Magister Administrationis - MAdmin / The future existence of municipalities is determined by their ability to remain financially sustainable. This study is significant as municipalities need to ensure that they are financially sustainable for the continued provision and maintenance of quality and affordable services to all the residents within their jurisdiction. The primary objective of the study was to assess the financial performance of the Cape Agulhas Municipality over a period of ten years. A secondary objective was to identify factors that constrain or facilitate improved financial management in municipalities and that may have an influence on their sustainability. The focus of the study was limited to financial management aspects of the Cape Agulhas Municipality from 2003 to 2014 and was conducted at a macro or strategic level. The research is a longitudinal qualitative study as this methodology was deemed as the best to undertake in a study of this nature. The data collection process comprised of open ended semi- structured interviews with senior politicians and officials in the municipality. Financial data from the annual financial statements and the Auditor General of South Africa over the period of study were evaluated and analysed so as to produce financial ratios and establish trends. The financial data was assessed against the financial health measures as identified by the National Treasury to determine the financial status of the municipality. Analysing the financial performance of the municipality produced information that can be used as an early warning system to mitigate further deterioration of the financial situation and inform future decisions in terms thereof. This study was useful as the findings may contribute towards effective municipal financial management and the financial sustainability of municipalities. The study makes the following findings and recommendations: The municipality experienced liquidity tensions from 2006. Although the payment ratio had been increasing over the last two years of the study, consumer debtors had been increasing and limited amounts were budgeted for the writing off of bad debt. Electricity tariff increases were significantly above the inflation rate, and salaries, wages and allowances were the largest expenditure item over the whole period of the study. In terms of provision for maintenance and repairs, these were less than half of the norm for most of the study period, and lastly the cash reserves were severely depleted from 2006 as they were used to fund long term capital projects. It is recommended that the municipality stabilises the decline in current assets and continues with the diligent implementation of its credit control policy, not only to maintain the positive collection rate but also to curb the increase in consumer debtors. In order to enhance the affordability of rates and tariffs the municipality must perform a cost analysis of all rates and tariffs to ensure that they are cost reflective. The organisational structure must be reviewed annually to verify that only critical and legislatively required posts are approved and budgeted for, as this is the largest expenditure item in the municipal budget. Furthermore, a comprehensive infrastructure maintenance plan must be developed to guide decisions when the budget for maintenance and repairs is considered, not only to ensure that this budget item is closer to the national norm but that it is spent on and tracked to infrastructure with the highest priority. The municipality needs to develop and approve a long term financial plan with its related policies to curb the further decline of its cash reserves and which includes a capital funding mix that is aligned to the useful life of the infrastructure to be financed.

