Thermoluminescence and phototransferred thermoluminescence of annealed α-Al2O3:C
- Elago, Fiindje Elias Muliokela
- Authors: Elago, Fiindje Elias Muliokela
- Date: 2024-10-11
- Subjects: Uncatalogued
- Language: English
- Type: Academic theses , Doctoral theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/466688 , vital:76767
- Description: Access restricted. Expected release in 2026. , Thesis (PhD) -- Faculty of Science, Physics and Electronics, 2024
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2024-10-11
- Authors: Elago, Fiindje Elias Muliokela
- Date: 2024-10-11
- Subjects: Uncatalogued
- Language: English
- Type: Academic theses , Doctoral theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/466688 , vital:76767
- Description: Access restricted. Expected release in 2026. , Thesis (PhD) -- Faculty of Science, Physics and Electronics, 2024
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2024-10-11
Thermoluminescence and phototransferred thermoluminescence of tanzanite
- Authors: Opoku, Kingsley Acheampong
- Date: 2024-10-11
- Subjects: Uncatalogued
- Language: English
- Type: Academic theses , Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/464914 , vital:76556
- Description: The thermoluminescence (TL) and phototransferred thermoluminescence (PTTL) properties of tanzanite, an extremely rare gem mineral, have been investigated. While tanzanite shows sensitivity to thermal and optical stimulation of luminescence techniques used for defect probing in insulators, it has received little attention in this regard. A glow curve corresponding to 70 Gy and measured at 1 °C s-1 revealed a high intensity peak at 74 °C (peak I) and two secondary peaks at 138 and 186 °C (peaks II and III). All the peaks exhibit a first order kinetics characteristics, as their positions remained unaffected by changes in either dose or partial heating (𝑇𝑚 − 𝑇𝑠𝑡𝑜𝑝). For variable doses from 10 to 200 Gy, the dose response of each peak is sublinear from the analysis of supralinearity indices. Peak I fades at room temperature when readout is delayed following irradiation, and this loss is due to thermal fading. The secondary peaks do not fade. Various methods of kinetic analysis were used to compute the kinetic parameters. For the respective peaks, the activation energy is about 0.84, 1.00 and 1.19 eV. All the peaks suffer thermal quenching with increasing heating rate. Continuous wave optically stimulated luminescence measurements were conducted to supplement the TL analysis with the aim of evaluating the kinetic parameters activation energy of thermal assistance (𝐸𝑎) and quenching (𝛥𝐸). The OSL source traps are the same as the TL source traps and occur within 40 to 90 °C, 110 to 145 °C and 160 to 220 °C. The kinetic parameter 𝛥𝐸 when luminescence from all the source traps is considered is comparable to that when source traps within 110 to 220 °C are measured and does not depend on the dose (10, 50 or 70Gy). Except for irradiation to 10 Gy, 𝐸𝑎 is also comparable. For traps within 160 to 220 °C, 𝛥𝐸 is comparable for the different doses but higher than that of the other traps, and a similar pattern was observed for 𝐸𝑎. Measurement of the PTTL signal induced by 470 nm blue LEDs following irradiation to 150 Gy and preheating to 158 °C showed that the TL peaks I and II were reproduced under phototransfer. The analysis for order of kinetics and dose response yielded the same results as the convention TL peaks. The model used to describe the PTTL intensity time response profiles shows that the PTTL emanates from a system of one acceptor and three donors, where the latter is a conglomerate of an unknown number of peaks. , Thesis (MSc) -- Faculty of Science, Physics and Electronics, 2024
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2024-10-11
- Authors: Opoku, Kingsley Acheampong
- Date: 2024-10-11
- Subjects: Uncatalogued
- Language: English
- Type: Academic theses , Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/464914 , vital:76556
- Description: The thermoluminescence (TL) and phototransferred thermoluminescence (PTTL) properties of tanzanite, an extremely rare gem mineral, have been investigated. While tanzanite shows sensitivity to thermal and optical stimulation of luminescence techniques used for defect probing in insulators, it has received little attention in this regard. A glow curve corresponding to 70 Gy and measured at 1 °C s-1 revealed a high intensity peak at 74 °C (peak I) and two secondary peaks at 138 and 186 °C (peaks II and III). All the peaks exhibit a first order kinetics characteristics, as their positions remained unaffected by changes in either dose or partial heating (𝑇𝑚 − 𝑇𝑠𝑡𝑜𝑝). For variable doses from 10 to 200 Gy, the dose response of each peak is sublinear from the analysis of supralinearity indices. Peak I fades at room temperature when readout is delayed following irradiation, and this loss is due to thermal fading. The secondary peaks do not fade. Various methods of kinetic analysis were used to compute the kinetic parameters. For the respective peaks, the activation energy is about 0.84, 1.00 and 1.19 eV. All the peaks suffer thermal quenching with increasing heating rate. Continuous wave optically stimulated luminescence measurements were conducted to supplement the TL analysis with the aim of evaluating the kinetic parameters activation energy of thermal assistance (𝐸𝑎) and quenching (𝛥𝐸). The OSL source traps are the same as the TL source traps and occur within 40 to 90 °C, 110 to 145 °C and 160 to 220 °C. The kinetic parameter 𝛥𝐸 when luminescence from all the source traps is considered is comparable to that when source traps within 110 to 220 °C are measured and does not depend on the dose (10, 50 or 70Gy). Except for irradiation to 10 Gy, 𝐸𝑎 is also comparable. For traps within 160 to 220 °C, 𝛥𝐸 is comparable for the different doses but higher than that of the other traps, and a similar pattern was observed for 𝐸𝑎. Measurement of the PTTL signal induced by 470 nm blue LEDs following irradiation to 150 Gy and preheating to 158 °C showed that the TL peaks I and II were reproduced under phototransfer. The analysis for order of kinetics and dose response yielded the same results as the convention TL peaks. The model used to describe the PTTL intensity time response profiles shows that the PTTL emanates from a system of one acceptor and three donors, where the latter is a conglomerate of an unknown number of peaks. , Thesis (MSc) -- Faculty of Science, Physics and Electronics, 2024
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2024-10-11
Togetherness, care and exclusion: adolescents’ experiences of living with a disabled sibling in a South African context
- Authors: Foote, Tamlyn Lou-Ann
- Date: 2024-10-11
- Subjects: Siblings of people with disabilities South Africa , Interpretative phenomenological analysis , Sibilings Family relationships , Sibilings Psychological aspects , South Africa Social conditions
- Language: English
- Type: Academic theses , Doctoral theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/466995 , vital:76805 , DOI https://doi.org/10.21504/10962/466995
- Description: The importance of the sibling relationship in an individual’s life has been established, and various aspects of siblingship have been studied. Recently researchers have begun to explore what it means to be a sibling and how siblingship is embodied. Where disability is present in the siblingship, however, there is very little literature, particularly in the Global South. This cross-cultural, cross-language, Interpretative Phenomenological study explores how isiXhosa speaking adolescent non-disabled people, living in a socio-economically disadvantaged context in South Africa, experience their lives in relation to their disabled sibling. Through the use of semi-structured interviews and photo-production with 9 isi-xhosa speaking adolescents from a disadvantaged socio-economic context in South Africa, three master themes emerged. Firstly, non-disabled siblings (NDSs) experienced togetherness in their relationships with their disabled brothers/sisters. In their experiences of togetherness, where reciprocity was prominent, they felt a sense of we-ness. In these instances, disability did not play a central role in their relationships. Secondly, NDSs living in disadvantaged socio-economic contexts experienced care in different ways. Some experienced wanting to care and some experienced having to care for their disabled brother or sister. Where care was voluntary it was experienced as an act of love, contributing to their self-esteem or a family value. Where care was experienced as obligatory, NDSs felt lonely and unsupported, and this contributed to ambivalent feelings toward their disabled sibling. Finally, NDSs experienced themselves as outsiders. Experiences of being an outsider sometimes occurred because of their socio-economic status, and sometimes because of experienced stigma related to their sibling’s disability. In both instances this contributed to feelings of inadequacy and exclusion. To overcome these feelings, NDSs focused on becoming successful, wealthy or famous. These findings have important implications in terms of how NDSs may be supported. Furthermore, this study has important methodological implications for using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis in a cross-cultural, cross-language context. , Thesis (PhD) -- Faculty of Humanities, Psychology, 2024
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2024-10-11
- Authors: Foote, Tamlyn Lou-Ann
- Date: 2024-10-11
- Subjects: Siblings of people with disabilities South Africa , Interpretative phenomenological analysis , Sibilings Family relationships , Sibilings Psychological aspects , South Africa Social conditions
- Language: English
- Type: Academic theses , Doctoral theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/466995 , vital:76805 , DOI https://doi.org/10.21504/10962/466995
- Description: The importance of the sibling relationship in an individual’s life has been established, and various aspects of siblingship have been studied. Recently researchers have begun to explore what it means to be a sibling and how siblingship is embodied. Where disability is present in the siblingship, however, there is very little literature, particularly in the Global South. This cross-cultural, cross-language, Interpretative Phenomenological study explores how isiXhosa speaking adolescent non-disabled people, living in a socio-economically disadvantaged context in South Africa, experience their lives in relation to their disabled sibling. Through the use of semi-structured interviews and photo-production with 9 isi-xhosa speaking adolescents from a disadvantaged socio-economic context in South Africa, three master themes emerged. Firstly, non-disabled siblings (NDSs) experienced togetherness in their relationships with their disabled brothers/sisters. In their experiences of togetherness, where reciprocity was prominent, they felt a sense of we-ness. In these instances, disability did not play a central role in their relationships. Secondly, NDSs living in disadvantaged socio-economic contexts experienced care in different ways. Some experienced wanting to care and some experienced having to care for their disabled brother or sister. Where care was voluntary it was experienced as an act of love, contributing to their self-esteem or a family value. Where care was experienced as obligatory, NDSs felt lonely and unsupported, and this contributed to ambivalent feelings toward their disabled sibling. Finally, NDSs experienced themselves as outsiders. Experiences of being an outsider sometimes occurred because of their socio-economic status, and sometimes because of experienced stigma related to their sibling’s disability. In both instances this contributed to feelings of inadequacy and exclusion. To overcome these feelings, NDSs focused on becoming successful, wealthy or famous. These findings have important implications in terms of how NDSs may be supported. Furthermore, this study has important methodological implications for using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis in a cross-cultural, cross-language context. , Thesis (PhD) -- Faculty of Humanities, Psychology, 2024
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2024-10-11
Towards a bacterial biofertiliser for the rehabilitation of disturbed and degraded land
- Authors: Masudi, Wiya Leon
- Date: 2024-10-11
- Subjects: Biofertilizers , Land degradation , Ecological disturbances , Plant-growth promoting rhizobacteria , Restoration ecology
- Language: English
- Type: Academic theses , Doctoral theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/466826 , vital:76790 , DOI https://doi.org/10.21504/10962/466826
