industry success factors yielded six factors, namely facilities and services, communication tools, access, visibility, human resources, and safety. The factor correlation analysis indicated no significant correlations between the factors. The key contributions of this study can be noted as follows: * The development of a pioneer sustainable community tourism strategy for Soshanguve, in particular and townships in general; * The proposed inclusive stakeholder consultative approach in the development of sustainable township tourism; * The holistic approach to tourism destination planning that takes into consideration the tourists origin region, conditions in the transit route region and the host destiantion; * Finally, the application of methodological triangulation in township tourism research. / PhD (Tourism Management), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2014

The goal of this study is to develop a sustainable tourism strategy for the Soshanguve Township. The motivation for this study arose out of the acute developmental challenges facing many township communities in South Africa, mainly due to the absence of economic opportunities. This results in a high unemployment rate, poverty and an elevated number of crime incidences. A sustainable community tourism strategy could alleviate this situation by availing itself of the opportunities presented by the booming tourism industry to the Soshanguve township, and other communities with similar characteristics. To this end, a firm conceptual framework was laid through the review of literature on the tourism system and indicators of sustainability, tourism development planning, tourism development in South Africa, and community tourism. Literature on the tourism system was instrumental in conceptualising the components required for tourism development to take root in Soshanguve township, namely the potential demand for Soshanguve tourism (including tourists’ region of origin), the infrastructure and services required for visitors en route to the destination, and the readiness of the local community and tourism industry in Soshanguve for tourism development (products, facilities and services). The concept of sustainability and indicators thereof are explored in order to provide a benchmark for monitoring tourism development in Soshanguve, and to ensure that the gains from tourism are preserved for the future. Literature on tourism development planning provided the necessary organisational dimension needed to avoid chaotic development and any potential negative impacts. Furthermore, an analysis of tourism development in South Africa was instrumental in positioning the Soshanguve tourism development strategy within the national, regional and local government context. Finally, the community tourism development component provided vital input from existing research on community tourism initiatives. The research paradigm was both quantitative and qualitative. Following the exploratory research approach, three surveys were conducted by means of self-administered questionnaires. The aim was to explore the demand side of the Soshanguve tourism product through a survey of potential visitors to the Soshanguve township, as well as the supply side through a survey of residents of Soshanguve (ascertaining perceptions of tourism impacts on their community) and another survey of tourism business managers (to assessing product availability and quality). This process was complemented by a qualitative study by means of interviews with three community leaders to explore in greater detail the unique selling points in Soshanguve, tourism planning issues, and the objectives of tourism development in the community. The following literature sources constituted the pillars of the questionnaires, World Economic Forum, 2008:38; Keyser, 2008:37; Simpson, 2008:1 and Oyola et al., 2012:662-665. The interview questions were largely drawn from tourism planning literature (Commonwealth of Australia, 2004:7; Lee, 2012:2; Chi & Dyer,2010; Nunkoo & Ramkissoo, 2011). The demand side questionnaire was administered to 401 (N) visitors to City of Tshwane between the 23rd and 27th of September 2013. These were considered to be potential tourists to Soshanguve because these visitors were in the Pretoria Central Business District which is just about 45 kilometres away from Soshanguve. The second survey (supply side) was administered to 429 (N) residents of the Soshanguve community between 5th October 2013 and 9th October 2013. The product managers’ questionnaire was administered to all 29 (N) managers of tourism businesses identified in Soshanguve from 11th October 2013 to 16th of October 2013. Finally, interviews with the three community leaders were held between the 28th of September 2013 and the 10th of October 2013. The data collected was processed by the Statistical Consultation Services of the North-West University (Potchefstroom campus) using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) software programme. The results were analysed using descriptive statistics, exploratory factor analysis, factor correlation analysis, Spearman’s rank correlations, ANOVA tests and t-tests. The results of the descriptive analysis revealed the travel behaviour of the visitors as highly favourable to day visits with most holidays lasting between two and three days. The majority of respondents used hotel accommodation and arrived at the destination by car. The greatest motivation for taking a holiday was to relax, with the most preferred holiday activity being to visit historical places, followed closely by appreciating nature. The most important determinant of the holiday destination choice was finances, with security featuring next. It was also evident that most of the visitors were not familiar with townships around the City of Tshwane as just about half of them had visited a township in the past. The greatest motivation for visiting a township was to experience traditional dance, drama and music. The study further conducted three factor analyses on visitor motivations for taking a holiday, visitor holiday activities, and holiday destination choice determinants. The exploratory factor analysis identified five factors in the travel motivations (socio-cultural motivators, interpersonal motivators, physical motivators, status motivators, and recovery motivators), four factors among the preferred activities (adventure activities, cultural activities, social activities, and outdoor activities), and five factors among the holiday destination choice determinants (familiarity, physical well-being, economic factors, safety and recommendations/references). The factor correlation matrix revealed no significant correlations between them, although there were visible correlations between the socio-cultural motivators for taking a holiday and recovery motivators. The same could be said of adventure activities and cultural activities. The t-test indicated no significant differences between visitors who had previously been to the township and those who had not. Regarding the results of the supply side analysis, the focus was on the residents of Soshanguve, the tourism product managers in the community, and interviews with the community leaders. The descriptive statistics revealed that many residents had a strong attachment to their community as they would not consider living elsewhere. Generally, they have a positive perception of tourism impacts on their community, as most of them agree that tourism development would be beneficial to both the community and themselves. The product managers think business has been good, but the quality of the products is questionable considering that most of the tourism businesses neither belong to an industry association for peer evaluation nor have received any grading. Results of the qualitative study indicated that even though there is a tourism product development plan for Soshanguve at the City of Tshwane tourism office, none of the community leaders interviewed was aware of this. This seems to suggest that the public consultation process was either not followed or was flawed. The interviews also unearthed the rich history, natural environment and cultural heritage of the Soshanguve people. Finally, a factor matrix analysis was performed on the perceptions of the residents on the impacts of tourism development on their community and the general tourism business success factors in Soshanguve. Five impact factors (economic, social, infrastructure, environmental, and recreational) were identified with the factor correlation analysis revealing visible correlations between infrastructure and recreation/entertainment. An ANOVA test was conducted to determine if there are any correlations between the community attachment of respondents and their perceptions of tourism impacts. No significant correlations were found. The exploratory factor matrix analysis on the general tourism industry success factors yielded six factors, namely facilities and services, communication tools, access, visibility, human resources, and safety. The factor correlation analysis indicated no significant correlations between the factors. The key contributions of this study can be noted as follows: * The development of a pioneer sustainable community tourism strategy for Soshanguve, in particular and townships in general; * The proposed inclusive stakeholder consultative approach in the development of sustainable township tourism; * The holistic approach to tourism destination planning that takes into consideration the tourists origin region, conditions in the transit route region and the host destiantion; * Finally, the application of methodological triangulation in township tourism research. / PhD (Tourism Management), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2014

