Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Political ecology South Africa'
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Loftus, A. J. "A Political Ecology of Water Struggles in Durban, South Africa." Thesis, Royal Holloway, University of London, 2006. http://digirep.rhul.ac.uk/items/83d8dfba-f70b-7131-1068-e38de07290fa/1/.
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This thesis looks at the relationshp between water and social power. It attempts to answer two questions: who controls the distribution of water in the South African city of Durban? And how might this distribution be transformed in positive democratic ways? In attempting to answer these questions, the thesis provides insights into post-apartheid South African society and the possibilities for democratic social change. The framework of analysis builds upon work conducted in urban political ecology. In particular, I argue that urban environments, indeed all environments, should be understood as created ecosystems. Recognising this, I suggest that Durban's waterscape should be seen as produced through capitalist social relations. The waterscape thereby becomes a particular accumulation strategy through which profits may be generated. for Durban's communities, one of the most direct effects of this capitalist accumulation strategy is that access to water is dependent upon the exchange of money. Whilst this situation has been amerliorated somewhat through the development of a free basic water policy, the policy itself has necessitated a much tighter regulation of domestic supplies and, in effect, a more severe commodification of each household's water supply. In turn, this has resulted in water infrastructure acquiring power over the lives of most residents. This, I argue, is a result of the social relations that come to be invested within that infrastructure. The possibilities for change that are suggested lie within the struggle for feminist standpoint and the connection of these situated knowledges of the waterscpe with a broader historical and geographical understanding of the terrain of civil society. from such an understanding of civil society, a dialectical critique of hegemony is opened up. Overall, the thesis moves from an analysis of the power relations camprising the waterscape to the development of a critique from which, it is hoped, the possibilities for political change might emerge.
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Phillips, Catherine. "South African permaculture, a political ecology perspective." Thesis, National Library of Canada = Bibliothèque nationale du Canada, 1999. http://www.collectionscanada.ca/obj/s4/f2/dsk1/tape9/PQDD_0003/MQ43199.pdf.
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Ramsay, Lisa Frost. "Power and perception : a political ecology of air pollution in Umlazi and Lamontville, South Africa." Thesis, University of Cambridge, 2010. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.609022.
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Schnurr, Matthew A. "Lowveld cotton : a political ecology of agricultural failure in Natal and Zululand, 1844-1948." Thesis, University of British Columbia, 2008. http://hdl.handle.net/2429/784.
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This dissertation is a study of agricultural failure. It follows the efforts of settlers, then scientists, to impose cotton as a commodity crop in the eastern region of South Africa, known today as KwaZulu-Natal. Touted as a commodity crop capable of remaking land and life in this region in the 1850s, the 1860s, at the turn of the century, and again in the 1930s, cotton never achieved more than marginal status in the agricultural economy. Its story is one of historical amnesia: although faith in the region’s cotton prospects dipped following each spectacular failure, it was routinely resurrected once previous failures had been accounted for, or memories of them had faded.
Two crucial issues are at the centre of this episodic history. First, I explore the enthusiasms that underpinned successive efforts to introduce cotton, the logistics of planned expansion, and the reasons for the repeated collapse of cotton-growing schemes. My primary argument is that cotton failed because colonists lacked the technology to overcome natural constraints to production, in the form of temperature, rainfall, soils and insect pests. Settlers and scientists could not remake the land, the climate, or the cotton plant to meet their needs or realize their dreams. They attempted to overcome obstacles to production through settlement schemes, new agricultural inputs, and breeding technologies, but were unable to conquer the ecological incompatibilities between theoretical ambition and practical cultivation. This dissertation stresses the limits of colonial agriculture when confronted with unsuitable growing conditions.
Second, I aim to unravel the side effects of the repeated failures of cotton production in Natal and Zululand. I turn the question of agricultural failure on its head to ask what was achieved through these repeated attempts to develop cotton as a commodity crop. I concentrate on the outcomes of these difficult and disappointing efforts at cotton cultivation – increased settler presence, stronger delineation between settler and African space, expanded state control into rural areas – and argue that, despite repeated failure, cotton facilitated important structural changes to the region’s agricultural, political and economic landscape.
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Merron, James Lawrence. "Wattle we do? alien eradication and the 'ecology of fear' on the fringes of a world heritage site, South Africa." Thesis, Rhodes University, 2010. http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002655.
