M.Sc. (Geology) / Please refer to full text to view abstract

M.Sc. (Chemistry) / Please refer to full text to view abstract

Sytze Wopkes Wierda, a native of the Dutch province of Friesland, was born in Hemrik on February 28, 1839. In the year of his birth, he was baptised in the historic Hervormde church at Hemrik, the same church in which his parents, at middle age, publicly professed to the articles of their faith. Sytze Wierda came from a Frisian working-class background. In 1862 he started work as a carpenter in Drachten. From this humble beginning, Wierda progressed to Clerk of Works Extraordinary (“Buitengewoon Opzichter”) in 1866 and within one decade to Chief Clerk of Works (“Hoofdopzichter”) when the Netherlands government railways were built. From 1887 to 1900 he served with distinction as Chief of the Department of Public Works of the South African Republic and also gained recognition as architect and author in the land of his birth. Sytze Wierda was the fifth child of Wopke Sjerps Wierda (1800-1859) of Hemrik, a casual labourer and part-time butcher during the winter months. His mother was Pietertje Roelofs de Vries (1806-18790. The father’s side of the family was of old Frisian origin. After a primary school education in the district of Opsterland, his training as a carpenter started. This was partly completed in Appelscha in about 1858. In November 1860, he left Wijnjeterp for the city of Groningen where he worked as a carpenter’s apprentice until 1861. It is presumed that he also studies carpentry and architecture at the Groningen “Volksindustrischool”. From there he moved to the village of Winsum, in the same province, where he worked as a carpenter’s assistant before returning to his parental home at Wijnjeterp. As a qualified carpenter, he established himself in Drachten in 1862 and married Harmke Tjibbeles Kamp (1839, Drachten – 1926, Johannesburg). In about 1862, the year of his marriage, he became a member of the Christelijk Gereformeerde Kerk, of which his wife and her family were ardent members. In Drachten, he worked as a carpenter and studies architecture under town architect Duursma at the local drawing school until h moved to Enschedé in the province of Overijssel in 1865 to be employed as a carpenter and draughtsman by one of the railway contractors. While working at Hengelo station, section Engineer Janssen noticed that Wierda, while engaged in constructional drawing, had revealed a marked degree of judgment, knowledge of construction and general competence. He was recommended for appointment by the government as Clerk of Works Extraordinary to the railway project at Enschedé. He remained in this position from January 1866 to May 1867, on the Hengelo – Glanerbeek section and was then transferred to Alkmaar in the province of North Holland. In 1867, he was promoted to Clerk of Works Second Class (“Opzichter 2e Klasse”) and up to 1870 played a part in the construction of railway works and buildings in the Zaan region and the bridging of the North Sea Canal. In 1870, the Wierda family moved to Amsterdam, and from that year to 1875 Wierda acted as Clerk of Works First Class (“Opzichter 1e Klasse”). From 1875 to 1887 as Chief Clerk of Works he was occupied with the completion of the railway line from Zaandam to Amsterdam including the works and buildings in the Netherlands capital. This was in addition to the Central Station in the “Openhavenfront” and the Central Goods Station in the “Stads Rietlande”). While employed in Amsterdam he found time to write a book entitled “Belgische Industrie”, and to keep up family correspondence, to serve as a member of a local School-Committee, as well as to assist in the architectural training of Klaas and Pieter van Rijsse of Zaandam. Apart from his 22 years’ supervisory work on the Government Railways, he found time during the 1860’s for his first love, architecture and employed his talents in this direction. As a licensed architect he participated in architectural competitions and in the course of time also designed private houses, teachers’ dwellings and school buildings. With experience and confidence, Wierda found himself competing with leading architects for the designing of foreign and local public buildings including such notable structures as exchange buildings in Frankfurt am Main and Amsterdam around the year 1880. He designed churches from 1873 to 1886 for the Christelijk Gereformeerde parishes of Zaandam, Baarn, Hijum, Nieuwendijk, Emlichheim (Germany) and ‘s-Hertogenbosch. All of these churches are still in existence today. After his interest, as Hollander, in the restoration of the independence of the “Boerevolk”, had been stimulated in 1881 and while he was seeking pastures new for his talents and experience as railways constructor and architect, he secured the support of Hendrik Bürhmann in his application as Government Engineer and Architect (“Gouvernements Ingenieur and Architect”) of the South African Republic. On November 1, 1887 he assumed office. From 1887, the year in which he became a member of the Royal Institute of Engineers (“Koninklijk Instituut van Ingenieurs”), to 1900, Wierda not only acted as head of a fast d4eveloping state department, but he was personally involved in the design of several government buildings including the now famous Government Buildings (“Staatsgebouw” or “Raadsaal”) on Church Square, Pretoria. Besides this, he also designed other state buildings in various Transvaal towns. His reputation as architect of public buildings in the South African Republic was firmly established within a few years after his arrival in Pretoria. Architects and draughtsmen of Dutch origin – including Klaas van Rijsse Jnr. – played an active part in the 1890’s under the inspired and expert guidance of Sytze Wierda, as the specific architecture of the South African Republic took form. Extending his activities as architect of public buildings, Wierda took a lead in the planning of transport facilities, including a network of roads, the designing and building of bridges and the designing of the unique Paardekraal Monument at Krugersdorp, an achievement of enduring significance. This represented Wierda’s contribution to South Africa’s cultural and historical heritage. The fact that the most valuable of Wierda’s works stand today as proclaimed historical monuments is a tribute to the ability of the Dutch-born “Gouvernements Ingenieur en Architect” and “Hoofd van Publieke Werken” of the South African Republic. / Thesis (DPhil)--University of Pretoria, 2008. / Afrikaans / unrestricted

