Philosophiae Doctor - PhD / The HIV and AIDS epidemic is deemed the single greatest threat to South Africa's future and its growth in one of the most rapid in the world. The South African government has marked 2006 as the year of accelerated HIV and AIDS prevention. It was against this background that the leadership role of principals was articulated as the focus of this research. This study was aimed at gaining an understanding of the challenges facing school principals and of the unique role they could play in addressing the HIV and AIDS epidemic. / South Africa

Magister Bibliothecologiae - MBibl / Information and communication technology (ICT) is foreign to a number of public libraries and those libraries that have a technology infrastructure in place, suffer from an under-utilization of the technology, owing to a shortage of skills that are critical to boost the library into the global information society. It is important that staff in public libraries have the necessary skills and positive attitude to use the technology offered to them. The main objective of this study was to determine the use of ICT's in Nyanga, Brown's Farm and Crossroads public libraries and make recommendations towards effective use of ICT in the above-mentioned public libraries. / South Africa

Masters in Public Administration - MPA / Existing situations at various schools, especially in post apartheid South Africa suggest that the education environment for effective teaching and learning is problematic for several reasons namely a lack of safety and security, poor governance and management and a lack of community ownership and partnership. This research however assumed that the implementation of safety related policies and other departmental guidelines is the foundation for effective learning, especially in the Western Cape. The primary aim and objective of this research was to ensure that learning takes place in an environment free from crime, violence, drugs, intimidation and fear. It was an assessment to acquire information from schools and other role-players regarding the status of safety and security in schools and to verify whether crime prevention policies are implemented. / South Africa

Magister Scientiae (Physiotherapy) - MSc(Physio) / Cerebro-vascular accidents or stroke remain a leading cause of death worldwide accounting for 5.5 million deaths, leaving individuals disabled in many aspects of functioning. The International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) is a framework that assesses disability in relation to impairments, activity limitations, participation restrictions and environmental factors and many individuals post stroke have reported restrictions in these areas. Literature has proven that participation restrictions post stroke are very common, which means that individuals are not able to return to their normal functioning as before. Once these individuals are discharged into the community, supportive networks become an essential aspect aiding participation. There is some literature present which shows positive relations between social support and participation, however this is minimal. The aim of this study was to determine participation restrictions and social support in patients with stroke, living in the Western Cape. To further understand the relationship between social support and participation restriction post stroke, a systematic review was conducted. The databases searched were Ebscohost full text, which included CINAHL +, Health Source: Nursing, Academic edition, Medline, Psych articles and Soc index, Science Direct, Biomed Central, Google Scholar, Cochrane Library, Pedro Central, and Wiley Online between the years 2001 - 2013. Once the methodology of the review was completed, a total of three articles were the only articles that met the study‟s inclusion criteria and were included in the review. These articles highlighted the importance of the quality and quantity of social support on participation. The review presented level 4 and 6 evidence, based on the hierarchical evidence model which showed a positive relationship between social support and participation. Thus, social support is found to be an important factor aiding participation. The methodology of the survey included a target population of all individuals attending the Community Health Centres in the Southern Western and Klipfontein Mitchell‟s Plain Metro District Health Service who were sampled by convenience. This study was cross-sectional in design, using descriptive surveys. All individuals diagnosed with a stroke and living in the community for at least six months were included in this study. The World Health Organisation Disability Assessment Schedule 2.0. (WHODAS 2.0.) was used to determine the participation restrictions in the participants, while the Social Support Questionnaire 6 (SSQ6) was used to determine the individual’s social support. Completed questionnaires wereanalysed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 23 where descriptive statistics were used to define continuous and categorical variables. The Pearsons correlation test was used to determine the association between social support and participation, with significance set at 0.05. Confidentiality was maintained throughout the study and participants were required to provide verbal and written informed consent. All questionnaires and consent forms were available in English, Afrikaans and isiXhosa to accommodate all participants. Participants were assured that their participation in the study was completely voluntary and that their agreement, refusal or withdrawal would not impact their treatment at the Community Health Centre. A total of 106 participants met the inclusion criteria for this study and agreed to partake. An equal number of males and females participated, with a mean age of 61.5 years. The results showed that 89.9% of participants in the study were classified as having low levels of social support, with family support playing an important role in the social support of participants (P=0.000). The majority of participants (30.2%) indicated that their children, and families, were the people providing the most support to participants. Caregiver strain and burnout was highlighted as an aspect of importance. The majority of participants (51.8%) were severely affected in the domain of participation, reporting common problems joining in community activities (28.3%), emotional status (18.9%) and financial status (45.3%) which affected participation adversely. Extreme difficulty with concerns of barriers in the community (19.8%), and time spent on health condition (8.5%), with regard to participation were reported. It has been highlighted that many participants had not returned to work post stroke, a factor to consider when planning interventions in the clinical setting. When comparing the respective domains of the WHODAS 2.0., mobility, household activities and participation was discovered to be amongst the highest scoring domains. Pearsons correlation test between social support and participation produced a non-significant result (P = 0.146). This study outlines that although an insignificant result was obtained, the participants (10.1%) who scored the highest for social support had only been moderately affected in the domain of participation. A limitation of this study include design, and it is thus recommended that additional studies be conducted in the form of controlled trials to determine the effects of social support on participation restrictions post stroke.