Magister Curationis - MCur / Clinical learning experiences form an integral part of the 2nd and 3rd year learner nurses' training, because it is in the clinical placement that nurses should acquire the knowledge, skills and values that are necessary for professional practice competency. Nurses who are working night shift routinely feel deserted and left out of the information sphere. In most cases, these nurses find themselves in situations of staff shortages, diminished resources and reduced managerial direction. This situation is leading to demotivation. Maslow’s theory in relation to the hierarchy of human needs is regarded as the basic motivators of human activity. Maslow’s theoretical framework of the hierarchy of basic human needs was employed to compare the motivational needs of 2nd and 3rd year learner nurses who were working either night or day shift at the time of data collection. The purpose of the study was to compare the motivational needs of 2nd and 3rd year learner nurses who were working day and / or night shift. The researcher followed a quantitative, descriptive and comparative survey design with a sample of the population. A sample of 2nd year (n = 103) and 3rd year learner nurses (n = 103) was drawn from each group and a 100 fully completed questionnaires were submitted by each group. The researcher gathered the data with the assistance of a self-administered questionnaire that comprised primarily of closed-ended questions and a 5-point Likert scale was employed to capture their responses. The researcher used a structured questionnaire to explore the perceptions of the 2nd and 3rd year learner nurses about their needs to acquire motivation in the workplace in the context of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. The researcher used descriptive and inferential statistics to analyse the data. Data was plotted and expressed by means of frequency tables. Descriptive statistical analysis and associations between various variables were completed by using parametric tests. The findings of the study were related to Maslow’s hierarchy of needs; i.e. the physiological, safety, social, self-esteem and self-actualisation needs to motivate the 2nd and 3rd year learner nurses during day and night shift. The findings include significant differences between the needs of 2nd and 3rd year respondents in relation to working day and night shift at the health service institutions in the Western Cape Province. In Item 27, the perceived needs of the 2nd and 3rd year respondents to be placed in their units of preference during night shift varied between never to sometimes. The 2nd year respondents (n = 74, 74.0%) and (n = 74, 76.8%) of 3rd year respondents on night shift experienced their need to be placed in a unit of preference to be considered. From the descriptive statistics (Tables 4.15 – 4.220), it was evident that the 2nd year respondents did neither have the highest nor lowest mean values across the study; the observation for the 3rd year respondents was similar. The mean values of night shift respondents mostly scored lower than the day shift mean values. The inferential statistics indicated significant differences between 2nd and 3rd year day shift respondents and between 2nd and 3rd year night shift respondents with night shift depicting more significant differences than day shift. That confirmed that both 2nd and 3rd year learner nurses’ motivational needs of night shift respondents were more pronounced than the needs of day shift respondents. Emerging from this research, recommendations were formulated for clinical educators, nurse educators, unit managers and professional nurses in accordance with Maslow's hierarchy of needs with the purpose of meeting the motivational needs of the 2nd and 3rd year learner nurses at the health service institutions in the Western Cape Province. Validity and reliability principles were applied during the entire research process. The reliability and validity of the research instrument was determined by applying Cronbach's alpha test. The Cronbach alpha coefficients were 0.93 and 0.93 for the day and night shift respondents respectively. Those values were above 70% and close to 100%, which indicated that the questionnaire had been a reliable research instrument. All coefficients of the pilot study were above 70% which indicated that the instrument was consistent and reliable. The reliability of the questions were tested for content and face validity. The researcher observed ethical considerations during the entire research process. Ethical considerations of beneficence, avoiding undue intrusion, the right to privacy, confidentiality, fair treatment, respect for the respondents, the right to freedom and the right to withdraw from the study at any stage, informed consent and protecting respondents from any harm were adhered to. The respondents provided written consent that acknowledged those ethical principles.

Magister Public Health - MPH / Many poor households in South Africa find themselves living in informal housing and only become proprietors of formal housing via the government subsidy scheme for core low-cost housing, thereby also realizing their constitutional right to housing. The subsidy is however limited and it largely determines materials, and construction methods used. Obtaining a formal low-cost dwelling means that basic services such as electricity, sanitation, water and waste collection, is available to the home owner. Formal low-cost housing settlements are commonly located in poor areas and recipients of the housing subsidy are commonly unemployed or have low-income jobs, and frequently originate from informal settlements where services, albeit limited and often communal, were provided at no cost. This study sought to assess the combined effect of relocating from an informal dwelling to a formal low-cost dwelling and receiving individual house-based basic services of electricity, water, sanitation and waste collection, on environmental- and household health. An ecological study design was used whereby data was collected at "baseline" while households were living in the informal settlement, and again at "2 years relocated" i.e. 2 years after moving in to the formal low-cost dwelling. The study population included all households residing in the Phumlani- and Pelican Park- Zeekoevlei Informal area in the year 2000, who were on the waiting list to receive low-cost core housing units in Phumlani Village and were due to be relocated there. Due to the rapid pace at which construction of new homes occurred not all households could be captured whilst living in the informal settlement, i.e. at "baseline". The actual sample subsequently consisted of 53 households at "baseline", and all, i.e. 124 households at "2 years relocated". Data was collected via a structured interview, whereby one respondent per household was interviewed by a trained fieldworker. Positive health improvements were reported by households in terms of personal and household health. Significant (p<0.05) positive improvements were found for households in formal lowcost housing at "2 years relocated" for exposures to: overcrowded living conditions (PR=1.159, 95%CI=1.153 – 3.328); indoor air pollution due to cooking and heating (PR=2.185, 95%CI=1.655 – 2.885); improper household waste management (PR=7.381, 95%CI=4.313 – 12.633 and inadequate sanitation (PR=0.365, 95%CI=0.255 – 0.523). The incidence of childhood diarrhoea episodes decreased significantly (PR=5.588, 95%CI=1.284 – 24.315) at "2 years relocated". Water access, availability and use also increased significantly (PR=0.212, 95%CI=0.125 – 0.358) 2 years after relocation. Factors that did not improve include levels of employment for which households were found to be worse off, with 16% of households having no person employed at "2 years relocated" as opposed to only 2% at ‘baseline”. Other factors remaining unchanged included incidences of respiratory, skin and eye infections amongst children ≤ 6 years old. Although exposure levels to indoor air pollution decreased for some households, this remained present for others as electricity in combination with bio-mass fuels are still being used for heating and cooking. Environmental health conditions for a variety of factors remained unchanged and there was a reversion back to living conditions and habits of the informal settlement. Littering, dumping of waste within the neighbourhood and a high pest presence, remained unchanged. Subsidised formal housing and associated basic services does have a positive impact on health. However, the amount of free basic services, specifically electricity, provided, in lieu of household energy requirements, does not satisfactorily cover all household needs. Factors such as unemployment and low-incomes hamper the household’s ability to maintain the electricity supply as is needed and for this reason alternatives to reliance on electricity should be included in the design and construction of the low-cost house. The manifestation of poor environmental health conditions indicates that provision of low-cost housing by itself is not sufficient to ensure good environmental health. Therefore hygiene promotion should be included as part of the total beneficiary package.