- Description: Agriculture, mining, industry, and human activity disturb, degrade, and pollute pristine environments and particularly the soil environment. Excessive land exploitation slows or disrupts the soil potential, rendering it incapable of playing its role leading to land degradation. In the mining sector, specifically coal mining, rehabilitation of disturbed and degraded land involves strategies that include importing topsoil and using fossil fuel-derived fertilisers. Both practices are unsustainable. To address the unsustainability, a myco-phytoremediation technology known as Fungcoal was developed to facilitate successful revegetation of mining-disturbed and degraded land following the bioconversion of waste coal into a soil-like humic-rich substrate. To offset the dependence on chemical-based fertilisers, efforts were/are focussed on finding mutualistic and cost-effective microbial resources with plant growth-promoting (PGP) activity as a bacterial biofertiliser. This study made use of 22 isolated bacteria and the three Fungcoal coal-degrading fungi viz., Aspergillus sp. ECCN 84, Aspergillus sp. ECCN 225 and Penicillium sp. ECCN 243 as the microbial resource. Initially, characterisation of the substrate waste coal and molecular identification of the selected bacterial isolates were carried out. Physicochemical analysis of the low-rank coal (LRC) substrate revealed a pH of 3.60 with background S content equivalent to 7.13 g L-1, N at 20 mg L-1, P at 7.8 mg L-1 and K at 3.3 mg L-1. Energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) analysis revealed a C and O content of 23.09 and 69.03 wt%, respectively. Metagenomic analysis of the microbial population associated with the LRC substrate showed that among the 96.32% of bacteria, 59.46 to 62.18% belonged to Bacillota (also called Firmicutes), a phylum of largely Gram-positive bacteria, and 33.01 to 35.74% to Pseudomonadota (synonymous with Proteobacteria), a phylum of mostly Gram-negative bacteria. Following purification of the selected bacterial isolates and molecular characterisation by PCR, phylogenetic relatedness to known plant growth-promoting bacteria (PGPB) contained in the GenBank database showed that these bacterial isolates clustered with high bootstrap values to the reference PGPB strains. Only Pseudomonas sp. ECCN 10b (MW672582) was outside of the tree and shared significant similarity (100%) with Pseudomonas fluorescens (CP015638). A biochemical study revealed that the two Proteus sp. strains, Exiguobacterium sp., Enterobacter sp., and Ancylobacter, tolerated high salt and a wide range of temperatures. Bacterial isolates showed a high pH tolerance between 3 and 11, with the best growth at pH around 7. Nine of the identified strains, four Bacillus sp., Exiguobacterium sp., Enterobacter sp., Pseudomonas sp., Arthrobacter sp., and Aeromonas sp., were able to grow and increase in a medium containing either glucose, mannitol, sodium L-glutamate, sucrose, or fructose. Growth was highest in media containing either sodium L-glutamate, sucrose, or fructose. All the coal degrading strains and 83% of those isolated from municipal wastewater used more complex carbon sources such as high and LRC. The potential for PGP activity was quantified spectrophotometrically by measuring the production of auxins, as indole-3-acetic acid (IAA) equivalents; gibberellins, as gibberellic acid (GA3) equivalents, along with 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylic acid (ACC) deaminase and siderophore activity. Additionally, nutrient mobilisation was evaluated by monitoring an ability to mineralise NH4+, PO43−, and K+. Competent PGP strains for the coal degrading isolates included Proteus strain ECCN 20b, Proteus strain ECCN 23b, and Serratia strain ECCN 24b. In response to L-trp supplementation, the concentration of indolic compounds (measured as indole-3-acetic acid) increased. Production of ammonium and solubilisation of insoluble P by these strains was also apparent. Only Serratia strain ECCN 24b could solubilise insoluble K. Production of indoles increased following exposure to increasing aliquots of LRC, suggesting no negative effect of this material on indole production and that these bacteria may possess PGP potential. Of the twelve bacterial strains isolated from wastewater MaB-flocs, three produced indoles, nine mineralised NH4+, seven solubilised P, and one K. Potential of isolated strains for PGP activity according to a one-way ANOVA on ranks was: ECCN 7b > ECCN 4b > ECCN 6b > ECCN 3b = ECCN 10b > ECCN 1b = ECCN 5b > ECCN 8b > ECCN 2b > ECCN 12b > ECCN 9b = ECCN 11b. Further study revealed that cell-free filtrate from indole-producing cultures of Aeromonas strain ECCN 4b, Enterobacter strain ECCN 7b, and Arthrobacter strain ECCN 6b promoted mung bean adventitious root formation. Based on a biochemical study and the outcome of the ranking of bacterial strains according to PGP-like activities, three bacteria, Enterobacter sp., strain ECCN 7b, Proteus sp., strain ECCN 20b and Serratia sp., strain ECCN 24b that showed great mutualistic relationship with the most effective Fungcoal biocatalyst, A. fischeri ECCN 84, were used to prepare a bacterial bio-fertiliser. This consortium grew well in NB supplemented with L-tryptophan and produced indole compounds that could activate the adventitious rooting of mung bean (Vigna radiata L.) hypocotyls. Finally, the consortium showed no antibiotic resistance activity; however, they produced better biofertiliser with good responses to root/plant biomass production of the same Fabaceae, mung bean (Vigna radiata L.). The further development of this consortium into a cost-effective, environmentally friendly biofertiliser may help reduce dependence on chemical-based fertilisers and improve the sustainability of Fungcoal and other land rehabilitation strategies. Further studies are therefore underway to investigate in greater detail the PGP activity of these isolates individually and in consortium under field conditions to support the Fungcoal myco-phytoremediation strategy. , Thesis (PhD) -- Faculty of Science, Institute for Environmental Biotechnology, 2024
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2024-10-11
- Authors: Masudi, Wiya Leon
- Date: 2024-10-11
- Subjects: Biofertilizers , Land degradation , Ecological disturbances , Plant-growth promoting rhizobacteria , Restoration ecology
- Language: English
- Type: Academic theses , Doctoral theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/466826 , vital:76790 , DOI https://doi.org/10.21504/10962/466826
- Description: Agriculture, mining, industry, and human activity disturb, degrade, and pollute pristine environments and particularly the soil environment. Excessive land exploitation slows or disrupts the soil potential, rendering it incapable of playing its role leading to land degradation. In the mining sector, specifically coal mining, rehabilitation of disturbed and degraded land involves strategies that include importing topsoil and using fossil fuel-derived fertilisers. Both practices are unsustainable. To address the unsustainability, a myco-phytoremediation technology known as Fungcoal was developed to facilitate successful revegetation of mining-disturbed and degraded land following the bioconversion of waste coal into a soil-like humic-rich substrate. To offset the dependence on chemical-based fertilisers, efforts were/are focussed on finding mutualistic and cost-effective microbial resources with plant growth-promoting (PGP) activity as a bacterial biofertiliser. This study made use of 22 isolated bacteria and the three Fungcoal coal-degrading fungi viz., Aspergillus sp. ECCN 84, Aspergillus sp. ECCN 225 and Penicillium sp. ECCN 243 as the microbial resource. Initially, characterisation of the substrate waste coal and molecular identification of the selected bacterial isolates were carried out. Physicochemical analysis of the low-rank coal (LRC) substrate revealed a pH of 3.60 with background S content equivalent to 7.13 g L-1, N at 20 mg L-1, P at 7.8 mg L-1 and K at 3.3 mg L-1. Energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) analysis revealed a C and O content of 23.09 and 69.03 wt%, respectively. Metagenomic analysis of the microbial population associated with the LRC substrate showed that among the 96.32% of bacteria, 59.46 to 62.18% belonged to Bacillota (also called Firmicutes), a phylum of largely Gram-positive bacteria, and 33.01 to 35.74% to Pseudomonadota (synonymous with Proteobacteria), a phylum of mostly Gram-negative bacteria. Following purification of the selected bacterial isolates and molecular characterisation by PCR, phylogenetic relatedness to known plant growth-promoting bacteria (PGPB) contained in the GenBank database showed that these bacterial isolates clustered with high bootstrap values to the reference PGPB strains. Only Pseudomonas sp. ECCN 10b (MW672582) was outside of the tree and shared significant similarity (100%) with Pseudomonas fluorescens (CP015638). A biochemical study revealed that the two Proteus sp. strains, Exiguobacterium sp., Enterobacter sp., and Ancylobacter, tolerated high salt and a wide range of temperatures. Bacterial isolates showed a high pH tolerance between 3 and 11, with the best growth at pH around 7. Nine of the identified strains, four Bacillus sp., Exiguobacterium sp., Enterobacter sp., Pseudomonas sp., Arthrobacter sp., and Aeromonas sp., were able to grow and increase in a medium containing either glucose, mannitol, sodium L-glutamate, sucrose, or fructose. Growth was highest in media containing either sodium L-glutamate, sucrose, or fructose. All the coal degrading strains and 83% of those isolated from municipal wastewater used more complex carbon sources such as high and LRC. The potential for PGP activity was quantified spectrophotometrically by measuring the production of auxins, as indole-3-acetic acid (IAA) equivalents; gibberellins, as gibberellic acid (GA3) equivalents, along with 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylic acid (ACC) deaminase and siderophore activity. Additionally, nutrient mobilisation was evaluated by monitoring an ability to mineralise NH4+, PO43−, and K+. Competent PGP strains for the coal degrading isolates included Proteus strain ECCN 20b, Proteus strain ECCN 23b, and Serratia strain ECCN 24b. In response to L-trp supplementation, the concentration of indolic compounds (measured as indole-3-acetic acid) increased. Production of ammonium and solubilisation of insoluble P by these strains was also apparent. Only Serratia strain ECCN 24b could solubilise insoluble K. Production of indoles increased following exposure to increasing aliquots of LRC, suggesting no negative effect of this material on indole production and that these bacteria may possess PGP potential. Of the twelve bacterial strains isolated from wastewater MaB-flocs, three produced indoles, nine mineralised NH4+, seven solubilised P, and one K. Potential of isolated strains for PGP activity according to a one-way ANOVA on ranks was: ECCN 7b > ECCN 4b > ECCN 6b > ECCN 3b = ECCN 10b > ECCN 1b = ECCN 5b > ECCN 8b > ECCN 2b > ECCN 12b > ECCN 9b = ECCN 11b. Further study revealed that cell-free filtrate from indole-producing cultures of Aeromonas strain ECCN 4b, Enterobacter strain ECCN 7b, and Arthrobacter strain ECCN 6b promoted mung bean adventitious root formation. Based on a biochemical study and the outcome of the ranking of bacterial strains according to PGP-like activities, three bacteria, Enterobacter sp., strain ECCN 7b, Proteus sp., strain ECCN 20b and Serratia sp., strain ECCN 24b that showed great mutualistic relationship with the most effective Fungcoal biocatalyst, A. fischeri ECCN 84, were used to prepare a bacterial bio-fertiliser. This consortium grew well in NB supplemented with L-tryptophan and produced indole compounds that could activate the adventitious rooting of mung bean (Vigna radiata L.) hypocotyls. Finally, the consortium showed no antibiotic resistance activity; however, they produced better biofertiliser with good responses to root/plant biomass production of the same Fabaceae, mung bean (Vigna radiata L.). The further development of this consortium into a cost-effective, environmentally friendly biofertiliser may help reduce dependence on chemical-based fertilisers and improve the sustainability of Fungcoal and other land rehabilitation strategies. Further studies are therefore underway to investigate in greater detail the PGP activity of these isolates individually and in consortium under field conditions to support the Fungcoal myco-phytoremediation strategy. , Thesis (PhD) -- Faculty of Science, Institute for Environmental Biotechnology, 2024
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2024-10-11
Towards a valid Afrikaans-translation of the CASr-SF: a linguistic and cultural transfer
- Authors: Steyn, Constanze
- Date: 2024-10-11
- Subjects: Uncatalogued
- Language: English
- Type: Academic theses , Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/465854 , vital:76659
- Description: Globally, and especially in South Africa, we face the reality of linguistic and cultural variation within one nation. Our nation is intricately woven from rich cultural and linguistic threads to create a complex tapestry. It is a beautiful privilege that is, however, not without its obstacles. We often do not have access to psychometric tools that “speak” the language of the respondent that we intend to assess. It is, and should, however, be, our goal to adapt and translate assessments to allow individuals to convey their experience in their language of comfort. This is crucial for psychological assessments' fairness, reliability, validity, and utility. Intimate partner violence (IPV) severely impacts mental health worldwide. An alarming correlation has been found between exposure to IPV and the development of mental health difficulties. In South Africa, IPV is considered a significant public health issue. Even though South Africa has a population of approximately 60,9 million, of whom an estimated 10.6% are Afrikaans-speaking, there is currently no measure exploring the experiences of IPV available in Afrikaans. Having psychological assessments available in Afrikaans is essential in evaluating the psychological experiences of people seeking mental health services in Afrikaans. The Composite Abuse Scale (Revised) – Short Form (CASr-SF) is a self-report questionnaire that measures experiences of IPV across three domains: physical, psychological, and sexual abuse. This study aimed to develop a meaningful and relevant Afrikaans translation of the CASr-SF to improve the linguistic accessibility of the measure and afford more ease to Afrikaans-speaking individuals in sharing experiences of abuse. This study followed a four-step translation design, including forward- and backtranslation, a committee approach, and qualitative piloting through cognitive interviews. Participants in this study included four independent translators who were approached by the researcher directly, according to their respective areas of expertise – linguistics and psychology. In addition, three participants were sourced from the target population through snowball sampling to partake in cognitive interviews as a confirmatory step and to potentially substantiate, expand on, and review results gathered during the first three steps of the translation design. The researcher ii compared, collated, and analysed the data to identify problematic items. The translation team then discussed these items to refine the translation, and items were corrected to develop the final translation of the Composite Abuse Scale (Revised) – Short Form in Afrikaans. The translation is now ready for quantitative piloting, which is currently underway to establish its psychometric properties. , Thesis (MA) -- Faculty of Humanities, Psychology, 2024
