Master of Arts - Arts / Local Economic Development is a viable mechanism for economic growth for South Africa. National Government has thus has set in place a number of policies and pieces of legislation that encourage local government to participate in LED strategies. Integrated Development Plans are the most comprehensive of the legislation and force local government to engage with LED policy. The new legislation, has led to a fundamental shift in development strategy for South Africa. In Mpumalanga in particular, the development strategy has shifted from regional development to local development. This strategy has been prompted by the IDP policy yet many municipalities do not have the capacity to effectively draw up an IDP. Municipalities often simply use IDPs as wish lists of what they would like to achieve but can not within their current budgets. The National Government strategy of IDPs is forcing policy on local government that is not necessarily needed but could simply be a strategy to have more control over local government. This study explores the shift in government development policy and the capacity of local government to fulfill its new role. The Mpumalanga experience of IDPs and LED forms the focus of this empirical study.

A stratigraphic and structural study of the Archaean Pongola Sequence on the southeastern Kaapvaal Craton centred on the area around the Klipwal Gold Mine is described. The lower predominantly volcanic Nsuze Group is overlain with a gradational transition by the upper clastic Mozaan Group in which six formations are recognized. The Sinqeni, Ntombe, Thalu, Hlashana, Odwaleni and the Kulphiso Formations. The Sinqeni and Hlashana Formations are predominantly arenaceous while the Ntombe and Kulphiso Formations are mainly argillaceous. The Odwaleni Formation contains a diamictite which is interpreted as a tillite, and is therefore the oldest glacial rock on record. The stratigraphic position of the Kulphiso Formation is problematic. The Mozaan Group was deposited in a deepening epeiric sea which was invaded periodically by storm generated deposits. Dolerite and ultramafic dykes and sills of various ages are represented. Three phases of deformation are recognized in the Klipwal area. Early compression from the south-southeast initiated a major zone of bedding-parallel shear, the Izermijn shear zone, along the Nsuze-Mozaan contact and an oblique ramp, the Klipwal shear zone, at a higher stratigraphic level. An extensional phase caused reactivation of the Klipwal shear zone and the development of a major low-angle normal fault, the Gu'nsteling fault, above the Sinqeni Formation. The main phase of deformation, related to northeast-southwest compression is the most complex and most widely developed. Early northwest-trending subhorizontal upright folds were disrupted by contemporaneous north-striking dextral or dextral reverse shearing and northwest-striking sinistral or sinistral normal shearing. The obtuse relationship of these shear zones to the compression direction is probably the result of reactivation of basement structures with similar orientations. Northwest-trending folding continued during and after the shearing. The structural styles and orientations observed in the Klipwal area are recognized regionally in the main Pongola basin, highlighting the need for further detailed studies before basin-wide correlations are made. / Thesis (Ph.D.)-University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 1993.

The Bien Venue massive sulphide deposit is associated with a felsic volcanic succession developed in the north-eastern part of the Barberton Greenstone Belt, Eastern Transvaal. The deposit is situated 8km east-north-east of Louw's Creek between the Lily Syncline to the south and the Stentor Pluton to the north. The stratigraphy of the Onverwacht, Fig Tree and Moodies Groups in the vicinity of the deposit is poorly documented, and the exact stratigraphic position of the host felsic volcanics is not known. They are tentatively correlated with the felsic volcanics from the Theespruit Formation, Onverwacht Group. The felsic volcanics have undergone low-grade greenschist facies metamorphism and occur as quartz-sericite schists. Detailed petrography enables sub-division of the volcanic succession into distinct units. A lapilli metatuff unit hosts the base metal and precious metal mineralisation. The sulphides are best developed in the upper part of this unit, together with intercalated barite-rich horizons and cherts. A series of structural events have modified the attitude of the lithological units and disrupted the continuity of the orebody. The orebody comprises stratabound lenses of massive to semi-massive and often banded sulphides, as well as disseminated sulphide mineralisation. The dominant base metal mineralogy consists of pyrite, sphalerite, chalcopyrite, galena and tennantite. Native silver and various copper-silver sulphides are also associated with the base metal sulphides. A vertical zonation of the mineralisation exists, from pyrite-chalcopyrite-rich ore in the footwall, to pyrite - chalcopyrite-sphalerite-galena-barite-rich ore towards the hanging wall. Geochemical studies indicate that the Bien Venue lithologies are rhyolitic to rhyodacitic in composition and show a calc-alkaline affinity. The mobility of some elements at Bien Venue has been clearly demonstrated. This is believed to be associated with hydrothermal alteration that has led to SiO2 and MgO enrichment, as well as K2O depletion, in the wall rocks of the deposit. The geological setting and nature of the mineralisation at Bien Venue suggest that it is an example of a volcanogenic exhalative sulphide deposit. In terms of the classification scheme suggested by Hutchinson (1973, 1980), Bien Venue would best be described as a Primitive type deposit that contains barite. / Thesis (M.Sc.)-University of Natal, 1990