Stress fractures represent one of the most common and serious overuse injuries in the military environment. The aim of this prospective study was to determine the incidence of stress fractures during 12 weeks of Basic Training (BT) by comparing the results of the intrinsic risk indicators obtained from a group of participants who suffered stress fractures, with the rest of the original group (controls) who did not suffer from any stress fractures, and to assess any changes in physical markers whilst following a progressive, scientifically designed, Physical Training (PT) Programme during the BT. The intrinsic risk factors investigated included sex, age, race (measured via questionnaire), foot morphology (wet test), Q angle, leg length discrepancy, bone density (dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry(DEXA), physical fitness (standardized military fitness test, isokinetic upper and lower leg strength, handgrip strength), flexibility (ankle plantarflexion and dorsiflexion, hip internal and external rotation), anthropometry (skinfold method and DEXA), female menstrual disturbances and lifestyle behaviours including smoking, female contraception use and medical history of previous injury (questionnaire). The cohort (n=183), also refered to as the Experimental Group (EG), was measured at the beginning and at the end of the BT period. The standardized physical fitness test was also completed in the fifth week of training. The latter’s results were compared to the results obtained by a Control Group (CG), who had undergone BT the year prior to this cohort. The size of the cohort, the intrinsic risk factor profile and the control of certain extrinsic risk factors may have contributed to zero incidences of stress fractures found. Within the intrinsic risk factor profile, sex, age, race, foot morphology, Q angle, hip external rotation and bone density were normal whilst the measured leg discrepancy and limited ankle dorsiflexion appeared to not have a sufficient risk for stress fracture development. The small sample of the cohort that reported having menstrual irregularities, smoked and had a history of previous fractures, did not place this cohort at risk for stress fracture development. The cohort did, however have lower isotonic, isokinetic and isometric strengths than the other cohorts who reported a relatively high stress fracture incidence. The BT period found statistically significant changes in bone density, flexibility, body composition, muscle strength and endurance. Female participants showed an increase in the T- and Z-scores of the left femur area, a deterioration in left ankle dorsiflexion and hip external rotation, whilst their plantarflexion increased. Their mesomorph component increased, and decreases in % body fat (BF) as well as in the ectomorph and endomorph component were also found. Male participants’ plantarflexion and hip external rotation decreased whilst their dorsiflexion increased. Lean body mass and mesomorph component increased whilst %BF, ectomorph and endomorph component decreased. The new cyclic-progressive PT programme controlled for risk of injury by allowing sufficient periods of recovery, by gradually increasing the duration, frequency, and intensity of training, by reducing repetitive weight-bearing activities and by including a variation of exercises. Running shoes, rather than combat boots, were also worn during PT. Marching on concrete was eliminated. Significant improvements were shown by both male and female participants in aerobic fitness and muscular endurance and muscular strength. Future research should include a larger size cohort, who developed stress fractures utilising BT groups from different corps and units in the South African Military environment. Other potential extrinsic risk factors, such as surface and equipment, should also be investigated. / Thesis (DPhil)--University of Pretoria, 2009. / Biokinetics, Sport and Leisure Sciences / unrestricted