M.Ed. (Subject Didactics) / Please refer to full text to view abstract

M.Ed. (Educational Management) / Please refer to full text to view abstract

M.A.(Psychological Research) / Child maltreatment has occurred over the ages, but has been recognised as such only during the present century. The concept of maltreatment is culturally bound and therefore dependent on value judgements within a community. What is acceptable in one society may be rejected in another. Medical professionals discovered skeletal injuries in young children that was eventually traced to harsh treatment by parents. Physical abuse was thus identified, resulting in public and professional awareness and involvement. Later neglect and sexual abuse was identified as variations of maltreatment and legislation was instituted for the protection of children. Maltreated children manifest symptoms of behavioural, emotional and scholastic problems, and antisocial behaviour such as crime is being ascribed to child abuse. Research shows a tendency of placing emotional factors at the centre of maltreatment and the concept of psychological maltreatment was thus born. The present study was an attempt at indicating the relationship between maltreatment by parents and their children's ability at forming personal attachments. A questionnaire was developed in an attempt to operationalize the concept of psychological maltreatment and make it quantifiable. A comparison between this questionnaire and the PHSF relationship questionnaire indicated that a damaged capacity to form personal attachments may be traced back to psychological maltreatment. The implications of these findings were briefly discussed.

A project report submitted to the Faculty of Engineering, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Engineering. Johannesburg, 1992. / The formulation of effective safety measures to counteract the potential for disaster presented by the transportation of hazardous materials requires that reliable data is available as to the nature and extent of such traffic. Such data is currently unavailable and a roadside interview survey was conducted in the PWV area in order to ascertain the quantities and type of material being transported locally. the routes used, the types of vehicles and containers involved, and compliance with existing regulations. It was found that of the 1068 Vehicles surveyed carrying hazardous material, only 22% fully complied with existing legislation. A risk assessment model for use by both operators and authorities is then developed, in which the survey data is input to determine the least risk route between Johannesburg and Sasolburg. / AC2017

Thesis. / Includes bibliographical references.

No description available.

Permeability is that physical property of a porous medium that controls the flow of fluids through that medium. The flow of methane and water may be induced by the excavation of a mine opening in methane-bearing strata. Methane flow into a mine opening constitutes one of the biggest hazards in the coal mining industry. It is poisonous to humans and can ignite at concentrations as low as 5 % per volume and create explosions in the presence of coal dust from mining. If the flow of methane and/or water into the mine opening becomes blocked by an impervious layer, excessive pressures may develop, particularly in the roof strata of the mined seam, which can lead to roof falls. In order to characterize the flow of methane and water into and around the openings in a mine, that was plagued by roof falls suspected of being the result of excessive fluid pressure build-up, a large scale laboratory investigation of the permeability of the roof sediments of the working coal seam in the area was undertaken. The permeability was measured under atmospheric conditions by means of a modified Ohle permeameter, and under triaxial conditions with the aid of a modified Hoek cell. The permeability of the sediments towards methane and water was measured. Nitrogen was used as a control because it is much less reactive than methane towards the sediments used in this project. It was found that the permeability decreases with increasing gas pressure, in the case of gas being the permeating fluid, and increased with increasing water pressure, in the case of water being the permeating fluid. In some instances anomalous plots of permeability versus reciprocal mean gas pressure were obtained. These were attributed to the effects of methane adsorption or the Klinkenberg effect, and a possible method to determine which of the two processes is dominant is discussed. To characterize the flow in the roof strata of the coal seam being mined, the permeability was correlated to fades type. The different fades types were numbered from 1 to 14 with increasing grain size for ease of correlation. Due to the variable nature of the sediments, even in a fades type, no single permeability could be obtained for a fades type. Instead permeability ranges were obtained for each fades type. The definition of the lower and upper limits for each range were found to be dependant on the number of tests done on samples for that fades type. Nonetheless a relationship of increasing permeability with increasing grain size was found in the coarser grained fades (facies type 8 and higher). For the fIner grained fades types the permeability was found to decrease with increase in grain size. A graph could be constructed for use in predicting possible hazardous zones by identifying the fades type and then reading the permeability range that can be expected off the graph. Due to the variable nature of the sediments, the graph is, at this time, only applicable to the areas where the samples were obtained. A permeability prediction graph for all localities would be an ideal but is beyond the scope of this project. Such a graph, and the methods discussed have a wide range of applications in the coal mining and methane gas exploitation industries. / Thesis (M.Sc.)-University of Natal, Durban, 1994.