Thesis (MBA)--Stellenbosch University, 2012. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Providing quality primary healthcare services in a scarce resource environment in South Africa is a challenge. This is exacerbated by segments of the population experiencing high unemployment and extreme poverty leading to a prevalence of diseases such as HIV/Aids and Tuberculosis. Long queues and staff shortages have led to the Department of Health decentralising the primary healthcare system into district facilities, with the intention of offering greater access to equitable healthcare for all South Africans. Sexual reproductive health falls under the category of primary healthcare and is a specialised function, often carried out by inadequately trained providers using quota systems, who consider this essential service to be a low priority. The area of sexual reproductive health includes termination of pregnancy, contraception, treatment of sexually transmitted infections and cancer screening. Although termination of pregnancy is legal in South Africa, reluctance on the part of service providers to offer this service, due to conscientious objection has created a shortage of safe, legal healthcare facilities. In an effort to provide these life-saving services, non-governmental organisations are attempting to fill the service delivery shortfall. With the assistance of international donor funding, Marie Stopes South Africa has established a number of sexual reproductive healthcare facilities in townships in Gauteng and KwaZulu Natal. These services take place from basic structures located within communities most in need of healthcare, and offer a range of sexual reproductive health services at low cost to men and women of reproductive age. As the operational focus is on provision of services otherwise not available, the organisation has not measured the levels of customer satisfaction adequately to date. Due to the preventative and potentially life-saving nature of these services, improved customer satisfaction levels could, through word of mouth advertising and customer retention, increase the use of these facilities by community members, reduce numbers of unplanned pregnancies, and ultimately contribute to a decrease in the incidence of maternal mortality due to unsafe abortions. In this study, the SERVQUAL instrument will measure the gap between customer expectations prior to services received, and perceptions of the services post-delivery, in order to establish the current service quality gaps in township healthcare facilities. Management of the organisation will use this information to implement actions to improve customer satisfaction and monitor the impact of these actions, with the aim of increasing positive word-of-mouth advertising, leading to greater use of services and ultimately the long-term sustainability of the facilities.