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In their article ―Naturing the Nation: Aliens, the Apocalypse and the Post Colonial State (2001) Jean and John Comaroff look at ―the contemporary predicament of South Africa through the prism of environmental catastrophe. Through it they reveal the context in which alien plants have become an urgent affair of the state. Following their lead, I show how alien plants (particularly Australian wattle) continue to provide grounds for new social and political aspirations in South Africa, though in a different setting. With reference to a group of private landowners on the fringe of a World Heritage Site -- the Baviaanskloof Mega-Reserve, Eastern Cape, South Africa -- I show how an increasingly apocalyptic and xenophobic environmental agenda has influenced local activists seeking to address social and ecological issues in tandem with alien-eradication. These local activists adhere to a particular brand of environmentalism which Milton (1993) argues can be considered a social, cultural and religious phenomenon. The subjects of my main empirical investigation offer practical ways of achieving a transformational end through a new ritual activity in relation to a spread and exchange of environmental ideas and practices on a world-wide scale. On the ground this group practices ecosocietal restoration through which they aspire to mend the bond between people and the land in a spiritual and moral sense, bolstering intrinsic incentives for environmental stewardship and achieving ―cultural reconciliation in an attempt to reimagine what South Africa could be.
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Zeelie, Hein. "Environmental concern in South Africa : an analysis of elite and public attitudes and their implications for public policy." Thesis, Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2003. http://hdl.handle.net/10019.1/53413.
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Thesis (MPhil)--Stellenbosch University, 2003.ENGLISH ABSTRACT: South Africa, like so many other developing countries, is confronted with a very complex situation: although large-scale environmental degradation is threatening the future of the country, environmental matters are not regarded as of sufficient importance amongst the general population for them to contribute to environmental improvements. Most of the country's populations, many argue, are simply too poor and too focused on fulfilling short-term survival needs to give priority to the environment. Employing the 2001 World Values Survey, this study analyzes the attitudes of the general public of South Africa towards environmental matters. These attitudes are contrasted with those of the elites, who have a disproportionate influence over policy-making, by looking at the 2000 South African National Leadership Opinion Survey. This study finds that, as hypothesized, the general population of the country is quite unwilling (or unable) to contribute materially or financially to environmental improvements, especially in relation to the elites. In the final part of the study, these findings are employed in the development of a set of guidelines that policy-makers can use to increase the probability of developing successful and effective environmental policies. These guidelines take into account the nature and dimensions of popular attitudes, and consider ways in which environmental policies can foster the support of a public that is confronted with so many other serious issues.
AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Suid-Afrika, soos soveel ander ontwikkelende lande, is gekonfronteer met 'n baie komplekse situasie: alhoewel grootskaalse degradasie van die omgewing die toekoms van die land bedreig, sien die algemene publiek nie omgewingskwessies as belangrik genoeg om 'n bydrae te lewer nie. Die argument is dat te veel van die land se bevolking net te arm of te gefokus is op die bevrediging van kort-termyn oorlewingsbehoeftes om prioriteit te gee aan omgewingskwessies. Deur gebruik te maak van die 2001 Wêreld Waardestudie, analiseer hierdie studie die houdings van die Suid-Afrikaanse publiek teenoor omgewingskwessies. Hierdie houdings word gekontrasteer met die van die elites, wat 'n disproporsionele invloed het oor die beleidsmakingsproses, deur gebruik te maak van die 2000 Suid-Afrikaanse Nasionale Leierskap Opinie Studie. Die studie vind dat, soos gehipotiseer, die publiek onwillig (of net nie in staat) is om bydrae te lewer tot die oplossing van omgewingskwessies, veral in vergelyking met die elites. In die finale afdeling van hierdie studie word die bevindinge gebruik om 'n stel riglyne te ontwikkel wat deur beleidmakers gebruik kan word om die waarskynlikheid van suksesvolle en effektiewe omgewingsbeleid te verbeter. Hierdie riglyne neem in ag die natuur en dimensies van publieke houdings, en bring na vore maniere waardeur omgewingsbeleide die ondersteuning van 'n publiek, wat gekonfronteer word met soveel ander ernstige kwessies, kan opbou.