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2024-10-11
- Authors: Steyn, Constanze
- Date: 2024-10-11
- Subjects: Uncatalogued
- Language: English
- Type: Academic theses , Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/465854 , vital:76659
- Description: Globally, and especially in South Africa, we face the reality of linguistic and cultural variation within one nation. Our nation is intricately woven from rich cultural and linguistic threads to create a complex tapestry. It is a beautiful privilege that is, however, not without its obstacles. We often do not have access to psychometric tools that “speak” the language of the respondent that we intend to assess. It is, and should, however, be, our goal to adapt and translate assessments to allow individuals to convey their experience in their language of comfort. This is crucial for psychological assessments' fairness, reliability, validity, and utility. Intimate partner violence (IPV) severely impacts mental health worldwide. An alarming correlation has been found between exposure to IPV and the development of mental health difficulties. In South Africa, IPV is considered a significant public health issue. Even though South Africa has a population of approximately 60,9 million, of whom an estimated 10.6% are Afrikaans-speaking, there is currently no measure exploring the experiences of IPV available in Afrikaans. Having psychological assessments available in Afrikaans is essential in evaluating the psychological experiences of people seeking mental health services in Afrikaans. The Composite Abuse Scale (Revised) – Short Form (CASr-SF) is a self-report questionnaire that measures experiences of IPV across three domains: physical, psychological, and sexual abuse. This study aimed to develop a meaningful and relevant Afrikaans translation of the CASr-SF to improve the linguistic accessibility of the measure and afford more ease to Afrikaans-speaking individuals in sharing experiences of abuse. This study followed a four-step translation design, including forward- and backtranslation, a committee approach, and qualitative piloting through cognitive interviews. Participants in this study included four independent translators who were approached by the researcher directly, according to their respective areas of expertise – linguistics and psychology. In addition, three participants were sourced from the target population through snowball sampling to partake in cognitive interviews as a confirmatory step and to potentially substantiate, expand on, and review results gathered during the first three steps of the translation design. The researcher ii compared, collated, and analysed the data to identify problematic items. The translation team then discussed these items to refine the translation, and items were corrected to develop the final translation of the Composite Abuse Scale (Revised) – Short Form in Afrikaans. The translation is now ready for quantitative piloting, which is currently underway to establish its psychometric properties. , Thesis (MA) -- Faculty of Humanities, Psychology, 2024
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2024-10-11
Trainee psychologists’ experiences of providing psychosocial support to educators during COVID-19 in South Africa
- Authors: Simonse, Allison
- Date: 2024-10-11
- Subjects: Uncatalogued
- Language: English
- Type: Academic theses , Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/465831 , vital:76657
- Description: The COVID-19 pandemic adversely affected the school going population in South Africa and Educators in the country were faced with several mental health challenges as a result. These mental health concerns coupled with the reality of living within the confines of a pandemic resulted in the need for psychosocial support. This resulted in formulation of workshops based on the needs of Educators, to be delivered via online means by Rhodes University postgraduate students in 2020 studying towards their Masters in Counselling Psychology. This study makes use of a case study approach to explore and examine the experiences of three of these students, so as to ascertain the implications of working online with groups amidst pandemic conditions. It explores how professional practice and the deployment of Community Psychologies have taken place during this period. Experiences encompassing the personal and professional development that occurred as part of engaging with Community-Based Service Learning during COVID–19 have been collected through the Single Question Inducing Narrative methodology, so as to enable the postgraduate student voice in the context of pandemic conditions to be added to the available literature, in an effort to position the application of Community Psychology critically within the South African context. It is hoped that the data generated from this study might assist in future programme planning and intervention, so as to encourage training standards to remain responsive to the times, whilst seeking insight into how value-laden praxis can be achieved through work at the intersections between theory and practice. , Thesis (MA) -- Faculty of Humanities, Psychology, 2024
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2024-10-11
- Authors: Simonse, Allison
- Date: 2024-10-11
- Subjects: Uncatalogued
- Language: English
- Type: Academic theses , Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/465831 , vital:76657
- Description: The COVID-19 pandemic adversely affected the school going population in South Africa and Educators in the country were faced with several mental health challenges as a result. These mental health concerns coupled with the reality of living within the confines of a pandemic resulted in the need for psychosocial support. This resulted in formulation of workshops based on the needs of Educators, to be delivered via online means by Rhodes University postgraduate students in 2020 studying towards their Masters in Counselling Psychology. This study makes use of a case study approach to explore and examine the experiences of three of these students, so as to ascertain the implications of working online with groups amidst pandemic conditions. It explores how professional practice and the deployment of Community Psychologies have taken place during this period. Experiences encompassing the personal and professional development that occurred as part of engaging with Community-Based Service Learning during COVID–19 have been collected through the Single Question Inducing Narrative methodology, so as to enable the postgraduate student voice in the context of pandemic conditions to be added to the available literature, in an effort to position the application of Community Psychology critically within the South African context. It is hoped that the data generated from this study might assist in future programme planning and intervention, so as to encourage training standards to remain responsive to the times, whilst seeking insight into how value-laden praxis can be achieved through work at the intersections between theory and practice. , Thesis (MA) -- Faculty of Humanities, Psychology, 2024
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2024-10-11
Ubomi ngamahla ndinyuka
- Authors: Snam-Dyani, Linda
- Date: 2024-10-11
- Subjects: Uncatalogued
- Language: Xhosa
- Type: Academic theses , Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/465945 , vital:76670
- Description: Le thesisi yingqokelela yamabalana esiXhosa abalisa ngemeko yentlalo kwidolophana yaseMakhanda, eGqeberha nezinye iilali needolophana eziyingqongileyo. Ulwimi olusetyenziswayo lolwangoku noluthi luchaze iimeko zokuphila zangoku, luxuba namagama esiNgesi, lusongeza noburharha. Obu buncwane bolwimi buvela cacileyo kwindlela endibhale ngayo la mabalana - kwindlela abalinganiswa abalusebenzisa ngayo ulwimi kwiintetho neencoko zabo, kwimiba yobomi abajongene nayo, nakwindlela endithe ndazoba iingcinga ezidiza imivandedwa yabo, ngohlobo abakhetha ukuphila ubomi babo. Kuba incwadi yeBhayibhile inamabali athetha cacileyo ngexesha langoku, ekhuthaza inkululeko yomntu nangona yabhalwa kwiminyaka yakudala, le ngqokelela ikwajolisa kwinguqu ekhululayo eza kuncedisana nokujika kweelensi ezijongwa ngayo iBhayibhile. La mabali abonakalisa kwanendima edlalwa yiBhayibhile ekuphileni komntu ukunika ithemba kwimeko ezininzi zokuphila. Uncwadi olube nefuthe kum kuyilo lwale ngqokelela nasekusebenziseni kwam isandla sokubhala lolu: izicatshulwa eziphuma kwincwadi ebhalwe nguMxolisi Nyezwa ethi, ‘Bhlawa’s Inconsolable Spirits.’ Incwadi kaLukhanye E. Makhenyane ethi, ‘Kukhulu ukuthembeka kwakhe’, ‘Intsimbi’, ebhalwe nguP. T. Mtuze, ‘Umnxeba Wobomi’ ngokubhalwe ngu S.S.M. Mema kwanencwadi yeBhayibhile. , Thesis (MA) -- Faculty of Humanities, Languages and Literatures, 2024
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2024-10-11
- Authors: Snam-Dyani, Linda
- Date: 2024-10-11
- Subjects: Uncatalogued
- Language: Xhosa
- Type: Academic theses , Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/465945 , vital:76670
- Description: Le thesisi yingqokelela yamabalana esiXhosa abalisa ngemeko yentlalo kwidolophana yaseMakhanda, eGqeberha nezinye iilali needolophana eziyingqongileyo. Ulwimi olusetyenziswayo lolwangoku noluthi luchaze iimeko zokuphila zangoku, luxuba namagama esiNgesi, lusongeza noburharha. Obu buncwane bolwimi buvela cacileyo kwindlela endibhale ngayo la mabalana - kwindlela abalinganiswa abalusebenzisa ngayo ulwimi kwiintetho neencoko zabo, kwimiba yobomi abajongene nayo, nakwindlela endithe ndazoba iingcinga ezidiza imivandedwa yabo, ngohlobo abakhetha ukuphila ubomi babo. Kuba incwadi yeBhayibhile inamabali athetha cacileyo ngexesha langoku, ekhuthaza inkululeko yomntu nangona yabhalwa kwiminyaka yakudala, le ngqokelela ikwajolisa kwinguqu ekhululayo eza kuncedisana nokujika kweelensi ezijongwa ngayo iBhayibhile. La mabali abonakalisa kwanendima edlalwa yiBhayibhile ekuphileni komntu ukunika ithemba kwimeko ezininzi zokuphila. Uncwadi olube nefuthe kum kuyilo lwale ngqokelela nasekusebenziseni kwam isandla sokubhala lolu: izicatshulwa eziphuma kwincwadi ebhalwe nguMxolisi Nyezwa ethi, ‘Bhlawa’s Inconsolable Spirits.’ Incwadi kaLukhanye E. Makhenyane ethi, ‘Kukhulu ukuthembeka kwakhe’, ‘Intsimbi’, ebhalwe nguP. T. Mtuze, ‘Umnxeba Wobomi’ ngokubhalwe ngu S.S.M. Mema kwanencwadi yeBhayibhile. , Thesis (MA) -- Faculty of Humanities, Languages and Literatures, 2024
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2024-10-11
Ukuma njenge ndoda: the making of Xhosa masculinities in Mthatha, Eastern Cape
- Authors: Silosini, Tandokazi
- Date: 2024-10-11
- Subjects: Uncatalogued
- Language: English
- Type: Academic theses , Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/466317 , vital:76717
- Description: This study examines how young men construct their masculine identities in daily life through the collection of activities that happen throughout young men's lives in Mthatha, Eastern Cape. The aim of the research is to examine how black men construct their identity as men. It seeks to examine the everyday ways in which young men speak of their masculinity, how they understand themselves in relation to women and the causes of gender-based and sexual violence in South Africa. The study conceptualises Xhosa masculinities and manhood within the framework of masculinist violence and the state. It demonstrates the intersection of manhood violence and the state within the discipline of international relations which is characterised by ideas of state security and war. Interviews with Xhosa men in Mthatha illuminated that boys are raised to be men who stand, articulated as ukuma njenge ndoda (standing up as a man), for themselves, family and community. Ukuma operates as an assertion and protection of self, a demonstration of independence and being self-sustaining. It importantly speaks to the gendered division of labour where over and above standing up for oneself, it is a man’s duty and responsibility “ukumela izinto zekhaya” – to stand up for his home and family. This thesis shows that the different forms that ukuma carry with them expectations of dominance and control or at least maintain the appearance of it. Ultimately, the concept of ukuma serves as a way to legitimise the use of force or violence in certain instances where men feel that an act of violence constitutes ukuzimela (standing up for himself) or ukumela ikhaya (standing up for his family). The masculinising of this duty implicates not only the men it is bestowed upon the women and children who are the ones supposedly protected and provided for. , Thesis (MSocSci) -- Faculty of Humanities, Political and International Studies, 2024