ABSTRACT The following thesis explored a specific subculture called skhothane, or izikhothane in the plural, which has taken root amongst the male youth in South African townships. Izikhothane are primarily concerned with music, fashion, dance and linguistic prowess in relation to their counterparts. They performed against their counterparts in order to gain status, prestige, fame and renown. These in turn were exchanged in some instances for other desired outcomes such as access to women. This study explored the intersecting factors that have caused the rise and transformation of this subculture. The contextual factors can be understood as historical, economic, and social. Other factors such as masculinity, gender, race, ethnicity and class seem to be playing a role in the meanings that izikhothane make and the lenses through which the view themselves and their urban spaces. In addition to the above the izikhothane were looked at in relation to subcultures that were formed during apartheid, such as comrades, tsotsis, comtsotsis and pantsulas, for example. This has given an idea of the continuity associated with subcultures and the generational factors that lead to their formation. The frame work that was used, for the most part, to critically understand this practice was primarily taken from Foucault’s conception of space, Winnicott’s formulation of transitional spaces, Bourdieu’s ideas of capital, and Erikson’s work on youth identity.

Thesis ( M.Urban Design)--University of the Witwatersrand, Faculty of Engineering and the Built Environment, 2012. / Johannesburg, historically as an apartheid city, was a segregationist city. Today, as a globally competitive city, that segregation is being entrenched by new forms of exclusion. This aim of this thesis is to understand the historic forces that created a segregated city and to understand the current forces that continue to enforce segregation within the city. In understanding these forces, the thesis aims at proposing methods to overcome the segregation within our cities. The thesis is located within the context of the township and focuses specifically on the township of Lenasia. At the international level it explores the idea of modernism enabling social engineering and it also explores the impact that Neoliberalism has had on cities internationally. Within the South African context the impact that modernism coupled with the apartheid ideology resulted in the foundations of city of Johannesburg being segregated on the basis of race. The impact of Neoliberalism on the city of Johannesburg is also explored in order to understand the new forms of segregation that is being enforced within the city. The resulting socio-spatial segregation is explored within the context of the township of Lenasia. The key modernist manifestation that has had a profound impact on the layout of the township is the Neighbourhood Unit. The key neoliberal manifestation that has impacted on the study area is the gated strip mall. Theories aimed at overcoming the shortcomings of the modernist city and the neoliberal cities include: Transport Orientated Developments; Suburban Sprawl; Retrofitting Suburbia; and The Compact City Debate. However David Dewar’s South African Cities: A Manifesto for change was particularly important in terms of overcoming the challenges faced within the context of the developing world where issues of integration, equity and sustainability need to be addressed. Methods of intervention in order to overcome segregation extracted from David Dewar’s Manifesto were extracted and applied to case study township of Lenasia.

The world today is faced with major threats to a stable future, such as the greenhouse effect, depletion of fossil fuels, desertification, poverty and the growing gap between rich and poor. People are becoming more aware of the importance of a sustainable relationship between social systems and ecosystems. These systems were investigated in a South African township in Hammanskraal, Gauteng. Fieldwork was done to determine the current land use of the residents, the land use impacts of the residents and the natural resources available to the residents. The current land use of the residents was determined by observations and interviews. The people modified the ecosystem to make decorative gardens, plant food crops and to fence the yards. The land use impact varied over the total area of the selected site. A TWINSPAN analysis divided the ecosystem into two major communities namely the Residential Major-community, which was divided into 5 sub-communities, and the Savanna Major-Community, which was divided into 3 sub-communities. The land use impact was determined for each sub-community of the Savannah Major-Community in terms of species composition, vegetation structure, grass biomass and grazing capacity. The land use impact of the residents is most destructive on the Residential Major-Community, though the impact in each sub-community is similar. The local ecosystem is used to discard waste and to cut trees for firewood. The land use impact of the residents on the local ecosystem is low compared to agricultural activities. It is concluded that the relationship between the social and the ecological systems of the selected site is dysfunctional, because some natural resources needed by the social system are limited or destroyed. These resources include soil, space, water and energy. An interesting question that was investigated is: Why do people plant ornamental plants if they do not have enough resources and food? The relationship between the social and the ecological systems are complex. Technologies are needed to reach sustainable household-based production, without requiring adaptations from the relevant systems. Technologies that were identified from the literature include the principles of plant communities, permaculture, conservation agriculture and intercropping. / Dissertation (MSc)--University of Pretoria, 2008. / Plant Science / unrestricted