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Molony, Lara. "Water security amongst impoverished households in the Sundays River Valley Municipality : community experiences and perspectives." Thesis, Rhodes University, 2015. http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1018932.
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Water security is influenced by the complex interplay between ecological, socio-political, governance and water management systems. Achieving water security is essential for ensuring sustainable development, and challenges with water security are closely linked to the overall experience of poverty that many countries throughout the world, including South Africa, confront. These problems can broadly be understood through three main factors: water availability, access and usage; water governance and management underpin these factors. Water insecurity can often be seen in townships within South Africa, where water service delivery and water access is precarious. This study provides a lens into the water security experiences of two poor township communities in the Sundays River Valley Municipality (SRVM) namely Nomathamsanqa in Addo and Aquapark in Kirkwood. The research assessed water security patterns amongst RDP, township and informal settlement households serviced by the SRVM and found that communities face severe water security problems. Specifically, it was found that all township households encounter frequent water shortages, cuts in municipal water supply and water quality concerns. Issues around the payment for water and dissatisfaction with water service delivery also emerged. The purpose of this research was to allow for community experiences and perspectives to be expressed in an academic space that has previously been dominated by water management and policy makers. The study concludes that these communities within the SRVM experience significant challenges in securing safe water and these are largely due to social water scarcity issues and the difficulties the municipality faces concerning water service delivery.
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Ellis, Richard. "Political party funding in South Africa." Master's thesis, University of Cape Town, 2000. http://hdl.handle.net/11427/3763.
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Larsson, Falasca Kajsa. "Political representation in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa." Thesis, Mid Sweden University, Department of Social Sciences, 2008. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:miun:diva-296.
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This is a Minor Field Study (MFS) which is a scholarship financed by the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA). It was conducted in the province of KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa in 2007/2008. The purpose of this study is to understand the role of the political representative in the system of political representation and it will test the different theories of political representation based on interests or identity. This study is concerned with the function of the political representatives as they are the link between the system of representation and the electorate. Since the election system is designed for political representation based on interest and the voting in South Africa suggests voting based on identity/race the representatives must balance these different signals.
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Dontsa, Luvuyo. "Contemporary political performing arts in South Africa." Thesis, SOAS, University of London, 1990. http://eprints.soas.ac.uk/29483/.
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Despite the fact that 'transculturation' between Africans and Europeans in South Africa has been going on for more than two centuries, African contemporary political performing arts continually reflect indigenous performing arts' genres of the pre-colonial era. Although a contemporary political performing artist does not play exactly the same role that is played by the traditional artist, who 'criticises the chiefs for perverting the laws and the customs of the nation and laments their abuse of power and neglect of their responsibilities and obligations to the people' (Mafeje, 1967: 195), he still represents the public: in this case a much wider public, and expresses the views which are shared by Africans throughout the whole country. The thesis surveys the political roles of contemporary African performing arts in South Africa. It demonstrates how performing arts have been systematically used as a mechanism to 'step in arenas' where one would dare not with political vehicle, and conveying political messages to promote the struggle for national liberation. The work shows the unique manner in which political performing arts are implemented, and to what degree they have succeeded. It also reveals an element of fear among both Africans and Europeans as being an overt manifestation of the national struggle by the Africans, which has resulted in harassments and detentions of the former, and the loss of privileges to the latter. Lastly, it reflects frustration among the Africans, as their endeavours for national liberation are thwarted. The research has covered the techniques employed by the performing artists to convey political messages. It also assesses the relationship between the traditional and the avant-garde (non-conventional) performing arts, and evaluates the reasons for the change in tactics. Reactions of resentment to change in cultural and social life are discussed; how the Government has ruthlessly responded to such addresses; and how people have reacted to harsh response from the Government. The work also reveals how performing arts have appealed for international attention to address the South African situation, and how international artists have used an international forum to highlight the South African situation. Lastly, the work analyses South African contemporary political performing arts in worldwide context.
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Hagen, Daniel Edward. "Social capital and political participation in South Africa." Thesis, Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2012. http://hdl.handle.net/10019.1/20281.