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2024-10-11
- Authors: Silosini, Tandokazi
- Date: 2024-10-11
- Subjects: Uncatalogued
- Language: English
- Type: Academic theses , Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/466317 , vital:76717
- Description: This study examines how young men construct their masculine identities in daily life through the collection of activities that happen throughout young men's lives in Mthatha, Eastern Cape. The aim of the research is to examine how black men construct their identity as men. It seeks to examine the everyday ways in which young men speak of their masculinity, how they understand themselves in relation to women and the causes of gender-based and sexual violence in South Africa. The study conceptualises Xhosa masculinities and manhood within the framework of masculinist violence and the state. It demonstrates the intersection of manhood violence and the state within the discipline of international relations which is characterised by ideas of state security and war. Interviews with Xhosa men in Mthatha illuminated that boys are raised to be men who stand, articulated as ukuma njenge ndoda (standing up as a man), for themselves, family and community. Ukuma operates as an assertion and protection of self, a demonstration of independence and being self-sustaining. It importantly speaks to the gendered division of labour where over and above standing up for oneself, it is a man’s duty and responsibility “ukumela izinto zekhaya” – to stand up for his home and family. This thesis shows that the different forms that ukuma carry with them expectations of dominance and control or at least maintain the appearance of it. Ultimately, the concept of ukuma serves as a way to legitimise the use of force or violence in certain instances where men feel that an act of violence constitutes ukuzimela (standing up for himself) or ukumela ikhaya (standing up for his family). The masculinising of this duty implicates not only the men it is bestowed upon the women and children who are the ones supposedly protected and provided for. , Thesis (MSocSci) -- Faculty of Humanities, Political and International Studies, 2024
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2024-10-11
Understanding heat energy conservation: using traditional brick making in a Grade 7 Natural Sciences class in a rural school
- Authors: Godlo, Lindiwe Priscilla
- Date: 2024-10-11
- Subjects: Science Study and teaching (Primary) South Africa , Traditional ecological knowledge South Africa , Social learning South Africa , Ubuntu (Philosophy) , Heat storage , Brickmaking South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Academic theses , Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/463559 , vital:76420
- Description: Learners seemed to experience cognitive dissonance on the topic of the conservation of heat energy. My assumption is that this might be due to cognitive dissonance or conflict that learners seem to experience in science classrooms. This means the way science teachers teach science does not form part of learners’ contexts and hence has no relevance to them. To ameliorate this dilemma, the South African Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement (CAPS) document requires teachers to integrate indigenous knowledge into science teaching and learning but does not provide explicit methods on how to do it. It is against this backdrop that this study explored how the use of traditional brick making method can support learners to make sense of the topic of conservation of heat energy. Underpinned by the interpretivist and Indigenous research paradigms, a qualitative case study design was employed. Twenty-four Grade 7 Natural Sciences learners, four indigenous knowledge custodians (IKCs) (who were all women), and a critical friend participated in this study. Data sets were generated through several methods: learner group activity; participatory and lesson observations; a sharing circle; and learners’ reflective journals. Vygotsky’s Sociocultural Theory and Ogunniyi’s Contiguity Argumentative Theory were used as theoretical lenses to analyse data. The findings revealed that during the demonstration by the IKCs, learners were able to identify science concepts related to the conservation of heat energy which means they understood the science concept. Learners’ argumentation and sense-making of the aforementioned topic and related concepts greatly improved. Based on the research findings, I thus recommend that teachers should tap into IKCs’ cultural heritage to contextualise and make science relevant and more meaningful to learners. , Thesis (MEd) -- Faculty of Education, Secondary and Post-School Education, 2024
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2024-10-11
- Authors: Godlo, Lindiwe Priscilla
- Date: 2024-10-11
- Subjects: Science Study and teaching (Primary) South Africa , Traditional ecological knowledge South Africa , Social learning South Africa , Ubuntu (Philosophy) , Heat storage , Brickmaking South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Academic theses , Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/463559 , vital:76420
- Description: Learners seemed to experience cognitive dissonance on the topic of the conservation of heat energy. My assumption is that this might be due to cognitive dissonance or conflict that learners seem to experience in science classrooms. This means the way science teachers teach science does not form part of learners’ contexts and hence has no relevance to them. To ameliorate this dilemma, the South African Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement (CAPS) document requires teachers to integrate indigenous knowledge into science teaching and learning but does not provide explicit methods on how to do it. It is against this backdrop that this study explored how the use of traditional brick making method can support learners to make sense of the topic of conservation of heat energy. Underpinned by the interpretivist and Indigenous research paradigms, a qualitative case study design was employed. Twenty-four Grade 7 Natural Sciences learners, four indigenous knowledge custodians (IKCs) (who were all women), and a critical friend participated in this study. Data sets were generated through several methods: learner group activity; participatory and lesson observations; a sharing circle; and learners’ reflective journals. Vygotsky’s Sociocultural Theory and Ogunniyi’s Contiguity Argumentative Theory were used as theoretical lenses to analyse data. The findings revealed that during the demonstration by the IKCs, learners were able to identify science concepts related to the conservation of heat energy which means they understood the science concept. Learners’ argumentation and sense-making of the aforementioned topic and related concepts greatly improved. Based on the research findings, I thus recommend that teachers should tap into IKCs’ cultural heritage to contextualise and make science relevant and more meaningful to learners. , Thesis (MEd) -- Faculty of Education, Secondary and Post-School Education, 2024
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2024-10-11
Using in silico approaches to ascertain selective novel orthosteric and allosteric inhibitors of plasmodium falciparum Prolyl-tRNA synthetase for the development of antimalarial drugs
- Authors: Ramahala, Rabelani
- Date: 2024-10-11
- Subjects: Uncatalogued
- Language: English
- Type: Academic theses , Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/463963 , vital:76461
- Description: Access restricted. Exxpected release in 2026. , Thesis (MSc) -- Faculty of Science, Biochemistry, Microbiology & Bioinformatics, 2024
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2024-10-11
- Authors: Ramahala, Rabelani
- Date: 2024-10-11
- Subjects: Uncatalogued
- Language: English
- Type: Academic theses , Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/463963 , vital:76461
- Description: Access restricted. Exxpected release in 2026. , Thesis (MSc) -- Faculty of Science, Biochemistry, Microbiology & Bioinformatics, 2024
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2024-10-11
Using the indigenous technology of organic crop farming to mediate learning in Grade 12 Agricultural Science classes
- Authors: Sheehama, Lydia Ndapandula
- Date: 2024-10-11
- Subjects: Uncatalogued
- Language: English
- Type: Academic theses , Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/463614 , vital:76425
- Description: The Namibian Curriculum for Basic Education states clearly that Indigenous Knowledge (IK) should be integrated into science teaching. However, the irony is that it does not give clear pedagogical guidelines on how it should be integrated. The implication is that the curriculum assumes that all teachers are aware of how to integrate IK into their teaching. This assumption has therefore led to little or no integration of IK in many classrooms in Namibia, something which could be in part a contributing factor to poor learners’ academic performance in science subjects and Agricultural Science in particular. This tension in the curriculum plus the apparent gap in the literature regarding the integration of IK has triggered my interest to conduct this interventionist qualitative case study. Essentially, this study aimed to explore affordances and/or hindrances when using the indigenous technology of organic crop farming to mediate learning in Grade 12 Agricultural Science classes in peri-urban schools in the Oshana region in Namibia. The study was underpinned by the interpretivist and Ubuntu paradigms. Vygotsky’s (1978) socio-cultural theory and Shulman’s (1986) pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) framework were used as lenses to analyse my data. Within PCK, I also used Mavhunga and Rollnick’s (2013) Topic-Specific PCK as an analytical framework. The findings of the study revealed that the integration of Indigenous knowledge in Agricultural Science education has great potential in improving both the teaching and learnng of science. It also revealed that the Agricultural Science teachers were positive towards the integration of IK in their lessons. However, they conceded that they lacked pedagogical insights on how to integrate IK as they were never trained on how to integrate it. As a result, they found the presentations by the Indigenous Knowledge Custodians (IKCs) informative and shed light on how they could integrate IK during teaching and learning. That is, they became cultural knowledge brokers making science relevant and accessible to their learners. The study thus recommends that teacher training institutions should modify the curriculum to include a pedagogy course module on IK to equip students with the essential PCK on IK integration in science teaching. , Thesis (MEd) -- Faculty of Education, Secondary and Post-School Education, 2024
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2024-10-11
- Authors: Sheehama, Lydia Ndapandula
- Date: 2024-10-11
- Subjects: Uncatalogued
- Language: English
- Type: Academic theses , Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/463614 , vital:76425
- Description: The Namibian Curriculum for Basic Education states clearly that Indigenous Knowledge (IK) should be integrated into science teaching. However, the irony is that it does not give clear pedagogical guidelines on how it should be integrated. The implication is that the curriculum assumes that all teachers are aware of how to integrate IK into their teaching. This assumption has therefore led to little or no integration of IK in many classrooms in Namibia, something which could be in part a contributing factor to poor learners’ academic performance in science subjects and Agricultural Science in particular. This tension in the curriculum plus the apparent gap in the literature regarding the integration of IK has triggered my interest to conduct this interventionist qualitative case study. Essentially, this study aimed to explore affordances and/or hindrances when using the indigenous technology of organic crop farming to mediate learning in Grade 12 Agricultural Science classes in peri-urban schools in the Oshana region in Namibia. The study was underpinned by the interpretivist and Ubuntu paradigms. Vygotsky’s (1978) socio-cultural theory and Shulman’s (1986) pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) framework were used as lenses to analyse my data. Within PCK, I also used Mavhunga and Rollnick’s (2013) Topic-Specific PCK as an analytical framework. The findings of the study revealed that the integration of Indigenous knowledge in Agricultural Science education has great potential in improving both the teaching and learnng of science. It also revealed that the Agricultural Science teachers were positive towards the integration of IK in their lessons. However, they conceded that they lacked pedagogical insights on how to integrate IK as they were never trained on how to integrate it. As a result, they found the presentations by the Indigenous Knowledge Custodians (IKCs) informative and shed light on how they could integrate IK during teaching and learning. That is, they became cultural knowledge brokers making science relevant and accessible to their learners. The study thus recommends that teacher training institutions should modify the curriculum to include a pedagogy course module on IK to equip students with the essential PCK on IK integration in science teaching. , Thesis (MEd) -- Faculty of Education, Secondary and Post-School Education, 2024