Please read the abstract in the section 00front of this document / Dissertation (MSc(Botany))--University of Pretoria, 2005. / Plant Science / unrestricted

Die doelstellings van onderwys in die primereskool maak o.a. voorsiening vir al die behoeftes van leerlinge. Om die doel te bereik is dit nood saaklik dat alle moontlike middele en dienste benut word. Skoolvoorligting maak 'n noodsaaklike deel uit van die spektrum van voorsiening. Skoolvoorligting is nie iets nuut wat van buite op die skool afgedruk word nie, maar vorm 'n integrale deel van gesonde onderwyspraktyk. Die gevaar bestaan dat skoolvoorligting sy invloed kan verloor ten koste van 'n meer a kademiesgerigte leerplan. In die lig hiervan is dit nodig om te bepaal wat die aard en doel van skoolvoorligting in die primereskool is (Introduction, p. 8)

Please read the abstract in the 00front part of this document / Thesis (M Inst Agrar (Land-Use Planning))--University of Pretoria, 2006. / Agricultural Economics, Extension and Rural Development / unrestricted

Salt marshes are some of the most productive ecosystems in the world and have been the centre of attention over the past few decades, due to their decline as a result of global climate change and anthropogenic impacts. The growth of salt marshes is determined by substrate type, soil conductivity and elevation. The permanently open Keurbooms Estuary along the south-east coast of South Africa is subjected to occasional fluvial flooding and its intertidal area lacks well developed salt marshes, with Spartina maritima restricted to the lower reaches of the Bitou tributary and a few sections of the Keurbooms tributary. Presumeably because of fine sediment habitat in the confluence and lower Bitou tributary. The salinity of the estuarine water ranges between 0.1 – 26.9 and 3.2 – 35.3 in the Bitou and Keurbooms tributaries respectively. A typical salt wedge salinity pattern is common in the Keurbooms tributary where saline water often intrudes underneath the freshwater, especially during high river flows. The following hypotheses were developed and tested in this study: The limited spatial distribution of S. maritima in the Keurbooms Estuary is due to limited availability of fine sediment habitat; and the source of the fine sediment in the estuary is the Bitou tributary rather than the Keurbooms tributary or the sea. It was further postulated that after sediment characteristics, floods are the major hydrological driver determining the distribution of S. maritima in the Keurbooms Estuary. The results of the surveys of the estuarine channel bottom sediments showed that the Keurbooms tributary was mostly characterized by the sand-size sediment fraction derived from the feldspathic and sandstone with evidence of fine sediment fractions restricted to the upper reaches at the confluence with Whiskey Creek. The Bitou was almost always composed of coarse sized sediments in the upper reaches, fine sediment deposits in the middle and lower reaches and medium sorted sand with almost no clay or calcium carbonate in the estuarine component below the confluence of the tributaries. These findings were further supported by the surface sediment deposited within the S. maritima intertidal salt marsh, which showed finer sediment deposits in the Bitou marsh compared to the Keurbooms marsh surface. Similar results were also found in the sediment cores, with the Keurbooms marsh sediment becoming finer with increasing depth whereas fine sediments reduced with depth in the Bitou marsh. The results of the sediment mineralogy indicated that the increased concentrations of clay minerals in the S. maritima surface sediments are derived from the Bokkeveld shale, siltstone and clay slate exposed above the N2 Bridge in the Keurbooms Estuary. GIS mapping shows that S. maritima has been declining over the past two decades, with rapid decreases especially evident after big flooding events. The GIS mapping also indicates that the patches of the S. maritima in the Keurbooms tributary are more exposed to big floods than the Bitou marsh. Despite showing an overall decline, S. maritima area coverage remained more consistent in the lower reaches of the Bitou tributary than in the Keurbooms tributary. Despite the larger and more persistent area cover, the S. maritima plants were shorter and less dense than the plants growing in the sandy substrate. The black/grey colouration of soil with increasing depth in the Bitou tributary was an indication of the reduced state of the soil caused by prolonged waterlogged conditions. The roots of S. maritima in both tributaries were mostly restricted to the sub-surface substrate layer (i.e. 0 – 0.25 m), although the Bitou populations showed more vegetative propagation than the Keurbooms populations. This mechanism of reproduction was also demonstrated during the transplant experiment which showed a greater number of new stem production in the fine sediment substrates compared to the sandy silt substrates. Although accretion rates were not determined in this study, the short-term sediment deposition rates revealed that sedimentation is active in the marshes of the Keurbooms Estuary. Therefore, in spite of showing a decline in area cover, the production of viable seed and observed vegetative propagation suggest that the S. maritima is likely to colonize open stable intertidal mudflats / sandflats, thus maintaining its distribution as an intertidal species in the salt marshes of the Keurbooms Estuary.