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Thesis (MA)--Stellenbosch University, 2012.ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Empirical research on the impact of membership in voluntary associations as a dimension of social capital on political participation has been conducted in a number of countries in Europe as well as North America. With the aid of quantitative analysis of survey data, these studies found that members of voluntary associations were more likely to participate both formally and informally in their country’s political processes than those who were not members. This was due to the role played by voluntary associations in the generation of human capital in the form of self-efficacy and participatory skills or values, as well as bridging social capital in the form of increased networking and trust. Existing research by Marion Keim, Cora Burnett and others have indicated that social capital, and particularly the voluntary association of sport, can have a profound societal impact on South African communities. However, no quantitative study has been conducted on the relationship between membership in voluntary associations and the level of formal political participation in the South African context. Therefore, this study applied the social capital theory as developed in the literature on European and North American studies to the South African context in order to determine whether there is a relationship between the variables of membership in voluntary associations, membership in multiple associations, membership in sports as a voluntary association and the level of formal political participation. Using quantitative methodology, a cross-section of 2006 World Values Survey data was analysed. The findings indicated that the social capital theory on political participation did not apply to the South African context in the same way as to the European or North American contexts due to explanatory differences in South Africa’s socio-political climate. Questions were then raised over whether, due to South Africa’s current political culture, membership in voluntary associations is conducive to encouraging informal channels of participation. The findings reached had implications for social capital theory by indicating its uneven application to the South African context. Moreover, the study highlighted the need for a more context-specific understanding of social capital and its impact upon South Africa’s political processes.
AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Empiriese navorsing oor die uitwerking van lidmaatskap aan vrywillige verenigings as 'n dimensie van maatskaplike kapitaal op politieke deelname is in 'n aantal lande in Europa asook Noord-Amerika uitgevoer. Met behulp van kwantitatiewe analise van opname-data het hierdie studies bevind dat lede van vrywillige verenigings op beide formele en informele wyse meer geneig was om aan hulle land se politieke prosesse deel te neem as diegene wat nie lede was nie. Dit kon toegeskryf word aan die rol wat vrywillige verenigings speel by die ontwikkeling van menslike kapitaal in die vorm van selfwerksaamheid en deelnemende vaardighede of waardes, asook tussentydse maatskaplike kapitaal in die vorm van groter netwerkvorming en vertroue. Bestaande navorsing deur Marion Keim, Cora Burnett en ander het daarop gedui dat maatskaplike kapitaal, en in die besonder die vrywillige verbintenis van sport, 'n diepgaande uitwerking op Suid-Afrikaanse gemeenskappe kan hê. Geen kwantitatiewe studie is egter nog oor die verhouding tussen lidmaatskap aan vrywillige verenigings en die vlak van formele politieke deelname in die Suid-Afrikaanse opset uitgevoer nie. Hierdie studie het dus die maatskaplike kapitaalteorie soos in die literatuur oor Europese en Noord-Amerikaanse studies ontwikkel, op die Suid-Afrikaanse opset toegepas ten einde te bepaal of daar 'n verhouding tussen die veranderlikes van lidmaatskap aan vrywillige verenigings, lidmaatskap aan veelvuldige verenigings, lidmaatskap aan sport as 'n vrywillige verbintenis en die vlak van formele politieke deelname bestaan. Met behulp van kwantitatiewe metodologie is 'n dwarssnit van data uit die 2006- Wêreldwaardes-peiling geanaliseer. Die bevindinge het daarop gedui dat die maatskaplike kapitaalteorie ten opsigte van politieke deelname nie op dieselfde wyse op die Suid-Afrikaanse opset as op die Europese of Noord- Amerikaanse opsette van toepassing is nie weens verklarende verskille in Suid-Afrika se sosiopolitieke klimaat. Vrae is toe gevra of lidmaatskap aan vrywillige verenigings weens Suid-Afrika se huidige politieke kultuur bevorderlik is vir die aanmoediging van informele kanale van deelname. Die bevindinge wat bereik is, het implikasies gehad vir maatskaplike kapitaalteorie deur die ongelyke aanwending op die Suid-Afrikaanse opset aan te dui. Daarbenewens het die studie die behoefte aan ’n meer konteks-spesifieke begrip van maatskaplike kapitaal en die uitwerking daarvan op Suid-Afrika se politieke prosesse beklemtoon.
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Freeman, Glen. "Democracy denied : the Press in South Africa." Master's thesis, University of Cape Town, 1999. http://hdl.handle.net/11427/12502.