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2024-10-11
What is remembered & what is forgotten: shipwrecks and social memory on South Africa’s Sunshine Coast
- Authors: Dickson-Bow, Emma Jane
- Date: 2024-10-11
- Subjects: Collective memory , Memorialization , Shipwrecks , Maritime heritage , Settler colonialism
- Language: English
- Type: Academic theses , Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/465876 , vital:76664
- Description: Maritime heritage and its representation in South Africa, has been shaped by a settler colonial community heritage consciousness emphasising a heroic moral discourse legitimising local presence by settler communities. While much has been done to decolonise the representation of South African maritime heritage, at the local level small scale memorialisation continues to valorise maritime narratives that highlight the heroic aspects of historical settler colonial society, effectively concealing more fulsome of historical maritime events. Shipwrecks can function as potent tangible and intangible symbols of historical events, articulating a variety of perspectives on what constitutes social memory and history. This thesis examines the extension of public knowledge and representation of shipwreck maritime heritage on the Eastern Cape’s coastal belt, known in tourist branding vernacular as the ‘Sunshine Coast’ (East London to Port Elizabeth). The case study of ‘The Volo’, a Norwegian barge wrecked near present day Kenton-on-Sea and Bushman’s River Mouth (Boesmansriviermond) demonstrates how shipwreck narratives presented at the local public level can articulate a settler colonial community heritage consciousness that erases wider accounts of such stories. The reinterpretation and decentring of settler colonial maritime heritage stories allows for a more diverse and inclusive narrative that has the potential to promote social cohesion and social justice within restorative history work. , Thesis (MA) -- Faculty of Humanities, Anthropology, 2024
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2024-10-11
- Authors: Dickson-Bow, Emma Jane
- Date: 2024-10-11
- Subjects: Collective memory , Memorialization , Shipwrecks , Maritime heritage , Settler colonialism
- Language: English
- Type: Academic theses , Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/465876 , vital:76664
- Description: Maritime heritage and its representation in South Africa, has been shaped by a settler colonial community heritage consciousness emphasising a heroic moral discourse legitimising local presence by settler communities. While much has been done to decolonise the representation of South African maritime heritage, at the local level small scale memorialisation continues to valorise maritime narratives that highlight the heroic aspects of historical settler colonial society, effectively concealing more fulsome of historical maritime events. Shipwrecks can function as potent tangible and intangible symbols of historical events, articulating a variety of perspectives on what constitutes social memory and history. This thesis examines the extension of public knowledge and representation of shipwreck maritime heritage on the Eastern Cape’s coastal belt, known in tourist branding vernacular as the ‘Sunshine Coast’ (East London to Port Elizabeth). The case study of ‘The Volo’, a Norwegian barge wrecked near present day Kenton-on-Sea and Bushman’s River Mouth (Boesmansriviermond) demonstrates how shipwreck narratives presented at the local public level can articulate a settler colonial community heritage consciousness that erases wider accounts of such stories. The reinterpretation and decentring of settler colonial maritime heritage stories allows for a more diverse and inclusive narrative that has the potential to promote social cohesion and social justice within restorative history work. , Thesis (MA) -- Faculty of Humanities, Anthropology, 2024
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2024-10-11
“But we are shying all of us away, from that thing”: the Coronavirus Pandemic and the crisis of teenage pregnancies in Kenya
- Authors: Kipury, Siraiyion Soinda
- Date: 2024-10-11
- Subjects: Uncatalogued
- Language: English
- Type: Academic theses , Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/465989 , vital:76674
- Description: This thesis historicises the post-colonial discourse on teenage pregnancy in Kenya. The coronavirus pandemic lockdowns in 2020 led to an increase in sexual violence perpetrated largely against teenage girls, resulting in pregnancy. This crisis revealed that the current discourse has created silence around sex and rape. It therefore does not consider the circumstances surrounding the pregnancies of teenage girls and for that reason perpetuates stereotypes of them being poor, irresponsible, dropouts. It finds that these ideas materialise in the form of adolescent sexual and reproductive health legislation which has real effects on pregnant teenage girls. Through a lack of law and policy enforcement, the discourse legitimises itself in a cyclic fashion. It argues that understanding the way the discourse has perpetuated itself from the past into the present is key to transforming this legislation and therefore their experiences. It uses an Oral History methodology to centre the perspectives of women who had teenage pregnancies in the past, and uses their stories to develop an understanding of how the discourse functions. It identifies news media and legislation as two major sites of discourse, carrying out an analysis of the language and content exhibited to observe the way cultural stereotypes around teenage pregnancy are preserved and re-created. It draws parallels between past and present sexual and reproductive health laws (1963-2020) to demonstrate the longevity of gendered and misogynistic ideologies surrounding women’s sexuality. It finds that language, blame/shame, and exclusion are the means through which the discourse has impressed itself upon Kenyan society throughout the post-colonial period. This thesis concludes that becoming aware of these means renders the discourse abnormal and unnatural, therefore creating the possibility of opening it up to change. , Thesis (MA) -- Faculty of Humanities, History, 2024
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2024-10-11
- Authors: Kipury, Siraiyion Soinda
- Date: 2024-10-11
- Subjects: Uncatalogued
- Language: English
- Type: Academic theses , Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/465989 , vital:76674
- Description: This thesis historicises the post-colonial discourse on teenage pregnancy in Kenya. The coronavirus pandemic lockdowns in 2020 led to an increase in sexual violence perpetrated largely against teenage girls, resulting in pregnancy. This crisis revealed that the current discourse has created silence around sex and rape. It therefore does not consider the circumstances surrounding the pregnancies of teenage girls and for that reason perpetuates stereotypes of them being poor, irresponsible, dropouts. It finds that these ideas materialise in the form of adolescent sexual and reproductive health legislation which has real effects on pregnant teenage girls. Through a lack of law and policy enforcement, the discourse legitimises itself in a cyclic fashion. It argues that understanding the way the discourse has perpetuated itself from the past into the present is key to transforming this legislation and therefore their experiences. It uses an Oral History methodology to centre the perspectives of women who had teenage pregnancies in the past, and uses their stories to develop an understanding of how the discourse functions. It identifies news media and legislation as two major sites of discourse, carrying out an analysis of the language and content exhibited to observe the way cultural stereotypes around teenage pregnancy are preserved and re-created. It draws parallels between past and present sexual and reproductive health laws (1963-2020) to demonstrate the longevity of gendered and misogynistic ideologies surrounding women’s sexuality. It finds that language, blame/shame, and exclusion are the means through which the discourse has impressed itself upon Kenyan society throughout the post-colonial period. This thesis concludes that becoming aware of these means renders the discourse abnormal and unnatural, therefore creating the possibility of opening it up to change. , Thesis (MA) -- Faculty of Humanities, History, 2024
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2024-10-11
“I pulled it out”: a discursive exploration of narrated accounts on decision-making and power differentials in the prescription and use of long-acting reversible contraceptives
- Authors: Ndabula, Yanela
- Date: 2024-10-11
- Subjects: Contraception Social aspects South Africa , Decision making , Long-acting reversible contraception , Reproductive rights South Africa , Control (Psychology) , Feminism
- Language: English
- Type: Academic theses , Doctoral theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/467017 , vital:76807 , DOI https://doi.org/10.21504/10962/467017
- Description: Long-Acting Reversible Contraception (LARC), viz., intrauterine devices, subdermal implants, and injectable contraceptives, are highly effective, long-term birth control methods that limit user action. Alongside the decrease in fertility rates achieved through their mass provision has been their coerced or non-consented administration to marginalised women. These highly effective yet provider-controlled and thus imposable contraceptives have been associated with problematic classed, raced, ageist, and ableist promotions. A critical lens that inquires into their endorsement within clinical practice is thus necessary. The bulk of literature evidencing reproductive injustices in relation to fertility control through LARC technologies emanates from the US and UK contexts. Not much research on the South African context has explored how contraceptive decision-making within clinical interactions shapes LARC uptake despite usage increasing through the years. Using a poststructural, postcolonial feminist framework alongside a reproductive justice stance, this study explores health providers’ and contraceptive users’ narrations of the prescription and usage of LARC technologies alongside how such talk emplots women who use, continue, or discontinue using these contraceptive technologies. In addition, the power relations (re)produced in the participants’ talk that maintain or constrain coloniality and reproductive justice with implications for certain people’s reproductive choices/rights were explored. To do so, I used data from 72 semi-structured interviews with contraceptive users (51) and healthcare providers (21). A combination of stratified purposive, convenient, and snowball sampling was used to sample the providers and users of LARC recruited within a city, town, and village. To elicit stories about healthcare providers’ and LARC users’ narrative emplotments in the prescription and usage decisions about LARC, semi-structured interviewing was used. The questions asked were open-ended and loosely structured around LARC technologies, the decisions that cohere around them, and the makers of those decisions. In analysing the data, I fused Parker's (1992) criteria for locating discourses with Barker’s (2017) method for determining the potential for emplotment into narratives. Findings suggest that participants framed contraceptive usage as either a personal, imposed, or shared decision. In personal decisions, the feminisation of contraceptive use emerged, with study, work, and relationship stability statuses requiring participants to solely and prudently self-discipline towards contraceptive uptake so as to match usage with reproduction desire. When decisions were imposed (subtly or openly), a passive role was assumed as female guardians (mothers, grandmothers, or aunts) recommended, pushed, and coerced health users (particularly young women) towards uptake. While the contraceptive users themselves were placed on the margins in decision-making, resisting the imposed decisions was difficult since participants’ “risk” of pregnancy was reportedly foregrounded. Shared decisions pointed to less one-sided accounts of decision-making. These decisions were enacted in relationships and were neither siloed nor imposed. Here, sexual partners, parents, or healthcare providers dialogically negotiated contraceptive uptake, and the possibilities for non-use were availed. Data from healthcare providers showed that non-use for young and postpartum women was not an option. In addition, healthcare providers either formed alliances with the LARC users themselves or concerned parents to support or push for contraceptive provision. Supportive alliances enabled secret uptake or ongoing contraceptive usage among some contraceptive users, thus resisting pronatalism or one-sided intentions for childbearing within intimate partnerships. These healthcare providers emplotted themselves as empowering contraceptive users. Alliances that pushed for contraceptive uptake were formed with guardians/parents upon menarche or in case the of rape. In overriding consent within these alliances, healthcare providers avoided being rendered responsible or blameworthy for early pregnancies in the face of the constructed risk used to emplot young women. This over-commitment to providing contraceptives has differing implications for women’s sexual agency and sexual health interventions. The data also describe decisions to use contraception as expert-led, patient-led, or collaborative decisions between health users and healthcare providers. Through the information and decision-making was expert-led micro-narrative, a medical discourse constituting use as a necessity and non-use as a risk emerged. A patient autonomy and a my body, my choice discourse informed the information and decision-making was patient-led micro-narrative; here, healthcare providers were either detached or excluded from decision-making as health users assumed more active roles in their own contraceptive care decisions. In collaborative decisions, both parties negotiated (non)use, with LARC users providing their embodied experiences and healthcare providers availing medical knowledge in reaching decisions. The study argues for a reproductive justice framework to underpin the signifier “fertility control”, showing how the threat of degeneration informs responses to reproduction by iii identifying and amplifying deficiency and negative outcomes while masking positive outcomes among certain women. It then creates a fertile ground for the re-engineering and recentring of colonialist thinking and its product, the restraining of the agency of fertile beings it renders “less developed”. , Thesis (PhD) -- Faculty of Humanities, Psychology, 2024
