MA, Faculty of Humanities, 1994

This research report will attempt to show that, in an attempt to cater for tourist tastes for the exotic, a Cape Malay identity has been constructed for the residents of the Bo- Kaap community which is made to date back to the 17th Century. Two books from popular tourist literature and three travel guides have been analysed. Furthermore, this research report will demonstrate how the built environment of the city and its surrounding areas can provide us with a much more nuanced narrative than the one which is currently being presented to tourists.

Faculty of Humanities School of Language and Literature 9807000g russelle@webmail.co.za / This study is a historical analysis of readers and the practices of reading in the late nineteenth century Eastern Cape, with particular focus on the Lovedale Institution. Well known as the progenitor of an African elite, the Lovedale mission institution, school and Press have been well-documented and studied, as has the Eastern Cape frontier – but the role of books and reading in their social and material practice has seldom been examined in very close detail in relation to this imagined textual community. A close examination of the contemporary evangelical journal, The Christian Express, reveals much in terms of what was being read, and how reviews and secondary matter on texts that were in circulation may have influenced conceptions of what books and literacy meant to the people reading the journal. These ideas have been traced through advertisements, reviews, columns and letters in order to understand the ways in which the journal portrayed books as material and intellectual objects. Delving deeper than the materiality of the book in an empirical world, however, this study seeks to analyse how books and readers were both constructed and represented, and involves an attempt (although admittedly a highly theoretical undertaking) to reconstruct the various reading strategies employed by readers on the frontier of race, class, and nation.

This document is submitted in partial fulfilment for the degree: Master of Architecture [Professional] at the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa, in the year 2014. / ‘Unless someone like you cares an awful lot, nothing is going to get better, it’s not.’ (The Lorax, Dr Seuss) How can architecture play a role to make us understand and realise the vulnerability of Fynbos? The Western Cape is the habitat for one of the six species of the floral kingdom, Fynbos. This botanical treasure is in danger of becoming extinct. There are thousands of types of Fynbos, each endemic to a specific region within the Western Cape and it is important to raise awareness of this unique species as creating a familiarity and deeper personal connection with the plant can help to protect this endangered flora. I propose a Fynbos Research and Education Centre set in Clanwilliam, a historical area within the Cederberg Mountain Range. The centre will be created to allow a deeper understanding of Fynbos and to this effect, aims to educate people about Fynbos so as to give them a better knowledge about sustainable living and the value of this plant species. It will be a place of calm and learning and the landscape will have a fundamental effect on the form. A vital part of the work to be carried out by this centre will be research into methods of conservation as well as into possible medical and cosmetic uses inherent in this species. Looking to plant structure, organic architecture and the analogy of nature, and its influence on architecture from both the geology of the region and the natural landscape setting, to discover what this then means for the architecture of the centre. The idea of Nature’s constant generation and degeneration, life coming from death and the influence of ruins on architectural imaginations will be fundamental in this building. Fynbos is endangered but this centre will aim to prevent it from becoming a memory and perhaps once it has been saved the structure will be left for nature to take over once again. The relationship between Fynbos and the landscape will shape and determine the architecture and materiality. Organic rammed earth walls will rise out of the sandstone formations which are the foundation of the Cederberg, to create this centre. The walls, made up of the very sand that sustains the Fynbos will exemplify it as at one with nature. As fire reignites life within the Fynbos seeds which lie dormant beneath the soil, so too can the building and the garden ignite passion to save this species, incorporating various design mechanisms into the architecture representing fire and its giving of life, in the case of the Fynbos, or preventing destruction in terms of the building. The creation of an education centre, restaurant and research facility will encourage a steady stream of visitors to Clanwilliam throughout the year. This will help to build tourism and eco-tourism to the town and surrounding areas, giving a much needed economic injection by creating job opportunities. Importantly, it will also increase awareness and exposure to the Fynbos species, with the building encouraging the visitor to linger and get involved with the plants and site and to develop a deeper affinity with this dwindling flora. This thesis aims to take its visitors on a journey, by means of architecture, creating a human experience and therefore a connection with their surroundings, exploring and uncovering the landscape of the Cederberg and its local identity and heritage, creating a bond forged by a new understanding.