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Includes bibliographical references.This work is an examination of the media in South Africa (SA). Here it shall be seen that SA was not a democratic state while under National Party (NP) rule. This statement is obvious as the vast majority of SA citizens were denied the franchise. But democracy eluded even those enjoying life within the narrow confines of white democratic rule, as they were denied the information necessary to make informed decisions. The control of information by political players will be a key area of focus. This topic was chosen because SA has entered a new phase of government, that being a liberal democracy. Fears have been expressed in SA that democracy may slide into a dictatorship, or at least a tyranny of the majority in which the will of the masses (in this case a racial group, the blacks) will be imposed upon the minority at the expense of their current liberties. If democratic consolidation is to take place in SA, the media and other members of civil society must play a role in that consolidation. One way in which to prepare for the future is to examine the past: the media is no exception.
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Romo, Michelle. "National identity in post-apartheid South Africa." Master's thesis, University of Cape Town, 2011. http://hdl.handle.net/11427/11536.
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Includes abstract.Includes bibliographical references (leaves 89-96).
This study investigates the changes in national identity in South Africa over time and examines conditions and perceptions that inform national identity. It has three areas of focus: examining the levels of national identity in South Africa in 2008, the most current year of survey data available; mapping the levels of national identity overtime from 1995 to 2008, and identifying sources of national identity from 2002 to 2008. Using statistical analysis, this study tests for interaction effects between race and notions of inclusive citizenship in the South African population to examine predictors of national identity. The paper explores the extent to which the ANC's program of nation building with its emphasis on inclusive citizenship, as represented by freedom and equity, both political and economic, has influenced the development of national identity.
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Avis, Anthony Mark. "Coastal dune ecology and management in the Eastern Cape." Thesis, Rhodes University, 1993. http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1003753.
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The importance of understanding the ecological functioning of coastal dune systems is emphasized as being fundamental to the correct management of the dune landscape. Dune vegetation along the Eastern Cape coastline, from Cape St Francis in the west to Kei Mouth in the east was described in terms of the distribution and phytochorological affinities of the taxa. At a regional scale species distribution was strongly influenced by both the climate, particularly rainfall, and the phytochorological affinities of the taxa. Seven communities were defined using TWINSPAN, and the interrelationships between these communities in anyone area appeared to be linked to a successional gradient. Dune Slacks are thought to play a key role in this successional sequence, and a temporal study of this community led to a conceptual model of plant succession in these dunefields. Climate, particularly rainfall and wind, are major factors influencing plant succession. Wind-borne sand causes the slacks to migrate in an easterly direction under the influence of the predominantly westerly winds, although easterly winds, mainly in summer months may reverse these trends. Autogenic changes appeared to be important in this succession, and a comparative study of a good example of a primary succession at Mtunzini in Natal was undertaken to elucidate the main mechanism of change. Eight communities that were identified here were concluded to be distnbuted along a gradient of increasing age, with successional changes predictable, linear and directional. Species were grouped in distinct zones along the continuum and edaphic changes (decrease in soil pH, increase in organic matter and exchangeable bases) were related to the community based changes in species composition. The mechanism of change supported the facilitation model of plant succession which is a modification of the original Clementsian concept. Similar results were found in the Eastern Cape, but due to the harsh environment, multiple pathways of succession exist. Data from this study lent support to the model of plant succession developed earlier, and confinned that the dune slacks played an important role in this facilitation by acting as centres of diversity. The foredunes were found to have an indirect role in protecting these slacks from salt spray and sand movement. The central theme of the management studies was to investigate the ecological consequences of recreational pressure within the dune environment. Current levels of beach utilization at East London were lower than other beaches in South Africa, but a general trend of increasing utilization due to sociopolitical changes can be expected. The suitability of questionnaire surveys to assess aspects such as the adequacy of facilities, perceptual carrying capacity and the beach users opinion of natural vegetation and preference for particular beaches was demonstrated. The dune vegetation was found to be sensitive to human trampling, but at current levels, the ecological carrying capacity will not be exceeded since results of the aerial census counts and questionnaire survey revealed that few people entered sensitive zones such as the coastal forest. More detailed long term studies on the susceptibility of dune vegetation to both trampling and off-road