Student Number : 9903519M - MSc research report - School of Geography, Archaeology and Environmental Studies - Faculty of Science / Goldsmith’s is a newly discovered fossil and archaeological site 4km south-west of the famous Sterkfontein Cave Site, in the buffer zone of the Cradle of Humankind World Heritage Site. It preserves one of the rare occurrences in South African fossil cave sites of stone artefacts with associated fossil fauna. Thirteen artefacts from two Stone Age cultures are represented within the site: namely the Earlier Stone Age and the Middle Stone Age. Eleven stone artefacts represent the Earlier Stone Age, dated to ca, 2-1 million years within the Sterkfontein Valley sites, while two artefacts represent the MSA. The stone tools from both cultures are not embedded in breccia and may have originated from decalcified breccias, or alternatively from slope wash. Various faunal taxa were recovered including bovids, primates, carnivores and others. Carnivores are the most highly represented, followed by bovids. Analysis of bone surface modifications indicate that the majority of the bones are slightly weathered, and some bone specimens are also abraded, suggesting that they may have accumulated through slope wash. The high frequencies of carnivore remains, including Dinofelis and a representation of most carnivore body parts, support a possible death trap scenario. The fauna suggests a palaeoenvironment with open woodland or savannah within the vicinity of a closed environment.

The core question of this thesis is why working time in South African gold mining has been so stable and addresses the significance of this fact. The working or labour time of miners and mineworkers is shown to have been remarkably stable for a century since 1911. By construing the length of the migrant labour contract as a measure of labour time, which systematically lengthens over the same period until it aligns with the annual rhythm of industrial working time, the evidence is provided for the argument that labour time constitutes the hitherto unrecognised foundation for the exploitation of mine labour in the South African gold mines. The phenomena - and importance for value-creation - of both relatively long, stable industrial working hours and the ever-longer migrant labour contracts over a century, are explained in terms of the value labour power creates in the mining labour process, as well as how the sheer expenditure of extended periods of labour time create the necessary skills mining requires. The fortunes of the platinum mining sector largely follow suit. Whereas the revisionist literature focused on the acquisition of a mine labour supply, this thesis argues that the retention of mine labour, by way of extending, intensifying and sustaining labour time in mining production, completes our understanding of its exploitation. It does so by employing a value-theoretic analysis which reveals the genesis of value creation in productive social class-based relationships. It shows how a series of qualitative, socially constructive effects, intra-working class occupational differentiation for example, emanate from the very expenditure of labour time underground when measured as a quantitative amount of labour time. It is argued that the substantive study of labour time has been surprisingly ignored in Marxist theory within which it plays a central role in the labour theory of value. A range of research methodologies have been employed to make this case. An ethnographic participant observation research method was aimed at articulating an agent-sensitive approach. The candidate lived in the hostel compounds and worked underground with mining personnel and has been both subject to the working time regimes on the mines as well as having actively participated, via various forms of research, in dealing with restructuring and changing working time schedules. The thesis goes on to show in close empirical detail, informed by actual experience and adopting a triangulated research methodology, how working time arrangements within which labour time is expended, remains immured in complexity. Why capital and labour, for instance, adopt competing stances regarding the restructuring of working time arrangements is explained. I conclude that workers’ production demands need to be taken seriously when working time is restructured in mining.

In an attempt to understand the multiple lives of an object - specifically a death inquest register from the year 1976 - this dissertation examines five moments in the objects life (referred to as the Ledger) that invest it with ‘capital’. They are; • The Cillié Commission of Inquiry. • Sam Nzima’s photograph of Hector Pieterson. • The destruction of apartheid documents in the early 1990’s. • Kendell Geers’ appropriation of the Ledger. • Museum Africa’s purchase of the Ledger. By applying a biographical methodology to this object, this dissertation examines how the shifts in the multiple lives of the Ledger address the different roles that the archive plays in the construction of memory in South Africa.