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2024-10-11
- Authors: Ndabula, Yanela
- Date: 2024-10-11
- Subjects: Contraception Social aspects South Africa , Decision making , Long-acting reversible contraception , Reproductive rights South Africa , Control (Psychology) , Feminism
- Language: English
- Type: Academic theses , Doctoral theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/467017 , vital:76807 , DOI https://doi.org/10.21504/10962/467017
- Description: Long-Acting Reversible Contraception (LARC), viz., intrauterine devices, subdermal implants, and injectable contraceptives, are highly effective, long-term birth control methods that limit user action. Alongside the decrease in fertility rates achieved through their mass provision has been their coerced or non-consented administration to marginalised women. These highly effective yet provider-controlled and thus imposable contraceptives have been associated with problematic classed, raced, ageist, and ableist promotions. A critical lens that inquires into their endorsement within clinical practice is thus necessary. The bulk of literature evidencing reproductive injustices in relation to fertility control through LARC technologies emanates from the US and UK contexts. Not much research on the South African context has explored how contraceptive decision-making within clinical interactions shapes LARC uptake despite usage increasing through the years. Using a poststructural, postcolonial feminist framework alongside a reproductive justice stance, this study explores health providers’ and contraceptive users’ narrations of the prescription and usage of LARC technologies alongside how such talk emplots women who use, continue, or discontinue using these contraceptive technologies. In addition, the power relations (re)produced in the participants’ talk that maintain or constrain coloniality and reproductive justice with implications for certain people’s reproductive choices/rights were explored. To do so, I used data from 72 semi-structured interviews with contraceptive users (51) and healthcare providers (21). A combination of stratified purposive, convenient, and snowball sampling was used to sample the providers and users of LARC recruited within a city, town, and village. To elicit stories about healthcare providers’ and LARC users’ narrative emplotments in the prescription and usage decisions about LARC, semi-structured interviewing was used. The questions asked were open-ended and loosely structured around LARC technologies, the decisions that cohere around them, and the makers of those decisions. In analysing the data, I fused Parker's (1992) criteria for locating discourses with Barker’s (2017) method for determining the potential for emplotment into narratives. Findings suggest that participants framed contraceptive usage as either a personal, imposed, or shared decision. In personal decisions, the feminisation of contraceptive use emerged, with study, work, and relationship stability statuses requiring participants to solely and prudently self-discipline towards contraceptive uptake so as to match usage with reproduction desire. When decisions were imposed (subtly or openly), a passive role was assumed as female guardians (mothers, grandmothers, or aunts) recommended, pushed, and coerced health users (particularly young women) towards uptake. While the contraceptive users themselves were placed on the margins in decision-making, resisting the imposed decisions was difficult since participants’ “risk” of pregnancy was reportedly foregrounded. Shared decisions pointed to less one-sided accounts of decision-making. These decisions were enacted in relationships and were neither siloed nor imposed. Here, sexual partners, parents, or healthcare providers dialogically negotiated contraceptive uptake, and the possibilities for non-use were availed. Data from healthcare providers showed that non-use for young and postpartum women was not an option. In addition, healthcare providers either formed alliances with the LARC users themselves or concerned parents to support or push for contraceptive provision. Supportive alliances enabled secret uptake or ongoing contraceptive usage among some contraceptive users, thus resisting pronatalism or one-sided intentions for childbearing within intimate partnerships. These healthcare providers emplotted themselves as empowering contraceptive users. Alliances that pushed for contraceptive uptake were formed with guardians/parents upon menarche or in case the of rape. In overriding consent within these alliances, healthcare providers avoided being rendered responsible or blameworthy for early pregnancies in the face of the constructed risk used to emplot young women. This over-commitment to providing contraceptives has differing implications for women’s sexual agency and sexual health interventions. The data also describe decisions to use contraception as expert-led, patient-led, or collaborative decisions between health users and healthcare providers. Through the information and decision-making was expert-led micro-narrative, a medical discourse constituting use as a necessity and non-use as a risk emerged. A patient autonomy and a my body, my choice discourse informed the information and decision-making was patient-led micro-narrative; here, healthcare providers were either detached or excluded from decision-making as health users assumed more active roles in their own contraceptive care decisions. In collaborative decisions, both parties negotiated (non)use, with LARC users providing their embodied experiences and healthcare providers availing medical knowledge in reaching decisions. The study argues for a reproductive justice framework to underpin the signifier “fertility control”, showing how the threat of degeneration informs responses to reproduction by iii identifying and amplifying deficiency and negative outcomes while masking positive outcomes among certain women. It then creates a fertile ground for the re-engineering and recentring of colonialist thinking and its product, the restraining of the agency of fertile beings it renders “less developed”. , Thesis (PhD) -- Faculty of Humanities, Psychology, 2024
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2024-10-11
“What’s good fam?”: African digital sociality and notions of community and family in the UCKAR Facebook group
- Authors: Dube, Hope Mutipeni
- Date: 2024-10-11
- Subjects: Digital society , Facebook (Firm) , Social media and college students South Africa Makhanda , Education, Higher Social aspects , Sociology Africa , College students Social life and customs , College students Social networks
- Language: English
- Type: Academic theses , Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/465887 , vital:76665
- Description: This study explores the digital sociality of the UCKAR Facebook group. This student Facebook group was formed during the 2015 #RhodesMustFall period. The acronym UCKAR stands for the “University Currently Known As Rhodes” and signifies hope for the transformation of the university. Qualitative interviews were conducted to investigate how UCKAR Facebook group understood and interpreted their sociality, i.e. what do they mean when they say “we” or “us”; how such understandings emerged from group membership descriptions and interpersonal obligations as well as the actual social interactions and participation in the group through digital practices, that is, posting and commenting. A qualitative thematic analysis was undertaken through grouping together representations of various notions of the nature and purpose of their Facebook group as a social space, or its sociality. The findings revealed how various digital socialities co-exist in the same digital space. They reflect different ways in which group members can relate to each other meaningfully: either as fellow students, activists, student entrepreneurs and customers, caring community members or fellow revellers. I refer to these socialities as “Rhodent sociality”, “comrade sociality”, “hustle sociality”, “ubuntu sociality” and “groovist sociality”. These socialities are evidentially not mutually exclusive, and members can and do engage in multiple socialities within the group or shift amongst them depending on the situation. In this analysis, these socialities are linked to the existing scholarship on digital socialities. The findings suggest that the resilience to survive in an alien cultural space does not only demand a digital space that supports rational political resistance and practical tips to navigate the space as seen in the “comrade sociality” and “Rhodent sociality”. It also requires a digital space which can incorporate elements of communal care, economic survival and at times a Bakhtinian carnivalesque outlet to momentarily invert an unjust society . I call this kind of digital sociality a survivalist digital community, which is a form of digital sociality created by persons who need to survive a space that was not designed for people like them, and is underpinned by survivalist knowledge. , Thesis (MA) -- Faculty of Humanities, Journalism and Media Studies, 2024
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2024-10-11
- Authors: Dube, Hope Mutipeni
- Date: 2024-10-11
- Subjects: Digital society , Facebook (Firm) , Social media and college students South Africa Makhanda , Education, Higher Social aspects , Sociology Africa , College students Social life and customs , College students Social networks
- Language: English
- Type: Academic theses , Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/465887 , vital:76665
- Description: This study explores the digital sociality of the UCKAR Facebook group. This student Facebook group was formed during the 2015 #RhodesMustFall period. The acronym UCKAR stands for the “University Currently Known As Rhodes” and signifies hope for the transformation of the university. Qualitative interviews were conducted to investigate how UCKAR Facebook group understood and interpreted their sociality, i.e. what do they mean when they say “we” or “us”; how such understandings emerged from group membership descriptions and interpersonal obligations as well as the actual social interactions and participation in the group through digital practices, that is, posting and commenting. A qualitative thematic analysis was undertaken through grouping together representations of various notions of the nature and purpose of their Facebook group as a social space, or its sociality. The findings revealed how various digital socialities co-exist in the same digital space. They reflect different ways in which group members can relate to each other meaningfully: either as fellow students, activists, student entrepreneurs and customers, caring community members or fellow revellers. I refer to these socialities as “Rhodent sociality”, “comrade sociality”, “hustle sociality”, “ubuntu sociality” and “groovist sociality”. These socialities are evidentially not mutually exclusive, and members can and do engage in multiple socialities within the group or shift amongst them depending on the situation. In this analysis, these socialities are linked to the existing scholarship on digital socialities. The findings suggest that the resilience to survive in an alien cultural space does not only demand a digital space that supports rational political resistance and practical tips to navigate the space as seen in the “comrade sociality” and “Rhodent sociality”. It also requires a digital space which can incorporate elements of communal care, economic survival and at times a Bakhtinian carnivalesque outlet to momentarily invert an unjust society . I call this kind of digital sociality a survivalist digital community, which is a form of digital sociality created by persons who need to survive a space that was not designed for people like them, and is underpinned by survivalist knowledge. , Thesis (MA) -- Faculty of Humanities, Journalism and Media Studies, 2024
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2024-10-11
Integration of HIV/ AIDS, Tuberculosis and Patients’ Services into the General Health Care Systems: Implementation Challenges and Impact on TB Control Programme in O.R. Tambo District, Eastern Cape, South Africa.