vehicle impacts revealed a low resilience of dune plant communities to these effects. Although susceptibility differed between the three communities tested, generally the greatest amount of damage occurred after the first few passages, and vehicles caused a more significant decrease in height when compared to trampling. Recovery rates were slow and low levels of repeated damage were sufficient to retard or prevent the recovery of the plants. Stricter control of vehicle use on beaches is therefore required, and in high use zones the ecological carrying capacity should be increased by providing access tracks if possible, or if not possible, by restricting access. A historical account of the process of dune stabilization showed that although first initiated in 1845, indigenous species were only used in the past three decades. The use of alien species has resulted in problems such as a reduction in the ecological integrity and aesthetic appeal of coastal systems. The techniques applied in the stabilization of drift sands with indigenous vegetation have been successful, as revealed by a quantitative survey of 17 sites in the Eastern Cape. Sites were grouped by multivariate analysis on the basis of their species composition, and variability between sites was dependent on the types of species planted. Selection of suitable species is therefore important and is discussed with respect to their natural distribution along the coast. The long term objective of stabilization should be the creation of functional, diverse, aesthetic ecosystems, since the intrinsic and economic value of the dune landscape for tourism lies therein. However, detailed studies should be undertaken prior to implementing a manipulative process such as dune stabilization, since ecological processes may be disrupted. An understanding of such processes is therefore important if one wishes to effectively manage the dune landscape.
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Tiry, Zaahira. "Political parties in South African law." Thesis, Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, 2012. http://hdl.handle.net/10948/d1012414.
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This dissertation is a literature study of the legal regime of political parties in post-apartheid South Africa. A constitutional perspective is adopted throughout the study in order to confine the topic to the realm of South African law. Hence, the focus of the study is to identify legal rights contained in chapter two of the Constitution and to also identify other provisions of the Constitution that have a bearing on political parties. As mentioned in the conclusion, section 19 of the Constitution, set the scene for the development of this study. An analysis of the constitutional provisions highlighted in this study, case law and present legislation dealing with political parties reveals that there is a need for comparative research and the adoption of adequate legislation to regulate the functioning of political parties in South Africa. It is submitted that the regulation of parties by statute is required to ensure a just political order whereby the functioning of political parties is in line with the Constitution.
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Swanepoel, Barbara Anna. "The vegetation ecology of Ezemvelo Nature Reserve, Bronkhorstspruit, South Africa." Pretoria : [s.n.], 2006. http://upetd.up.ac.za/thesis/available/etd-09142007-143511.
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Akoto, William. "Valuing preferences for freshwater inflows into selected Western and Southern Cape estuaries." Thesis, Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, 2009. http://hdl.handle.net/10948/915.
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An estuary is the last stage of a river. It is where the river meets the sea. Estuaries are one of the most significant features of the South African coastline. In recent years, South Africa has witnessed an increase in the demand for freshwater for both industrial and domestic purposes. At the same time, there has been a gradual deterioration of river systems and their catchments. To add to this, there has been a gradual reduction in the amount of recorded rainfall, which is the primary source of freshwater for rivers. This has resulted in decreased freshwater inflow into estuaries, a situation which poses a serious threat to the biological functioning of these estuaries and the services rendered to its recreational users. A deterioration of estuary services reduces the yield for subsistence households and their appeal for recration. This study uses the contingent valuation method as its primary methodology to elicit users' willingness-to-pay to reduce the negative impacts of reduced freshwater inflow into selected western and southern Cape estuaries. Eight estuaries were selected for this study; the Breede, Duiwenhoks, Great Berg, Kleinemond West, Mhlathuze, Swartvlei and Olifants estuaries. The contingent valuation (CV) method is widely used for studies of this nature because of its ability to capture active, passive and non-use values. The CV method involves directly asking people how much they would be willing to pay for specific environmental services. In this case, users were asked what they would be willing to pay to sustain freshwater inflows into selected estuaries in order to prevent the negative impacts of reduced inflows. The travel cost method (TCM) was uesed to generate an alternative comparative set of values for the purposes of convergence testing. This is because convergence testing is highly desirable as a validity test for CV estimates.
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Fig, David. "The political economy of South-South relations : the case of South Africa and Latin America." Thesis, London School of Economics and Political Science (University of London), 1992. http://etheses.lse.ac.uk/1311/.