Thesis (MTech (Business Administration))--Cape Peninsula University of Technology, 2018. / This study investigates students’ perception of factors that contributed to dropouts at a selected FET college. Despite receiving government funding, drop-out continues to increase. An understanding of perceived factors influencing drop-out rate would help to develop and deploy retention strategy for FET college students. Previous studies on drop-out shows that students that have dropped out are more likely to be unemployed and living in poverty compared to those students that have successfully completed their programmes. In 2006 the Minister of Labour declared that FET Colleges in South Africa have a major role to play in assisting youth in gaining skills and thereby halving poverty and the unemployment rate by the year 2014. This declaration highlights the importance of FET colleges and amplifies the need for a strategy to maximise students’ retention and minimise drop-out rate. This study utilise a random sampling method to select respondents. Data were collected using a questionnaire with a quantitative approach and designed in a Likert scale format. The study was limited to students at West Coast FET College’s campuses namely: Atlantis, Vredenburg, Malmesbury and Citrusdal. One hundred and fifty students were used as respondents and data were gathered from the questionnaires. The findings derived from the data revealed that multiple factors are perceived to be the cause of high student dropout. These factors are lack of finances for transport and accommodation especially for the first years and social context of individual learners. The study concludes that although finance and social context of individual learner are perceived drop-out factors, other personal attributes like learners’ attitude to learning and commitment also plays a role in students drop-out and drop-out intention.

Thesis (MTech (Information Technology)--Cape Peninsula University of Technology, 2018. / In the last two decades, the concept of e-commerce has been embraced and widely adopted by many enterprises across the world. Many enterprises continue to reap the benefits of ecommerce across industries and sectors. Despite the benefits, which have been widely reported, South African retail enterprises have only adopted the concept sporadically. The lack of, or slow pace of, adoption and participation in the e-commerce space by South African retail enterprises is a problem for both the enterprises themselves and individuals (consumers): retail enterprises are challenged with competitiveness at global space, and individuals are constrained and limited in their attempts to partake in transactions with retailers. This research was therefore undertaken to examine and understand the factors, from both technical and non-technical perspectives, that influence the adoption and use of e-commerce within the South African environment. Two organisations were used as cases in the study. In that human opinions and views were required, the qualitative methods and the interpretive approach were employed in the research. Actor Network Theory (ANT) was applied in the analysis of the qualitative data. Based on the findings and interpretation of the findings, a framework was developed. The framework is intended to guide how e-commerce can be adopted and used in the mainstream retail grocery sector in South Africa. The research can be of use and benefit to both business and in the academic domain, from either a practical, methodological and theoretical perspective. Practically, small and large retail enterprises in South African or other African countries with similar business cultures and settings can come to a better understanding of the e-commerce influencing factors. Methodologically, the use of ANT was vital, in the way it was used to examine the various networks, actors, relationship and interaction that happens in the process of adopting and or use of e-commerce. Theoretically, this study contributes to existing literature. Also, the study can be used as case study material in the field of information systems by institutions of higher learning.

Thesis (MTech (Public Management))--Cape Peninsula University of Technology, 2019. / The research provides a broad overview of the problem statement, research objectives, demarcation of the research, research methodology, and significance of the research, a brief literature review and the ethics statement. Theoretical background through a literature review of the selected topic, as well as of the legal frameworks that guide the provisioning of sanitation. The researcher consulted literature that describes the provisioning of sanitation by the City of Cape Town, and the challenges it faces in this regard. The researcher also discussed the legislation that guides sanitation, and five broad themes relating to sanitation, around which the research questions were formulated. The researcher discovered that City of Cape Town employees face a number of challenges that make their job difficult, especially in providing water and sanitation to the communities in Site C in Khayelitsha. The researcher concludes the study and makes recommendations regarding the provision of proper sanitation by the City of Cape Town. These recommendations are based on the study's questionnaire results

Thesis (MTech (Human Resource Management))--Cape Peninsula University of Technology, 2018. / As the worldwide demand for quality higher education seems to be increasing, growing concern for the foreseeable future over the supply and talent retention of researchers and academics has become a major discussion amongst higher education institutions in South Africa Higher Education South Africa (HESA, 2014). Today almost half of South Africa’s population is under 25 years old and 30 percent are under 15 years old (World Bank, 2015:38). While the country is experiencing this demographic window of opportunity, the majority of academics are entering the retirement phase of their careers (HESA, 2014). Under such circumstances, these academic staff will need to be replaced with talented employees thus alerting scholars to investigate the issue. To reach target levels of education and skills development which will promote growth and development of the economy, it will be essential for the country to attract talented academic staff (Zuma, 2014). It is essential for South Africa to attract academic staff in order to enable government to reach target levels of education and skills development which will promote growth and development of the economy (Zuma, 2014). Retaining academic staff will further ensure that tertiary institutions accomplish their visions and missions and thereby becoming centres of excellence (Ng’ethe, Iravo and Namusonge, 2012). In a study by Currie (2006:119) it was found that the financial costs associated in losing experienced academic staff makes it necessary to retain them. Currently, there appears to be limited research studies on talent attraction and retention factors in higher learning institutions. Previous scholars that have attempted to research into talent management components in higher education (Theron, Barkhuizen and du Plesis, 2014) only focused on factors in academic turnover and retention factors while some scholars only researched on intention to quit factors amongst Generation Y academics in higher education (Robyn and du Preez, 2013). The talent management domain is not receiving enough attention and gaps in research seem to exist in the context of talent management system in higher learning institutions. The research focused on the emerging trends relating in the discipline of talent management specifically on talent attraction and retention which have become predominant topics in the higher education. The study provides comprehensive overview of challenges and obstacles that are found in the aspect of talent management within the higher education sector. It is against this background that the primary aim of the researcher was to introduce a framework model to attract and retain talented employees as the means to harness the issue of talent management in the higher education sector.