- Authors: Dlatu, Ntandazo
- Date: 2024-08
- Language: English
- Type: Doctoral theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/11260/12987 , vital:76186
- Description: Tuberculosis (TB), a disease of poverty and inequality, is a leading cause of severe illness and death among people with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). In South Africa, both TB and HIV epidemics have been closely related and persistent, posing a significant burden for healthcare provision. Reducing morbidity and mortality from HIV-associated TB requires strong collaboration between TB and HIV services at all levels with fully integrated, people-centered models of care. Studies have observed that TB and HIV integration reduces mortality. However, the operational implementation of integrated services is still challenging. Gaps exist between the challenges of combining TB and HIV control with evidence-based knowledge, affecting the implementation process of this highly recommended strategy. Despite the policy, frameworks for integration exist; integration of TB and HIV services is far from ideal in many resource-limited countries, including South Africa. Few studies have examined the advantages and disadvantages of integrated TB and HIV care in public health facilities, and even fewer have proposed conceptual models for proven integration. Objectives: The goals of this study consisted of: (i) investigating the associations between socio-economic deprivation and tuberculosis (TB) treatment outcomes, alongside well-known TB risk factors. The effects of healthcare expenditures and their growth on trends in TB incidence from 2009 to 2013 were also assessed. (ii) Exploring patients’ and healthcare workers’ perceptions of TB and HIV integration as well as a strategy for integrating these programs. (iii) Describing patients’ perceptions on barriers to scaling up of TB-HIV integration services at selected health facilities; and (iv) Developing a paradigm for integrating TB, HIV, and patient services in a single facility and highlighting the importance of TB-HIV services for greater accessibility under one roof. Methods: In Phase 1 of the study, secondary data analysis was performed on data obtained from various sources including governmental, non-governmental, and research institutions. Indicators for TB treatment outcomes included TB death rate, TB rate among the household contacts of the Index TB cases, TB treatment failure, HIV-associated TB death rate, TB defaulter rate, and new TB smear-positive cases. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) and Turkey’s tests for post-hoc analysis were used to P a g e xvii | compare means of variables of interest considering a type I error rate of 0.05. , Thesis (PhD) -- Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, 2024
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2024-08
- Authors: Dlatu, Ntandazo
- Date: 2024-08
- Language: English
- Type: Doctoral theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/11260/12987 , vital:76186
- Description: Tuberculosis (TB), a disease of poverty and inequality, is a leading cause of severe illness and death among people with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). In South Africa, both TB and HIV epidemics have been closely related and persistent, posing a significant burden for healthcare provision. Reducing morbidity and mortality from HIV-associated TB requires strong collaboration between TB and HIV services at all levels with fully integrated, people-centered models of care. Studies have observed that TB and HIV integration reduces mortality. However, the operational implementation of integrated services is still challenging. Gaps exist between the challenges of combining TB and HIV control with evidence-based knowledge, affecting the implementation process of this highly recommended strategy. Despite the policy, frameworks for integration exist; integration of TB and HIV services is far from ideal in many resource-limited countries, including South Africa. Few studies have examined the advantages and disadvantages of integrated TB and HIV care in public health facilities, and even fewer have proposed conceptual models for proven integration. Objectives: The goals of this study consisted of: (i) investigating the associations between socio-economic deprivation and tuberculosis (TB) treatment outcomes, alongside well-known TB risk factors. The effects of healthcare expenditures and their growth on trends in TB incidence from 2009 to 2013 were also assessed. (ii) Exploring patients’ and healthcare workers’ perceptions of TB and HIV integration as well as a strategy for integrating these programs. (iii) Describing patients’ perceptions on barriers to scaling up of TB-HIV integration services at selected health facilities; and (iv) Developing a paradigm for integrating TB, HIV, and patient services in a single facility and highlighting the importance of TB-HIV services for greater accessibility under one roof. Methods: In Phase 1 of the study, secondary data analysis was performed on data obtained from various sources including governmental, non-governmental, and research institutions. Indicators for TB treatment outcomes included TB death rate, TB rate among the household contacts of the Index TB cases, TB treatment failure, HIV-associated TB death rate, TB defaulter rate, and new TB smear-positive cases. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) and Turkey’s tests for post-hoc analysis were used to P a g e xvii | compare means of variables of interest considering a type I error rate of 0.05. , Thesis (PhD) -- Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, 2024
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2024-08
Exploring the experience of clients on fixed-dose combination antiretroviral drugs at Ngangelizwe Community Health Centre, Eastern Cape
- Authors: Macozoma, Wanda
- Date: 2024-07
- Language: English
- Type: Masters theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/11260/12963 , vital:76182
- Description: Fixed dose combination antiretroviral drugs are multiple retroviral drugs combined into a single pill, commenced in South Africa on 01 April 2013 after it was announced by the Minister of Health. The main reason for this change of treatment was to reduce pill burden and make the lives of people living with HIV and who are on ARVs simpler and easier. The purpose of this study was to describe experiences of clients on fixed dose combination antiretroviral drug at Ngangelizwe Community Health Centre, Eastern Cape. The study used a qualitative research approach and descriptive phenomenology as a research design. The target population for this study were clients initiated on a fixed dose combination antiretroviral drug. Purposive sampling was done and semi-structured individual interviews conducted to collect data, audiotape was used and field notes taken. Data saturation was reached after interviewing 12 participants. Data analysis was done guided by Tesch’s 8 steps of the coding process. Ethical principles were adhered to and informed consent obtained from participants. Findings revealed that there were physical, psychological and social experiences, from the period of first diagnosis, disclosure and medication compliance. It is recommended that health education campaigns be intensified since there is still stigmatization of HIV/AIDS that affects compliance. Also, there is need for continuing education and training for healthcare providers to encourage a supportive attitude towards clients. , Thesis (Masters) -- Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, 2024
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2024-07
- Authors: Macozoma, Wanda
- Date: 2024-07
- Language: English
- Type: Masters theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/11260/12963 , vital:76182
- Description: Fixed dose combination antiretroviral drugs are multiple retroviral drugs combined into a single pill, commenced in South Africa on 01 April 2013 after it was announced by the Minister of Health. The main reason for this change of treatment was to reduce pill burden and make the lives of people living with HIV and who are on ARVs simpler and easier. The purpose of this study was to describe experiences of clients on fixed dose combination antiretroviral drug at Ngangelizwe Community Health Centre, Eastern Cape. The study used a qualitative research approach and descriptive phenomenology as a research design. The target population for this study were clients initiated on a fixed dose combination antiretroviral drug. Purposive sampling was done and semi-structured individual interviews conducted to collect data, audiotape was used and field notes taken. Data saturation was reached after interviewing 12 participants. Data analysis was done guided by Tesch’s 8 steps of the coding process. Ethical principles were adhered to and informed consent obtained from participants. Findings revealed that there were physical, psychological and social experiences, from the period of first diagnosis, disclosure and medication compliance. It is recommended that health education campaigns be intensified since there is still stigmatization of HIV/AIDS that affects compliance. Also, there is need for continuing education and training for healthcare providers to encourage a supportive attitude towards clients. , Thesis (Masters) -- Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, 2024
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2024-07
Lived experiences of Gay traditional healers in the Amathole District Municipality
- Plaatjie, Nontsikelelo Margaret
- Authors: Plaatjie, Nontsikelelo Margaret
- Date: 2024-06
- Subjects: Healers -- South Africa , Gender identity -- South Africa , Ancestor worship --South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10353/29089 , vital:76626
- Description: The primary goal of this study was to explore the lived experiences of gay traditional healers in the Amathole District Municipality. The study focused on traditional healers who are diviners and work as cause investigators (amagqirha emvumisa).The study used qualitative research methodology and employed Interpretative phenomenological analysis research design to examine the lived experiences of gay traditional diviners.This study was based on Cass’ identity formation theory as its overarching theoretical framework and specifically on sexual identity formation with a focus on LGBTQI plus. The sample consisted of five participants recruited through the snowball sampling technique. Data was collected through face-to-face interviews. The researcher was acquainted with three of the participants and each of them brought an interview-ready subject with them. All participants were gay traditional diviners with credentials and practice in their own settings. The analysis of the research study revealed that gay traditional healers experienced multifaceted aspects. These aspects includes those coming from social factors like family background. The findings indicated that factors such as parental neglect and lack of financial support for the training needs of gay traditional healers had a negative impact. However it became clear from the findings that negative attitudes starting from participants’s upbringing, training and practice caused confusion, sadness but ultimately self acceptance. Furthermore, the research study revealed a need for awareness campaigns on traditional healing, as well as on the choice of sexual orientation. Lack of knowledge of policies and laws concerning homosexuality and traditional healing revealed the amount of work that remains to be done in our society. The researcher recommends that for future studies, more research on legislation with regards to traditional healers and gay people be undertaken. Also the researcher recommends involvement traditional medical practitioner policy decision makers. , Thesis (MPsych) -- Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, 2024
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2024-06
- Authors: Plaatjie, Nontsikelelo Margaret
- Date: 2024-06
- Subjects: Healers -- South Africa , Gender identity -- South Africa , Ancestor worship --South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10353/29089 , vital:76626
- Description: The primary goal of this study was to explore the lived experiences of gay traditional healers in the Amathole District Municipality. The study focused on traditional healers who are diviners and work as cause investigators (amagqirha emvumisa).The study used qualitative research methodology and employed Interpretative phenomenological analysis research design to examine the lived experiences of gay traditional diviners.This study was based on Cass’ identity formation theory as its overarching theoretical framework and specifically on sexual identity formation with a focus on LGBTQI plus. The sample consisted of five participants recruited through the snowball sampling technique. Data was collected through face-to-face interviews. The researcher was acquainted with three of the participants and each of them brought an interview-ready subject with them. All participants were gay traditional diviners with credentials and practice in their own settings. The analysis of the research study revealed that gay traditional healers experienced multifaceted aspects. These aspects includes those coming from social factors like family background. The findings indicated that factors such as parental neglect and lack of financial support for the training needs of gay traditional healers had a negative impact. However it became clear from the findings that negative attitudes starting from participants’s upbringing, training and practice caused confusion, sadness but ultimately self acceptance. Furthermore, the research study revealed a need for awareness campaigns on traditional healing, as well as on the choice of sexual orientation. Lack of knowledge of policies and laws concerning homosexuality and traditional healing revealed the amount of work that remains to be done in our society. The researcher recommends that for future studies, more research on legislation with regards to traditional healers and gay people be undertaken. Also the researcher recommends involvement traditional medical practitioner policy decision makers. , Thesis (MPsych) -- Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, 2024