The provision of free basic water for domestic uses and a more equal distribution of water for productive uses are seen as important instruments to redress inequities from the past and eradicate poverty in South Africa (SA). Although the government committed itself to providing free basic water for all, this result is still far to be reached, particularly in rural areas. Financing of multiple use water services was identified as an important ingredient to insure improved access to water for rural poor in SA and at the same time allow productive uses and broaden livelihood options. Recent evidence indicated the potential contribution that productive uses of domestic water might make to food security and poverty reduction in rural areas of SA. Following the principles of integrated water resource management (IWRM), efficient, equitable and sustainable investment in improved water services should be demand driven, that is, it should be based on a thorough understanding of effective demand by consumers for multiple use water services. The assessment of demand for improved water services provides the basis for micro level analysis of consumer benefits from multiple water uses. Such studies are not common in SA’s rural areas, where most of the economic analyses focus on either domestic or irrigation water demand. This study attempts to fill this gap by assessing the household demand for multiple use water services in Sekororo-Letsoalo area in the Limpopo Province. Choice modelling is the approach used to identify the attributes determining demand for water services and quantify their respective importance. Households are presented with alternative sets of water services, corresponding to different levels of the attributes. In this study, the following attributes were used: water quantity, water quality, frequency of water supply, price of water, productive uses of water, and source of water. Choice modelling allows estimating the relative importance of these attributes for various strata of the studied population, and ultimately provides a measure of the willingness to pay for different aspects of water demand (attributes), including productive water uses. Results show that households in rural areas are willing to pay for water services improvements. Due to the poor quality of present water services in the area, users are primarily concerned with basic domestic uses and demand for non domestic water uses is low. Only households already relatively well served are interested in engaging in multiple water uses. / Dissertation (MSc(Agric))--University of Pretoria, 2009. / Agricultural Economics, Extension and Rural Development / unrestricted

A test instrument, made up of 25 items, derived from existing standardized tests from literature, was used to probe for the students' knowledge and understanding of basic mechanics concepts, as well as the confidence in the correctness of their answers. The test was administered to 982 first entering physics students; enrolled at three South African universities, at the beginning of the year before any formal instruction could take place. Data collected for this study included students' responses from multiple-choice questions and open-ended explanations to their chosen answers. The analysis of the multiple-choice responses and the written explanations revealed the existence of alternative conceptions among students and that the students' accuracy of judgment about their knowledge and understanding of basic mechanics concepts is different among the different cohorts. Physics education research, has over a number of years, revealed that students have alternative conceptions about physical processes. These alternative conceptions are accumulated from the students' past personal experiences, interactions with people around them and the environment they live in. It was found from the study that the strength of the known alternative conceptions differs among the different cohorts. There are those alternative conceptions that are easier to correct with sound teaching. These alternative conceptions exist mostly in worst performing cohorts and less so in the best performing cohorts. There are those alternative conceptions that persisted despite better teaching. These alternative conceptions are found in all the cohorts. The certainty of response analysis revealed the differences in the relationship between performance and confidence among the students from the three universities. It was also found that students make incorrect judgment about their knowledge and understanding of basic mechanics concepts. The overall trend emerging from the study was that students seem to be overconfident about their knowledge and understanding of basic mechanics concepts, but that students with a good command of mechanics concepts made the best judgment about the correctness of their answers. The item-by-item analysis of students' responses revealed that in most cases the best performing students make quality judgment about their performance, while poor perfOlming student always make inaccurate judgments about their performance. Analysis of the students' written explanations and item difficulty revealed that the Hasan et al. (1999) study is lacking in the differentiation between lack of analytical skills and the presence of alternative conceptions. Lack of analytical skills cannot be classified as evidence of the presence of alternative conceptions. The student may be having knowledge of the necessary concepts, but lack higher order analytical skills to be able to interpret situation presented. / Dissertation (MSc)--University of Pretoria, 2009. / Chemistry / unrestricted

Visual Question Answering (VQA) models should have both high robustness and accuracy. Unfortunately, most of the current VQA research only focuses on accuracy because there is a lack of proper methods to measure the robustness of VQA models. There are two main modules in our algorithm. Given a natural language question about an image, the first module takes the question as input and then outputs the ranked basic questions, with similarity scores, of the main given question. The second module takes the main question, image and these basic questions as input and then outputs the text-based answer of the main question about the given image. We claim that a robust VQA model is one, whose performance is not changed much when related basic questions as also made available to it as input. We formulate the basic questions generation problem as a LASSO optimization, and also propose a large scale Basic Question Dataset (BQD) and Rscore (novel robustness measure), for analyzing the robustness of VQA models. We hope our BQD will be used as a benchmark for to evaluate the robustness of VQA models, so as to help the community build more robust and accurate VQA models.