A dissertation submitted to the School of Geography, Archaeology and Environmental Studies, Faculty of Science at the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science. Johannesburg, 2016. / The Crocodile River East in Mpumalanga Province, South Africa, has seen three major floods in a twenty-four-month period, specifically January 2011, January 2012 and January 2013. The damage included the loss of life, damage and/or loss of public or private properties, agricultural land loss, and damage to biodiversity and river geomorphology. The purpose of this study was to understand the consequences and risks to livelihoods and river basin systems due to flooding of the river. The study focused on a segment of the Crocodile River East, between Riverside and Tekwane. The study used historic hydro-climatic data for the Crocodile River to determine the critical threshold for past flood events and to predict the extent of future flood events. Hydrological modelling coupled with the HEC-RAS hydraulic model enabled the simulation of these future flood events. The use of orthophotos and digital elevation models (DEMs) allowed for a spatial representation of the areas affected during the flood events. Flood hazard maps and flood risk maps were then developed for the identified flood events within a Geographical Information System (GIS). The maps enabled the identification of high risk and flood prone areas along this segment of the Crocodile River Basin. The results showed that when discharge reaches 241.75 m3/s, both locations (Riverside and Tekwane) are at risk to flooding. This is therefore the threshold for which the two locations are likely to be flooded. This study provides a methodology to determine the spatial extent of past and modelled future river flood events. As such, outcomes of this study may aid in the understanding of flood hazard extent and flood prone areas, and may thus help catchment management authorities and institutions in flood reconstruction and flood risk management. The employed methodology can aid effective spatial planning, and can also be extended at the basin scale through integration with the existent flood warning system to gain an estimate of flood extent and flood risk. / TG2016

The fundamental aim of this study was to analyse the main marketing strategies used in developing and sustaining tourism in the Eastvaal region. An empirical study was conducted amongst the respondents from the local authorities, local tourism organisations, hotels and guesthouses. The information collected was used to write a case about the current reality of tourism marketing in the Eastvaal, which was later evaluated against the ideas presented within the theoretical framework. Furthermore, the study looked at the strategic plans developed by local authorities as well as private sector, which were aimed at encouraging local economic development in general and tourism development in particular. This process was aimed at understanding the effect of private and public sector partnership in the formation of marketing strategies that would impact on sustainable development of tourism industry in the Eastvaal region. A wide range of literature was consulted to understand theoretical base regarding marketing strategies and tourism concepts. However, the study was restricted to the evaluation of the current strategies applied so as to measure their impact in relation to growth and sustainability of tourism in the Eastvaal. Conclusions of the research indicate that an improvement is needed in the current marketing strategies so a to create long-term growth opportunities within the tourism industry. / Thesis (MBA)-University of Natal, 2003.

Long term growth and sustainability of cooperatives has become the focus of many countries worldwide. Cooperatives have been seen as the platform for uplifting disadvantaged communities while improving standards of the poor in countries such as Canada, Kenya, Ghana and Nigeria (Department of Trade and Industry, 2012). In South Africa, cooperatives are seen as playing a role in poverty eradication, equal distribution of wealth, employment creation, food security and as a contributor to the economic activity. The South African government have implemented policies aimed at improving the performance and sustainability of agriculture cooperatives in South Africa. Despite all the efforts cooperatives still face sustainability challenges. Therefore the purpose of this research was to investigate the sustainability challenges that prevent the permanent establishment of cooperatives and to understand the dynamics and nature of failure associated with agricultural cooperatives .A case study methodology was used to examine a single case in-depth and to understand the factors affecting agricultural cooperatives. The main challenges identified in the study include; poor communication, limited access to markets, access to finance, a lack of good governance and a lack of managerial skills. The study recommended capacity building as the first point of reference in order to deal with challenges such as communication, access to markets and a lack of managerial skills. A lack of good governance is regarded as an attitude problem which requires setting ethical standards and rules accompanied by a penalty to the member if they are found to be breaking the rules. Access to finances is regarded as a skills and competence phenomenon which requires people to develop planning and financial literacy skills, which will enable them to formulate business plans and use them as a control tool for managing the cooperative. The business plan is also regarded as an asset or security document which acts as a proof that the cooperative is well planned, organised and sustainable. The research concludes with suggesting areas for future study to investigate the impact of informal education practices on skills development in the success of cooperatives.