This qualitative research study investigates the benefits gained and developed by arts teachers after attending an Arts education programme at the Wits School of Education in South Africa. The literature review argues that both private and public benefits are elicited but highlights the vast increase in private benefits with public spillover gained from engagement in the Arts (McCarthy et al, 2004). The research also highlights the fact that good quality Arts education is vital in creating educational opportunities for the acquisition of these benefits and that teachers have certain roles and responsibilities to play in order to facilitate the transfer of these benefits. The information developed from interviews (six teachers) and journals formed the basis of the findings. These findings show how teachers benefited both personally and professionally. Privately, in positively changing their outlook on life, an acceptance of self and in the ability to reflect and professionally, in the improved level of their pedagogy in relation to relationships, assessment and teaching methodologies. The contribution of this research is to present an understanding of how benefits can affect individuals on a private level and can then have public spill-over and spiral into the public sphere.

This research report is an attempt to position Michael MacGarry’s sculptures within a context of critiques of nationalisms in the postcolonial state. Looking specifically at Zulu and Afrikaner nationalism in South Africa, I consider the constructed nature of nationalism and highlight how it is always an imposition of rigidity upon the organic flow of peoples through spaces. By exploring the theme of the phallic signifier in conjunction with multiple conceptions of the fetish in Michael MacGarry’s work, I explore the idea of competing nationalisms in South Africa. My research is a contribution to the existing literature on MacGarry in that it explores these readings of his work through a psychoanalytic framework. I show how MacGarry’s work engages psychoanalytic discourses in relation to social and political formations in order to critique the construction and reproduction of state control through representations of the body politic, a concept articulated by Nicholas Mirzoeff (1993). MacGarry has created his sculptures in such a way that they can be read through all major registers of the fetish: ethnographic, Marxist, psychoanalytic and Modernist

A dissertation submitted to the Faculty of Science, University of the Witwatersrand, in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Masters of Science. Johannesburg, 2017 / The monitoring of personnel for exposure to radioactive elements is a regulatory requirement for any nuclear installation and due to the nature of the research, the need for a non-invasive procedure for the monitoring for exposure to plutonium has been identified at the South African Nuclear Energy Corporation (NECSA). Historically, analyses of short-lived radioactive elements were performed by α-spectrometry. But due to the well documented drawbacks of the older generation of α-spectrometer analysis, Quadrupole Inductively Coupled Mass Spectrometry (Q-ICP-MS) was suggested as an alternative technique. A feasibility study was undertaken to determine whether sub-trace concentrations of plutonium in urine can be determined using a modern, standard Q-ICP-MS. A simplified One Variable at a Time (OVAT) approach was used to establish optimal analytical conditions starting from instrument setup and ending in sample preparation. The optimum sample preparation determined required 50 mL urine which underwent co-precipitation, wet-ashing and solid phase extraction using Tetra Valent Actinide (TEVA)-resin. Calibration standards ranged from 5 to 100 pg L-1 and the optimised method produced LOD’s of 0.2 pg L-1 and LOQ’s of 0.5 pg L-1. Sample intra-assay precision at 0.5- and 15 pg L-1 were 11.3% and 4.43% respectively, in the urine matrix. The bias was 8% and 0% at the same concentrations. The method was evaluated using samples from an international proficiency study and two out of the three tests that could be quantified passed specification. According to ISO 13528 a method is acceptable if two out of three tests pass. The method has been verified and a modern, standard Q-ICP-MS has been proven to be a suitable alternative to α-spectrometry with respect to sub-trace plutonium analysis. / MT 2017

Post-apartheid South African fiction has been the subject of much heated debate. One specific aspect of this debate has revolved around the role of history in this fiction. This is linked to general concerns in the country around ways of understanding history, especially in relation to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s research into the past. Tracing the lines of debate which emerged out of the discussions around the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, this research report focuses on the way history is presented in two novels from the post-apartheid period. These novels are This Day and Age by Mike Nicol and The Heart of Redness by Zakes Mda. Each of the two novels concerns a specific incident from the past of South Africa, the Bulhoek massacre and the Xhosa cattle-killing respectively. Through tracing their intertextual relations with mainstream accounts of the historical events, the research shows how they interrogate these accounts. Detailed examination of the portrayal of history in each of the novels leads to conclusions being drawn about the way in which the novels conceive of such historical ideas as causality, linearity and responsibility. Finally, the research examines the role of prophecy in the novels, showing how in both of the texts prophecy can be read as an alternative explanation for events. The research endeavours ultimately to contribute to the body of critical thought concerning the analysis of post-apartheid South African fiction.