The Land Reform projects are primarily challenged by post-settlement support. They mainly rely on government grants to survive and in some instances, projects have failed due to lack of sufficient post-settlement support. There are many government and private institutions and mandated and private businesses that offer post-settlement support to LRAD beneficiaries. Their impact can only be measured against improvements in the livelihoods of beneficiaries. While land reform has been in existence in SA, the main source of support evidently seems to have been the Comprehensive Agricultural Support Programme (CASP) in the form of a government grants. The existence of other sources of post-settlement support cannot be ignored, but the extents to which these support mechanisms are combined have contributed to the improvement of sustainable livelihood of the beneficiaries, as measured through livelihood assets. The main aim of this study is to explore how the LRAD beneficiaries in the Witzenberg Municipality in the Western Cape employ their livelihood strategies. It explores the types of support received by the beneficiaries and how the support has been used. To determine the progress made through the post-settlement support received by the beneficiaries in an attempt to achieve rural livelihoods strategies, the study discusses the status of the farms during the inception and also the current status. Many studies done by role players and academics in the field of land reform mainly explore the monetary benefit and ignore or pay less attention to the livelihood in five capitals. The needs confronting beneficiaries in the form of livelihood strategies are presented in the form of capital; for example, physical, natural, human, social, economic and financial capitals. This paper seeks to establish an understanding of how beneficiaries of land reform achieve their livelihood, given the constraints of post-settlement support to land reform in South Africa.

Historical ad hoc allocations of land for biodiversity conservation have led to a biased representation of habitat within the Cape Floristic Region, with Protected Areas concentrated in upland areas at high altitudes and on steep slopes. The field of Conservation Planning developed to ensure that allocations of areas to Protected status no longer result in such bias and rather promotes the persistence of biodiversity. This study reviewed a recent allocation of land to biodiversity conservation within Western Cape of South Africa, using both a quantitative and qualitative approach, to determine their value to biodiversity conservation. The area was previously used for commercial forestry but now has been allocated to conservation land-uses. The allocation was based on the area’s value to the forestry industry. The qualitative approach in this study engaged with relevant stakeholder groups to map priority areas, while the quantitative approach used available data on biodiversity features to map priority areas. Neither approach determined that the area allocated is in its full extent a priority for biodiversity conservation. This indicated that in the current era of Conservation Planning, Protected Areas are still being allocated in an ad hoc manner, as a result of their limited perceived benefit to anthropocentric needs. The future allocation of land to biodiversity conservation should rather integrate expert knowledge and available quantifiable data to ensure that priority areas for biodiversity conservation are being protected.