Complement is activated via two pathways: classical (CCP) and alternative (ACP). The CCP has been demonstrated in the nurse shark. The ACP has not been demonstrated in any cartilagenous fish. Nurse shark serum was evaluated for complement activity by its ability to lyse heterologous erythrocytes. As CCP activity requires calcium and magnesium, activity of shark serum chelated with EGTA (a selective calcium chelator) or EDTA (a chelator of calcium and magnesium) was assessed. Activity remained in serum chelated with EGTA but not EDTA. Furthermore, activity of chelated serum was enhanced by added magnesium. Activation of shark complement by activators of mammalian ACP (zymosan, LPS, inulin, CVF) was assessed. Complement was activated by zymosan and LPS. Immunoblots were employed, with limited success, to demonstrate complement proteins in nurse shark serum. This study unequivocally demonstrates that the ACP is present in the primitive nurse shark.

The aim of this dissertation is to ‘problematize’ the ‘flexible generalist’ - the form of subjectivity allegedly produced by the basic education system of South Africa. According to the South African Qualifications Authority, ‘flexible generalists’ are individuals who possess the necessary skills, knowledge and flexibility to successfully participate in new working environments, thereby sustaining an adaptable workforce and contributing to the national economy. The dissertation will illustrate that this economic viability comes at the cost of critical and relative autonomous thinking, and is therefore not as ‘beneficent’ as the South African Qualifications Authority suggests. Initially, Louis Althusser’s theory regarding the repressive state apparatus and ideological state apparatuses will be employed in order to indicate how the education institution is underpinned by consumer-capitalist ideology. Subsequently, in order to ensure docility, efficiency and obedience within the workforce, the formal education system subjects the learner to various disciplinary discursive practices. By applying Michel Foucault’s theory regarding disciplinary power, this dissertation will illustrate that, through the regimentation of the subject’s time and space, docility is, for the most part, ensured. However, the flexible generalist is not solely produced through disciplinary power, but also through Foucault’s conception of bio-power, which is disseminated through the deployment of sexuality. Disciplinary power and bio-power are both appropriations of pastoral power, since the learner is led to believe that the well-being and care of the ‘self’ is always in the hands of another: specialists in numerous fields who ‘guide’ the individual regarding the ‘correct’ and ‘normal’ conduct in relation to the self and society, thereby stripping the subject of critical and relative autonomous thinking. The dissertation will conclude by suggesting a possible offset to the discursive practices that produce the flexible generalist in the form of ‘philosophy as a way of life’, or philosophia – the love of wisdom. Unlike the current educational discursive practices in South Africa that are underpinned by an ‘ethos of skills’ (resulting in mere economic empowerment), philosophia is based on an ‘ethos of wisdom’ - a comprehension of oneself, others and existence, based on the mastery of the self, and resulting in the ability to apply perceptions, judgements and actions on a contextual basis.

Physical activity-based positive youth development (PA-PYD) programs can serve to empower and alleviate barriers to development for at-risk youth. Youth leaders may play an important role in these programs to foster the development of their younger peers, while mutually benefiting from the program as they foster and apply skills such as leadership, communication, and self-direction. Currently, there is a gap in literature as very few studies have examined youth leadership within PA-PYD programming. Thus, the purpose of the current study was to explore the perspectives and experiences of youth leaders and their fellow program participants in relation to youth leadership within the context of a PA-PYD program for at-risk youth. Data were gathered from 16 youth leaders (Mage= 13.37, SD = 1.36) and 15 program participants (Mage= 10.53, SD = 1.12) across four different program locations, using semi-structured, one-on-one interviews. This thesis is composed of two articles. The first article used a deductive-inductive thematic analysis to better understand the experiences that youth leaders had in the program. Three themes were identified: (a) building youth leaders is a process, (b) mentorship is perceived as critical for one’s leadership development, (c) trust is important for enhancing youth leader engagement. The second article also used a deductive-inductive thematic analysis to examine how youth leaders perceive the influence they have on younger peers who participate in the physical activity-based youth development program, as well as how these program participants perceive the role and impact of the youth leaders. Five themes emerged from the analysis, which were: (a) learning and building skills, (b) receiving support, (c) enjoyment, (d) relatability, and (e) lack of maturity. This research contributes to current gaps in the literature on youth leadership within physical activity-based youth programming and provides practical recommendations to improve such programming.