Thesis (doctoral)--University of Stellenbosch, 1945. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 331-336) and index.

M.Sc.

A research report submitted to the Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, in partial fulfilmet of the requirement fo rthe Degree of Masters of Public Health. April 2012 / Maternal health services have been receiving increasing attention internationally. The high rates of maternal and infant mortality throughout the world place a demand on health systems to prioritize maternal and child health care services. The constitution of South Africa recognizes reproductive health as a fundamental right (Republic of South Africa, 1995). However, the inability of South Africa to meet the Millennium Development Goals targets for maternal and child health increases the need for more studies to identify the reasons for a consistently high maternal mortality rate. The South African health system is based on district health system model which facilitates the delivery of primary health care and the appropriate referrals and admissions of patients. District hospitals, public and private community health centers and public primary health care clinics provide the first level of care to patients. Normal deliveries should take place at this level. Referrals are made to secondary and tertiary level of care. The maternity ward at Kuruman Hospital in the Northern Cape province of South Africa is overcrowded. There are concerns around the quality of care and over 80% of deliveries are normal, suggesting that they could take place at the primary health care clinics and community health centres in the district.

Nowadays young people and other members of the society often find themselves in many malpractices such as rape, suicide, murder dropping out of school and other harmful activities due to the use of cannabis sativa (dagga) which is on the rise. This study concentrated on the use of cannabis sativa (dagga) in Mzintlava, Ngquza Hill Local Municipality in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa. Young people are actually the victims of the consequences of the use of dagga. Indications are that parents often ignore their children to use cannabis sativa until they can no longer stop them. Earlier researches on substance use in South Africa have always been descriptive. This resulted in sketchy understanding of factors that predisposed young children to the use and even abuse of dagga and the reasons why parents and the community underestimated the practice until the stage of addiction. Without this understanding, it will be difficult to introduce effective ways of abolishing dagga use among young children and other members of the community. Finding effective measures to prevent substance use has been difficult. Research is therefore needed in order to understand the basis of the problem. This study attempts to examine factors that make parents and the communities to leave children to taking substances until the stage where they can longer stop them. It will also lead to establishing factors that put young children or teenagers particularly at risk to the use of dagga.

This study investigated the experiences and survival strategies of informal traders in Mthatha, paying more attention to women. This has included their daily activities to sustain themselves and improve business performance. It has however elaborated on the reasons why people engage themselves in informal trade. Literature review shows that the reasons why people are involved in this form of trade are mainly due to unemployment, lack of education and lack of knowledge. The significance of this form of trade to the economy cannot be underestimated. Emphasis was laid on the challenges encountered by these traders. Such challenges include lack of access to financial facilities such as credit and savings; lack of shelter; harsh weather conditions and harassment and confiscation of their goods by Metro Police. The methodology of this study is primarily based on both quantitative and qualitative methods of research. Several data collection instruments were used. These included questionnaires, participant observation, in-depth interview and photography. Fifty questionnaires were administered to the informal traders and an interview schedule was used to gather information from members of the community and municipality. Description of study site, ethical consideration, limitations and delimitation has equally been presented. Data collected was analyzed using SPSS and manually. The results revealed that informal trading is a survival strategy to a large population of the people in Mthatha and the only source of income. Most of them are breadwinners who support a large number of dependents.

The study investigated the underachievement of Junior Secondary School learners within Ngqamakhwe district in the Eastern Cape Province. The research was conducted from the seven selected junior secondary schools in the Ngqamakhwe sub-district. The primary respondents of the study were one hundred and five (105) learners, forty two (42) educators and seven (7) school principals. Questionnaires were used to collect data. Three different questionnaires were designed, one for learners, one for educators and one for school principals. School schedules were also used to assess the extent of underachievement. The study utilised a quantitative research for the analysis of the data. The analysis was done using SPSS (Statistical Package for Social Sciences, version 19). The study revealed a number of factors responsible for underachievement amongst the learners. These factors were grouped into school and home environments. With the home environmental factors the level of education of parents and whether the parents buy reading material were more significant. With the school environment the age and grade of a learner were significant. Responses from principals and educators were regarded as factors underlying the underachievement and in particular the lack of resources both at home and at school. School principals of the seven schools revealed that there were no libraries, science laboratories, computers or clerks in their schools. Poverty emerged as one of the causes of underachievement. The influence of these may be statistically weak but are nonetheless present. A few other factors were noted to have statistically weak influences on the academic underachievement of learners. These included factors like gender, the parents’ employment status, the availability of a person to assist with homework, the frequency of parents visiting schools, whether television is available at home and whether the children are bored or not.From the findings the following recommendations were made:Creation of jobs by the government; Adult Basic Education must be encouraged in the rural areas; Employment of more educators; Appointment of clerks in every school; Building enough classrooms; Building libraries; Building of science laboratories; Review of teaching methods by educators.

M.Sc. / This dissertation describes the N1 manganese ore bed at Gloria Mine in the Kalahari Manganese Field, Northern Cape Province. It also compares the ore bed at Gloria Mine with the correlative bed further to the south at Mamatwan Mine. The ore bed at Gloria Mine can be subdivided into ten texturally distinct zones that are laterally consistent throughout the mine lease area. The mineralogy and geochemistry of the various lithostratigraphic zones are described from two drill cores (GL28 and GL24), situated away from any known structural features or unconformities that could have affected the properties of the Ore. The ore in drill core GL28 has a mineralogical composition similar to that of typical Mamatwan-type ore described at Mamatwan Mine with braunite and kutnahorite as the main minerals. However, in drill core GL24 the ore has a very different mineralogical composition although it is texturally and geochemically rather similar to Mamatwan-type ore. The ore is composed of hausmannite, calcite and jacobsite and is apparently related to a post-depositional alteration event that did not effect Mamatwan-type ore in the Mamatwan Mine area. This altered ore is similar in composition to low-grade leastaltered manganese ores in the cores of fault blocks at Wessels and N’Chwaning Mines i.e. the area known for its hydrothermally altered high-grade manganese ores in the northern part of the Kalahari Manganese Field. In addition to the above, the N1 manganese ore bed at Gloria Mine also underwent ferruginisation close to certain joints and normal faults. No obvious alteration could be detected where the ore bed is unconformably overlain by Dwyka diamictite, nor associated with a thrust fault displacing the ore.

<p>In recent publications and reports it has been outlined that HIV/AIDS is growing rapidly in the rural communities and the levels of poverty are on the increase. HIV/AIDS has been viewed to have a disastrous impact in almost every sphere of life, affecting the business sector, employment/unemployment, poverty, marginalizing a section of the population and tearing families apart. The study was aimed at exploring more issues that evolved around HIV/AIDS and poverty and also to determine if HIV/AIDS can be closely linked to poverty, because it has been reported that these two strongly affected each other.</p>

<p>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.</p>

<p>In recent publications and reports it has been outlined that HIV/AIDS is growing rapidly in the rural communities and the levels of poverty are on the increase. HIV/AIDS has been viewed to have a disastrous impact in almost every sphere of life, affecting the business sector, employment/unemployment, poverty, marginalizing a section of the population and tearing families apart. The study was aimed at exploring more issues that evolved around HIV/AIDS and poverty and also to determine if HIV/AIDS can be closely linked to poverty, because it has been reported that these two strongly affected each other.</p>