The objectives of this study were to study wood property variation in Pinus patula from different physiographic sites, the interrelationship between wood properties and the effects of some forest site factors on wood properties and their within-tree variation. The wood properties considered were density, transverse shrinkage, grain angle and stiffness (modulus of elasticity). Ten trees were taken from each of seventeen sites selected during a previous study of soil ecology and tree growth patterns on the escarpment of Mpumalanga in South Africa. This is a complex physiographic region with several different growth sites within a relatively small geographical area. The key finding of the study was that the effect of radial distance from the pith (i.e. the age of the tree) was highly significant and accounted for most of the variation of the trees sampled. Although the effect of site on the selected wood properties was highly significant, its effect accounted for a relatively small percentage of the total variation in each case. Consequently, solid wood processors must take into account the large variation within a tree when implementing strategies to minimise the downgrade of timber as result of excessive board distortion and/or inferior strength. There were significant correlations between wood density and density slope, radial shrinkage, shrinkage ratio and stiffness and also significant correlations between wood stiffness and density slope and radial shrinkage. Density and grain angle both showed significant correlations with the most important climatic factors. ‘Growth days’ (which is an index reflecting the number of days per year when soil moisture is not a limiting factor for plant growth) was identified as one of the principal growth factors influencing the selected wood properties, because of it’s strong relationships with wood density, density slope, grain angle and stiffness. Regression models were developed to predict wood density and grain angle from growth variables. The results show that those wood properties that correlate with geographic representable site variables can be included in site classification and evaluation systems, to assist in predicting growth in terms of volume yield and wood quality.

Comparison of HIV seroprevalence between males and females at clinic and community level in Mpumalanga South Africa. Background: Two cross-sectional surveys were conducted in Embalenhle community (February 2002) and Dunusa community mobile clinics (November 2001), to establish prevalence of HIV and STIs (Chlamydia trachomatis and Neisseria gonorrhea). Methods: Multiple logistic regression models were fitted to the combined data from the two sites, to identify factors associated with HIV prevalence and also to check whether the effects were consistent over the two sites. Results: HIV Prevalence was 33.5% (30.2%vs.35.9% in males and females respectively, p=0.124) at community site and 34.8% at clinic site (22.8%vs.47.4% in males and females respectively, p=0.001). The models show a significant site by sex interaction i.e. the effect of sex differs in the 2 sites (p=0.036). After adjusting for agegroup and Neisseria gonorrhea, predicted probabilities from the logistic regression model shows that the sex difference is much greater in community mobile clinics (23%vs.44.1% in males and females respectively) than at the community site (29.9%vs.34.9% in males and females respectively). After adjusting for site and Neisseria gonorrhea, the model showed an agegroup by sex interaction (p<0.001). Predicted probabilities show a difference, where HIV in males is higher than in females; in males in the 25-34 year age group from 18-24 years (36.3 vs 18.2 % respectively), while in females the prevalence is very similar in the 18-24 year and 25-34 year age groups. There were no interactions between Neisseria gonorrhea and other variables. Conclusions: The different HIV–age distribution for males and females are consistent with the results of previous studies. We found that the sex difference in prevalence was much smaller at the community level than at the clinic level. The traditional interpretation of national antenatal surveillance data assumes a fairly large difference in male and female seroprevalence (a ratio of 7:10 is used in extrapolating results of the South African National antenatal seroprevalence survey to males). These results suggest that more work is needed in checking that assumption.

M. Tech. Construction Management / Access to housing and safe accommodation is an integral part of South African government's commitment to poverty relief and the improvement of well being of people. The delivery of low and middle income residential houses has nevertheless not kept up with the growing number of households making up an increasingly impoverished urban housing backlog in South Africa. Beneficiaries are often unhappy about the quality of the structures they have received. The aim of this research study is to assess the factors contributing to poor quality management practices in low-cost housing projects delivery.

Immunisations are one of the most important interventions to decrease mortality and provide a foundation for a successful health system. Eliminating disparities in immunisation access is needed to meet immunisation coverage goals. Although migrants have been identified as influencing recent measles outbreaks in South Africa, research on access to immunisations is lacking for migrants in the country. Numerous barriers to accessing health care have been reported for international migrants in South Africa despite official policies of equal access. Children of Mozambican refugees may be a vulnerable group and not being immunised because of their migration status or other socio-economic and demographic factors. This study aims to determine immunisation rates in rural South Africa and identify socioeconomic and demographic factors influencing immunisation access including being a child of a refugee. All children under 5 years during 2003 and 2006 censuses in the Agincourt subdistrict, Mpumalanga, South Africa (N=17,532) are included in this retrospective, nested cross-sectional multivariate analysis of immunisation access community level data. Immunisation rates are approximately 85% for the first immunisation but rates for subsequent dosing decreased and only 5% of children of appropriate age obtained all immunisations on the South African immunisation schedule. Children of former Mozambican refugees were significantly more likely to be immunised than South African children (OR=1.59, p=0.018) controlling for other socio-economic and demographic characteristics. Children who lived in a village with a clinic (OR=1.43, p=0.015), children with older mothers (OR=1.02, p=0.028), and children in households with higher wealth (OR=1.13, p=0.033) were also more likely to be immunised. Strategies for increasing immunisation access should focus on delivery of services to villages without health care facilities, providing support and outreach to poorer and younger mothers, and ensuring continuing engagement with the immunisation programme. This study adds to the sparse existing research on predictors of immunisation access in South Africa as well as health care access for refugees in South Africa. This research shows that health care access can be higher for international migrants than the host population. Policymakers can use this research to target vulnerable groups to decrease disparities. / Thesis (M.Dev.Studies)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2011.