Thesis (MTech (Conservation and Marine Sciences))--Cape Peninsula University of Technology, 2016. / Invasive alien plant species pose a major threat to global biodiversity by displacing native vegetation and transforming habitats. In South Africa, invasive alien plants have become a major component of most habitats. River systems are particularly affected owing to their dynamic nature and to anthropogenic activities. This has resulted in fynbos riparian scrub vegetation being replaced mainly by Acacia and Eucalyptus species, with serious ecological and economic impacts. The presence of alien trees along river banks leads to a reduction in native plant species richness and their high water consumption adds on to the existing water challenges in an already dry country. However, with regards to native fauna, it largely remains unknown both at small or large spatial scale, whether alien trees provide additional habitat which increases biodiversity, or if their presence leads to a reduction of native biodiversity. Impacts on water supply have led to large-scale clearing of invasive alien trees from riparian zones by the government through the Working for Water (WfW) programme. Monitoring and evaluation studies carried out after clearing are not well-rounded and mostly focus on vegetation response to clearing. Although some of these studies have reported successful restoration through passive methods, ecosystem recovery remains partial. There is evidently a lack of information regarding the response of animal communities to invasive alien plant clearing. Therefore, the main objective of this thesis was to investigate bird assemblage response to alien tree invasion and clearing. As a study system, I used the riparian area of the Berg River within the fynbos biome of the Cape Floristic Region, South Africa. The area historically consisted of renosterveld vegetation characterised by a matrix of shrubs and a high diversity of geophytes but relatively poor avifaunal diversity. This area is heavily affected by invasive alien trees and shrubs including Eucalyptus camaldulensis. I employed bird assemblages as an indicator, and used fixed-point bird counts to compare bird species richness and bird abundance between invaded and near-pristine habitats. Invasion by E. camaldulensis significantly reduced bird species richness and abundance. In particular, nectarivores and frugivores, which play important mutualistic roles in the fynbos, were reduced and unexpectedly; there were fewer raptors in invaded areas. I proceeded to carry out a space for time substitution, comparing plant and bird assemblages in invaded sites, near-pristine sites and in sites cleared in 2005, 2007, 2008 and 2014. A general increase in bird species richness and bird abundance with time since clearing exists with bird assemblages in cleared sites being similar to those in near-pristine sites. However, bird assemblages in cleared sites have not yet fully recovered a decade after clearing and four native plant species are still absent. In the third part of my thesis I assessed the impacts of invasive alien plants on bird assemblages at a larger spatial scale. The different responses shown by bird assemblages to invasive alien plant cover depended on the intensity of invasion, spatial scale and other land uses. From a bird’s eye view, this study supports the current clearing by WfW given the significant negative effects of invasive alien plants on bird diversity both at plot and large spatial scales. However, passive restoration is unsuccessful in restoring the full complement of plants and birds, therefore, active restoration should be considered. To limit the cost, I suggest a focused restoration approach of selected keystone tree species which can assist to establish a functional native ecosystem.

Magister Artium - MA (Anthropology/Sociology) / Biomedicine positively maintains that tuberculosis transmission occurs due to close contact with a diseased individual (Coovadia and Benatar, 1991). Consequently, this refers to a direct mode of transmission where individuals are at direct risk of becoming infected. It is often taken for granted that when one speaks of contact within the context of tuberculosis, one is necessarily referring to contact or interactions among tuberculosis patients and people in the community with whom they have contact of any nature. It is then assumed that tuberculosis is transmitted in this manner. However, there are also indirect modes of transmission which are often neglected to be explored, but have an equally serious effect on transmission in high incidence areas. This paper also addresses other contact patterns that are also role-players in the tuberculosis epidemic.