Young people are often expected to find employment after completing their tertiary qualifications but they often face various challenges in finding employment. These challenges may be due to a variety of factors such as the type of qualification that they hold, structural changes in the economy, lack of skills and experience and the lack of relevant social networks. Furthermore, the current economic climate is characterised by low absorption rates of labour in the economy, poverty and inequalities. As such young graduates may experience various negative effects as a result of their unemployment, such as isolation, depression, decreased self-esteem, dependency, discontentment, loneliness, loss of social status and poverty. Social support has been found to have a buffering effect on people experiencing adverse life events such as unemployment. The focus of this current study was therefore to explore the social support experiences of graduates in the township of Mamelodi. This research study was a qualitative, interpretative phenomenological study. Snowballing sampling and purposive sampling were used to obtain research participants who attained tertiary qualifications. Smaller samples of between 6 and10 participants are commonly used in interpretative phenomenological studies. As such, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 10 participants. The interviews were audio recorded and transcribed. Thematic analysis was then used to extract themes from the participant interviews. The participant interviews indicated that the participants experienced a lack of finance as the most significant challenge during their unemployment, as they could not support themselves and their families. The participants experienced social support in the form of encouragement and information about possible employment opportunities from their family, friends, intimate partners and their community. Moreover, the analysis of the participants’ interviews demonstrated that social support, especially from the family, was essential for the unemployed graduates to cope with the negative effects of unemployment, even though they did not want to burden their families with the responsibility of providing them with social support. / Psychology / M.A. (Psychology)

This study focuses on the psycho-social challenges faced by HIV/AIDS lay counsellors at a Voluntary Counselling and Testing (VCT) site in Tshwane, South Africa. A qualitative approach was employed by using semi-structured interviews with open-ended questions to obtain information from four lay counsellors, who provide pre- and post-test counselling at a VCT site. The results indicate that the management of clients’ emotions and needs pose enormous challenges to HIV/AIDS lay counsellors who do not receive any formal psycho-social support at VCT sites. The research participants in this study resort to their own coping mechanisms to deal with the challenges – with varying degrees of success. The recommendation is made that a formal support programme should be put in place at VCT sites, which will allow HIV/AIDS lay counsellors to respond to the many demands placed on them. Such a programme can help prevent burnout and a high turnover in lay counsellors. / Social Work / M. A. (Social Behaviour Studies in HIV/AIDS)

This study investigates the management and provision of extracurricular programmes in inner city secondary schools. Literature pointed out that extracurricular provisioning in inner city secondary schools is challenging because of limited physical infrastructure and negative influences from the external environment. An empirical investigation based on a qualitative research design was conducted at five research sites conveniently selected. Through individual and focus-group interviewing it was established that extracurricular programmes in inner city secondary schools are hampered by limited and inadequate facilities, a lack of human resource capacity, an over-emphasis of the curricular programme and financial constraints. Due to the importance of a holistic development of the child to be an all-rounder as adult, it is recommended that all stakeholders of the school be involved in providing a viable extracurricular programme. Stakeholders include the teaching corps, parents, the local municipality, the department of education, and the business community. / Further Teacher Education / M. Ed. (Education Management)

Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) contribute substantially in economies around the world and in South Africa in particular. This study aimed to explore and describe the financial performance measures currently used by manufacturing SMEs in Pretoria. Semi-structured interviews were conducted at the participant SMEs’ premises in order to gather the information. It was found that most of the respondents use financial ratios, but to a limited extent, when measuring their financial performance. The use of bankruptcy prediction models is totally absent among the participants. It has been recommended that SMEs use more ratios from the literature that have been proven to be the best financial measures, and the six ratios that have worked well for some of the participants in the study. It is also recommended that SME owners enrol their financial staff for training in bankruptcy prediction models, and use financial software packages if they can afford them. / Graduate School for Business Leadership / (M.Tech. (Business Administration))

M.Cur. / During the time as an infection control professional, there was close contact with patients with Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS). During this contact period many needs regarding health support were identified. Discrimination and the testing of patients for Human Immunodificiency virus anti·bodies (HIV) without their permission, were the main problem areas. The purpose of the study was to determine the nature and extent of comprehensive health care services for patients with AIDS. The research design is a contextual, exploring and descriptive study. This study was done in the Northern half of economic development area H where 16 health care services were identified. These include clinics, community hospitals, regional- and academic hospitals and the local authority clinic. Private hospitals were not included in the study. Criteria for the nature and extent of comprehensive health care services were based on literature studies. Data was collected by means of structured interviews with nursing professionals in the employ of identified services and patients making use of those services. The results of the research showed various needs in the nature and extent of the comprehensive health care services of the patients with AIDS In order to improve the health care services, recommendations were made and guidelines given to nursing professionals. Recommendations were also made regarding other aspects of the multi·disciplinary team approach. Based upon this study other topics were identified to enable the health care services to provide health care to the patient with AIDS.