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2024-06
Translanguaging pedagogies and practice for social justice in a multilingual South African previously disadvantaged
- Authors: Mpofu, Tarisai
- Date: 2024-06
- Subjects: Multilingualism
- Language: English
- Type: Doctoral theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/11260/11131 , vital:75921
- Description: Over the last two decades, there has been a burgeoning interest in translanguaging as both a theory and a methodology, but a few studies have looked at it as a pedagogy. This has meant that while there is near-consensus on translanguaging’s contribution to knowing, there have been few studies on how it can be implemented systematically in classrooms. This study examines how translanguaging is being practiced at one South African university and makes recommendations on how translanguaging can be implemented systematically for better impact. A mixed method approach was used, meaning that it had both qualitative and quantitative elements. Data for this study were gathered using online questionnaires completed by students and lecturers, interviews with lecturers, and observation. The results show that limited translanguaging was taking place in the classroom, despite both students and staff acknowledging its value to epistemic access. This study calls for intentional and systematic implementation of translanguaging to contribute to socially-just classroom practices. The study proposes the translanguaging matrix model for practice to assist in institutionalising translanguaging through the provision of short learning courses for staff and students on translanguaging, language learning opportunities and clear pedagogical training on when translanguaging must be used in classroom contexts. Key Words: Translanguaging, Language Policy, Social Justice, Multilingalism, Pedagogy , Thesis (D.Ed) -- Faculty of Education, 2024
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2024-06
- Authors: Mpofu, Tarisai
- Date: 2024-06
- Subjects: Multilingualism
- Language: English
- Type: Doctoral theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/11260/11131 , vital:75921
- Description: Over the last two decades, there has been a burgeoning interest in translanguaging as both a theory and a methodology, but a few studies have looked at it as a pedagogy. This has meant that while there is near-consensus on translanguaging’s contribution to knowing, there have been few studies on how it can be implemented systematically in classrooms. This study examines how translanguaging is being practiced at one South African university and makes recommendations on how translanguaging can be implemented systematically for better impact. A mixed method approach was used, meaning that it had both qualitative and quantitative elements. Data for this study were gathered using online questionnaires completed by students and lecturers, interviews with lecturers, and observation. The results show that limited translanguaging was taking place in the classroom, despite both students and staff acknowledging its value to epistemic access. This study calls for intentional and systematic implementation of translanguaging to contribute to socially-just classroom practices. The study proposes the translanguaging matrix model for practice to assist in institutionalising translanguaging through the provision of short learning courses for staff and students on translanguaging, language learning opportunities and clear pedagogical training on when translanguaging must be used in classroom contexts. Key Words: Translanguaging, Language Policy, Social Justice, Multilingalism, Pedagogy , Thesis (D.Ed) -- Faculty of Education, 2024
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2024-06
A capabilities analysis: degree mobility and the impact of returning South African alumni on their home country’s sustainable development
- Authors: Mwatunga, Carine Brigitte
- Date: 2024-04-05
- Subjects: Uncatalogued
- Language: English
- Type: Academic theses , Doctoral theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/436570 , vital:73283 , DOI 10.21504/10962/436570
- Description: The significance of sustainable development (SD) has gained increasing attention, particularly since introducing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in 2015. SDG 4 focuses on ensuring inclusive and high-quality education for all individuals, as well as the provision of equitable access to lifelong learning opportunities. In addition, SDG 4 recognises education as a fundamental element of societal progress and SD. Given the role of education in fostering economic growth, social cohesion, and individual empowerment, SDG 4 is a crucial component of global efforts to foster a more prosperous and equitable world. The primary focus of the study explained in this thesis was to address a specific aspect of Higher Education (HE) within the framework of the SDGs. While SDG 4 covers a wide range of targets, such as expanding scholarship opportunities for individuals from the Global South to study abroad, there remains a lack of comprehensive understanding of how pursuing a degree in a foreign country can influence graduates' potential contributions to sustainable development (SD) upon returning to their home countries. Moreover, despite researchers highlighting the need for attention to this topic, it has not received adequate focus thus far. Therefore, drawing upon the framework of the capability approach (CA) to sustainable development, the study explored whether returning graduates could contribute to SD in South Africa. To integrate the concepts of SD and CA, the study developed a framework for a responsible agent (RA), which was facilitated through previous studies. This framework provides a set of capabilities that are essential for supporting SD in South Africa. Based on this framework, the study comprehensively explored the experiences of postgraduate students and their potential to contribute to SD in South Africa. The study drew on survey data, semi structured interview, and document analysis to gain insights into how the structures of six selected scholarships aligned with SD objectives. However, upon analysing the eligibility criteria of these scholarships, it became evident that they already take into account certain capabilities associated with the RA in candidates. Furthermore, the analysis revealed that these scholarships tend to favour candidates who exhibit the potential to succeed in their professional endeavours. Therefore, this selection bias may exacerbate the existing inequalities within the South African education system. By disproportionately supporting candidates with advantages or resources, the scholarships may inadvertently perpetuate the disparities in educational opportunities and hinder progress toward a more equitable system. After administering questionnaires to alumni who had received these six scholarships, they were asked to voluntary participate in semi-structured interviews. Thereafter, data obtained was combined with document analysis, questionnaires, and interviews were analysed drawing on the RA framework with a narrative inquiry approach. The analysis of the data gathered during interviews with alumni revealed that certain capabilities were demonstrated and developed because of their degree mobility (pursuing degrees in different locations). However, it was also observed that some capabilities were negatively impacted by this mobility. Thus, the findings suggested a nuanced relationship between degree mobility and the development of specific capabilities amongst alumni, warranting further investigation to understand the implications of degree mobility on various capabilities. The investigation of the study revealed that the structure of the selected scholarships is not fully aligned with SD and that some capabilities can be damaged through degree mobility. To ensure that the scholarships truly support SD, they would require restructuring and (1) lowering expectations and preparing alumni for an often rather difficult return to South Africa; (2) limiting the available scholarships to degree programmes that are less or not affordable at all in South Africa; (3) implementing a re-entry strategy for returning alumni to make the return more manageable; and (4) collecting more data to create a deeper understanding about the possible achievements of individual alumni. , Thesis (PhD) -- Faculty of Education, Centre for Higher Education Research, Teaching and Learning, 2024
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2024-04-05
- Authors: Mwatunga, Carine Brigitte
- Date: 2024-04-05
- Subjects: Uncatalogued
- Language: English
- Type: Academic theses , Doctoral theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/436570 , vital:73283 , DOI 10.21504/10962/436570
- Description: The significance of sustainable development (SD) has gained increasing attention, particularly since introducing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in 2015. SDG 4 focuses on ensuring inclusive and high-quality education for all individuals, as well as the provision of equitable access to lifelong learning opportunities. In addition, SDG 4 recognises education as a fundamental element of societal progress and SD. Given the role of education in fostering economic growth, social cohesion, and individual empowerment, SDG 4 is a crucial component of global efforts to foster a more prosperous and equitable world. The primary focus of the study explained in this thesis was to address a specific aspect of Higher Education (HE) within the framework of the SDGs. While SDG 4 covers a wide range of targets, such as expanding scholarship opportunities for individuals from the Global South to study abroad, there remains a lack of comprehensive understanding of how pursuing a degree in a foreign country can influence graduates' potential contributions to sustainable development (SD) upon returning to their home countries. Moreover, despite researchers highlighting the need for attention to this topic, it has not received adequate focus thus far. Therefore, drawing upon the framework of the capability approach (CA) to sustainable development, the study explored whether returning graduates could contribute to SD in South Africa. To integrate the concepts of SD and CA, the study developed a framework for a responsible agent (RA), which was facilitated through previous studies. This framework provides a set of capabilities that are essential for supporting SD in South Africa. Based on this framework, the study comprehensively explored the experiences of postgraduate students and their potential to contribute to SD in South Africa. The study drew on survey data, semi structured interview, and document analysis to gain insights into how the structures of six selected scholarships aligned with SD objectives. However, upon analysing the eligibility criteria of these scholarships, it became evident that they already take into account certain capabilities associated with the RA in candidates. Furthermore, the analysis revealed that these scholarships tend to favour candidates who exhibit the potential to succeed in their professional endeavours. Therefore, this selection bias may exacerbate the existing inequalities within the South African education system. By disproportionately supporting candidates with advantages or resources, the scholarships may inadvertently perpetuate the disparities in educational opportunities and hinder progress toward a more equitable system. After administering questionnaires to alumni who had received these six scholarships, they were asked to voluntary participate in semi-structured interviews. Thereafter, data obtained was combined with document analysis, questionnaires, and interviews were analysed drawing on the RA framework with a narrative inquiry approach. The analysis of the data gathered during interviews with alumni revealed that certain capabilities were demonstrated and developed because of their degree mobility (pursuing degrees in different locations). However, it was also observed that some capabilities were negatively impacted by this mobility. Thus, the findings suggested a nuanced relationship between degree mobility and the development of specific capabilities amongst alumni, warranting further investigation to understand the implications of degree mobility on various capabilities. The investigation of the study revealed that the structure of the selected scholarships is not fully aligned with SD and that some capabilities can be damaged through degree mobility. To ensure that the scholarships truly support SD, they would require restructuring and (1) lowering expectations and preparing alumni for an often rather difficult return to South Africa; (2) limiting the available scholarships to degree programmes that are less or not affordable at all in South Africa; (3) implementing a re-entry strategy for returning alumni to make the return more manageable; and (4) collecting more data to create a deeper understanding about the possible achievements of individual alumni. , Thesis (PhD) -- Faculty of Education, Centre for Higher Education Research, Teaching and Learning, 2024
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- Date Issued: 2024-04-05