ABSTRACT This dissertation explores identity as its central theme. There are three components to the dissertation. The first is the academic essay which explores identity through the perspective of queer theory and proposes a three-dimensional conception of an “identity cloud”. The second component is the creative essay which consists of ten chapters towards a final novella entitled “troll”. The creative component’s central theme is the lead protagonist’s struggle in assimilating the identities of “gay” and “addict” after receiving a liver transplant. The third and final component is an essay detailing the manner in which the creative and academic created and informed one another.

A dissertation submitted to the Faculty of Science, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science. Johannesburg, 30th May 2014. / The Multi-Angle Imaging SpectroRadiometer (MISR) is an Earth observation instrument operated by NASA on its Terra satellite. The instrument is unique in imaging the Earth’s surface from nine cameras at different angles. An extended system MISR-HR, has been developed by the Joint Research Centre of the European Commission (JRC) and NASA, which derives many values describing the interaction between solar energy, the atmosphere and different surface characteristics. It also generates estimates of data at the native resolution of the instrument for 24 of the 36 camera bands for which on-board averaging has taken place prior to downloading of the data. MISR-HR data potentially yields high value information in agriculture, forestry, environmental studies, land management and other fields. The MISR-HR system and the data for the African continent have also been provided by NASA and the JRC to the South African National Space Agency (SANSA). Generally, satellite remote-sensing of the Earth’s surface is characterised by irregularity in the time-series of data due to atmospheric, environmental and other effects. Time-series methods, in particular for vegetation phenology applications, exist for estimating missing data values, filling gaps and discerning periodic structure in the data. Recent evaluations of the methods established a sound set of requirements that such methods should satisfy. Existing methods mostly meet the requirements, but choice of method would largely depend on the analysis goals and on the nature of the underlying processes. An alternative method for time-series exists in Gaussian Processes, a long established statistical method, but not previously a common method for satellite remote-sensing time-series. This dissertation asserts that Gaussian Process regression could also meet the aforementioned set of time-series requirements, and further provide benefits of a consistent framework rooted in Bayesian statistical methods. To assess this assertion, a data case study has been conducted for data provided by SANSA for the Kruger National Park in South Africa. The requirements have been posed as research questions and answered in the affirmative by analysing twelve years of historical data for seven sites differing in vegetation types, in and bordering the Park. A further contribution is made in that the data study was conducted using Gaussian Process software which was developed specifically for this project in the modern open language Julia. This software will be released in due course as open source.

ABSTRACT This research report sets out the results of investigations into the causes of client dissatisfaction in the South African building industry and ways of improvement, from the contractors’ perspectives. The study is limited to the views of contractors who are registered with the Gauteng Master Builders Association (GMBA). The descriptive survey method was adopted in the study, which involved two stages of data gathering. At the first stage, semi-structured pilot interviews were conducted with a convenience sample of 18 directors and senior executives of construction companies within the target group. The data obtained from the exploratory surveys were subjected to crosstabulation matrix analysis. Results showed that the most recurring factors underlying client dissatisfaction were late completion (medium sized contractor category), unrealistic construction programs imposed by clients (large sized contractor category) and poor quality of workmanship (combined/pooled category) at the end of the development phase; slow reaction time on part of contractor to attend to defects (medium sized, large sized and combined/pooled contractor categories) at the operation phase. Making use of a competent and reputable contractor was the most recurring strategy for improving client satisfaction. Correlation analysis was carried out to determine the extent of divergence or consensus in views of the two groups / categories of contractors targeted in the questionnaire survey. The results indicate significant correlation in the views of the contractor groups on the underlying causes of client dissatisfaction at the end of the development phase and at the operation phase. Significant correlation was also established in the views of the contractor groups on strategies for improving client satisfaction. Recommendations were made on ways of improving client satisfaction levels in the South African building industry based on the results obtained in the study. Areas requiring further research/investigation/exploration were also identified.