M.A. (Applied Linguistics) / In chapter 1 it is stated that the problem of academic underachievement should be addressed in a scientific manner. It is postulated that a responsible approach would be to identify the needs of the learners in question i.e. students who follow graduate courses in Afrikaans. In the second chapter it is shown that a learner-centred approach dictates a needs analysis. Furthermore the influence of attitudes and motivation on second language study is discussed. Chapter 3 gives a short historical overview of the development of language teaching with some emphasis on the communicative approach. The empirical data is presented and discussed in chapter 4. In the last chapter conclusions are drawn and some recommendations are made. The aim of the study is to identify the needs of students of Afrikaans at Vista University. It is accepted that the identification of the needs of the learners is instrumental in the approach of the aforementioned problem. The information was gleaned by an opinion survey which was completed by all third year students of Afrikaans. The data revealed that almost all students aim to teach Afrikaans to black children and they expect the courses to equip them for that. They also want to improve their communicative ability in Afrikaans. They are well . motivated(integrated motivation) to reach their goals. The learners are positive about the courses but they feel, however, that the courses are too" technicaI" and that they often find it difficult to identify with the "view of 1ife" portrayed in the 1iterature texts.

The South African government has attempted to find a balance of interests between the employer and the employee by the introduction of the Labour Relations Act in 1995 and the Basic Conditions of Employment Act in 1997. It is critical to the health of the South African economy that these labour laws do not impact small businesses to the extent that the Gross Domestic Product of the country is negatively affected. There are conflicting reports as to how these labour laws affect small businesses. It is therefore important for government to be able to understand, define and measure the impact of its labour laws on small businesses, in order for it to strategise corrective measures, which may include reconsidering the application of the legislative directive, regulated flexibility, if required. The study was limited in the sense that it was solely based on evidence collected from employers. An interpretivist approach was applied as a research methodology to data collected through in-depth interviews. The main findings of the empirical analysis demonstrate that labour legislation does not heavily impact small firms. It was thus determined that extensive measures were not needed with regard to correcting the framework of regulated flexibility.

The positive role and fundamental contribution of entrepreneurship on a global and national level is an unconditional phenomenon pertaining to economic growth. There are though various perspectives and opinions on the format and context of contribution. One of these perspectives embraces the obstacles involved in the entrepreneurial process hindering contribution and economic catalisation. This study follows a focused approach towards investigating a critical obstacle and specifically the access to finance, within an indicated geographical area. The research intervention has obtained a large and reliable data set to examine the contention that there are obstacles faced by entrepreneurs in accessing small business finance in the Tshwane area. The findings of the study support this contention and also the fact that conventional financing mechanisms do not allow for cost-effective provision of finance to large numbers of entrepreneurs seeking small quantities of finance. Poverty and lack of assets mean that many people do not have the collateral needed to access formal financing. / Business Management / M. Comm. (Business Management)

This study identified pregnancy-related challenges encountered by student nurses at SAMHS Nursing College, with an aim of identify factors contributing to student nurses' pregnancies as well as finding ways to deal and minimize the rate of the pregnancies amongst the student nurses. Thirty (30) structured interviews were conducted with student nurses who were pregnant and those who delivered their babies during the period 2002 to 2007. It has been revealed that ignorance is the major contributing factor for student nurses' pregnancies, 63% of the pregnancies were not planned, 52% of the respondents related their pregnancies to risk taking as they engaged in unprotected sex without the use of contraceptives, and thus it was concluded that student nurses are engaging themselves in risk behaviours and also engaging in unsafe sexual practices. The study also found that student nurses face physical, social, emotional as well as academic problems during pregnancy and after the delivery of their babies. Student nurses should be encouraged to use condoms and other methods of contraception, coupled with educating them on life skills, provision of recreational facilities; provision of counseling and support services may be the tool to minimise the unplanned pregnancies. / Health Studies / (M.A.(Public Health ))

In this section of research, a new crime prevention model for residential neighbourhoods, namely the HONC - against crime model was developed. This model is based on the Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design principles (CPTED). The first three elements of this model are intended to better the function of CPTED in neighbourhoods. The elements are as follows: H = Healthy lifestyle O = Online (Information technology) N = Nature C = CPTED The effectiveness of the elements in the prevention of crime was tested in two gated communities and one open neighbourhood, namely Woodlands Lifestyle Estate, Prairie Estate and Glossa Estate. All these neighbourhoods are situated in Garsfontein, a suburb of Pretoria, South Africa. Woodlands Lifestyle Estate was designed in accordance with these principles. This neighbourhood is situated next to a nature reserve called Moreletaspruit. The fence facing this reserve is a steel palisade to provide a view of the scenery. The other three fences are solid brick. This Estate has two entrances with formal access control. Woodlands has a specifically designed lifestyle centre which contains a gym, squash courts, swimming pool, tennis courts and an entertainment area. Pedestrian routs run from this centralised centre throughout the neighbourhood with water features and adequate lighting. Prairie Estate is also a gated community, fenced off with a brick wall and reachable through one entrance with formal access control. The architectural design of dwellings within this neighbourhood was left to the discretion of different developers. The only area for recreational activity within this neighbourhood is the fenced off club house and swimming pool. Glossa Estate is situated diagonally across Woodlands Lifestyle Estate, and is an open neighbourhood. It has three entrances with one guard patrolling the interior neighbourhood. This neighbourhood was designed with a park as a recreational area. The park was not in use and became overgrown, which created a crime problem, and it was therefore fenced off and the gate locked. Only the element of a healthy lifestyle could be proven as influential in the incidence of crime. The last three elements only served as guidelines and need to be tested in further research. / Criminology / D.Litt. et Phil. (Criminology)