The trend of new drugs entering the drug market has intensified in South Africa. Currently in South Africa, there is a fairly new drug on the market known as nyaope which is being abused mostly by the youth in the townships. Nyaope is a drug consisting of heroin, dagga and other elements like rat poison, cleaning detergents and even crushed antiretroviral drugs. Failure to find a solution to drug abuse can lead to economic problems and handicap the social development of the country, as well as threatening the life and health of the people involved. In the South African context, the value of aftercare has been downplayed and there has been relatively little emphasis on aftercare and reintegration services in both research and practice. Therefore, it was the goal of this study to explore and describe the aftercare needs of nyaope users from both the users' and the significant others' points of view in Hammanskraal. In order to achieve this goal, a qualitative research was adopted to explore and describe the aftercare needs of nyaope users from both the users' and the significant others' points of view. Due to the nature of the study, the researcher had two sampling groups, namely (1) nyaope users and (2) significant others. The study was guided by a collective case study design. Semi-structured interviews were used as a data collection method for this study and two distinct interview schedules were developed and used for nyaope users and significant others, respectively. The researcher aimed at answering the following two research questions: (1) "Based on the views of nyaope users, what are the aftercare needs of nyaope users in the Hammanskraal community?"; and (2) "Based on the views of significant others, what are the aftercare needs of nyaope users in the Hammanskraal community?" From the raw data, the researcher implemented thematic analysis as stipulated by Braun and Clarke (2006) in analysing the data. The researcher used credibility and triangulation in establishing the trustworthiness of the data analysis. The findings from the two sets of samples were unpacked in three sections, namely, findings from the nyaope users, from significant others and the combined data with the aim of triangulation. The key findings from nyaope users and the significant others are as follows: The key findings from nyaope users were that nyaope use has a negative impact on the physical, psychological, spiritual well-being of the users. Causes of relapse were identified as a lack of support from the government and family members, personal problems that users encounter during the recovery process, going back to the same environment and being coerced to go for treatment. Furthermore, nyaope users indicated that they value the trust of community members that is often lost and can be regained by a change of lifestyles following treatment and getting volunteering opportunities in order to create awareness at local schools. The users indicated that they could achieve total abstinence if they can change the type of lifestyle they were living before, such strategies include going for treatment, adopting a more conducive and healthy lifestyle, get adequate support from their families, attending group sessions following treatment, the implementation of an adequate aftercare programme that could assist in preventing relapse, the creation of employment and spiritual support during and post treatment. The key findings from the significant others were that families are victims of theft due to nyaope users' stealing to sustain their habits. As a result significant others are left with feelings of disappointment and hurt. Nyaope also impacts negatively on family relationships in a manner that there is a lack of communication and ineffective communication among family members. The significant others identified the causes of relapse as a lack of educational programmes in communities, high unemployment rate, a lack of spiritual support, inadequate aftercare programmes and the return to the same community and friends following treatment. Significant others also indicated that nyaope users require volunteering opportunities in communities as a form of reintegration and that nyaope users need to change their lifestyles following treatment in order to regain trust from the community. Significant others recommended that nyaope users require support from family, spiritual support from spiritual leaders and psychosocial support in order for them to maintain total abstinence. / Mini Dissertation (MSW)--University of Pretoria, 2016. / Social Work and Criminology / MSW / Unrestricted

No description available.

<p>This thesis comprises two papers exploring aspects of public finance and environmental economics in Namibia.</p><p>Paper [I] estimates the shadow prices of capital, labour and foreign exchange for the Namibian economy. The results suggest that the shadow price of capital for Namibia is 8%. The economic costs of Namibian labour, as a share of financial costs, are 32% for urban semi- and unskilled labour, and 54% for rural semi- and unskilled labour. The economic cost of foreign labour as a share of financial costs is 59%. The estimated range for the shadow exchange rate factor is between 7% and 14% for the Namibian economy.</p><p>Paper [II] studies the determinants of property prices in the township areas of Windhoek, the capital of Namibia. The study reveals that properties located close to an environmental hazard, such as a garbage dump, sell at considerable discounts. On the other hand properties located near an environmentally favourable location, such as recreational open space, sell at a premium. These results provide evidence of the importance of environmental quality in lower income property markets in developing countries. It is therefore important for Namibian urban planners to incorporate environmental quality within the planning framework for lower income areas.</p>