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Many factors have inhibited the consolidation of relations between countries of the post-colonial world, the "South". This dissertation aims to explore some of these factors through focusing on a case study of the relations between South Africa and its neighbours across the South Atlantic. Despite naval and commercial hegemony of the British Empire in the South Atlantic region during the nineteenth century, trade proved minimal and South Africa played a limited role in assisting the indictment of the transatlantic slave trade. It was only during the Boer War (1899-1902) that South Africa became the destination of Argentine exports in large measure: frozen beef to meet the needs of British troops. With the end of the war, a significant Boer migration to Patagonia was encouraged by the Argentine government. This community served to cement relations with South Africa up to and including the time of its repatriation in the late 1930s. Brazil's participation in World War Two alongside the Allies opened the way further for relations with South Africa and support for its position inside the new postwar United Nations Organisation. Growing links with the Afro-Asian world did not deter Brazil's military rulers - in power from 1964-85 - from encouraging trade and substantial South African investment. As right-wing military rule swept the Latin American region in the 1960s and 70s, South Africa, by now extremely isolated diplomatically, found a number of friends. Moral and military collaboration from the regimes in the Southern Cone - especially Chile - proved very welcome in Pretoria. Its adversarial relationship with Cuba in the context of regional conflict in Southern Africa also proved important. With redemocratisation in both regions the nature of the relationship will require re-examination. However, in the context of largely dormant South-South relationships, it is unlikely to expand massively under current global conditions of debt, trade competition, and commercial and cultural barriers. Utilising methodological analysis drawn from disciplines of economic history, social history, foreign policy analysis and international political economy, this dissertation attempts to throw light on a rather neglected corner of international relations.
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Prinsloo, Dominique. "Impacts of African elephant feeding on white rhinoceros foraging opportunities." Thesis, Nelson Mandela University, 2017. http://hdl.handle.net/10948/13768.
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In this study, I investigated the interaction between two megaherbivores, the African elephant and white rhinoceros, that has the potential to impact grazing lawns of which white rhino are the creators and maintainers and elephants are potentially the modifiers. I hypothesized that as elephants browse, they discard a variety of coarse woody debris onto the ground; should this woody debris (of varying amounts and sizes) fall onto grazing lawns, white rhino either move them, consume grass around the woody debris or abandon the lawn entirely. If high levels of woody debris are deposited here, grazing by white rhino is likely to be prevented, at which time I predicted that mesoherbivores would have a competitive advantage in accessing forage that white rhino cannot. I examined the mechanistic links between different levels of elephant-deposited woody debris and grass response at a point scale and feeding patch spatial scale of grazing lawns in an African savanna. In addition, I assessed the response of mesoherbivores in terms of vigilance behaviour with increasing levels of predation risk posed by increasing levels of woody debris. I present the first evidence of an indirect effect of elephant on white rhino foraging behaviour. I demonstrate how increasing levels of woody debris lead to a decreasing probability of foraging by white rhino. I also demonstrate how the probability of foraging by mesoherbivores increases as the amount of forage increases. However, since this study took place during a severe drought where resources are extremely limited, I was unable to properly separate the effects of elephant-deposited woody debris from the severe lack of rainfall on grass response and subsequently herbivore foraging behaviour. Due possibly to the drought, mesoherbivores responded less or not at all to risk factors such as woody debris therefore woody debris was not a predictor of vigilance behaviour in my study. This study contributes to our understanding of how the impacts of elephants, as ecosystem engineers, have cascading effects on savanna ecosystems. My study showed that elephant impact mediates the foraging behaviour of white rhino during a drought. However, under average rainfall periods, my original hypothesized effect of the indirect impacts of elephants on white rhino foraging and grazing lawn dynamics could still hold. This key hypothesis that I was unable to test under ‘normal’ conditions due to the drought is still valid and functionally important for understanding the ecosystem processes driving grazing lawn formation, persistence and composition in African savannas where elephants and white rhinos coexist.
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Ntshotsho, Phumza. "Towards evidence-based ecological restoration in South Africa." Thesis, Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2012. http://hdl.handle.net/10019.1/71969.
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Thesis (PhD)--Stellenbosch University, 2012.ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Widespread, human-induced ecosystem degradation and the associated biodiversity loss pose a direct threat to human wellbeing. While there is no substitute for healthy, self-sustaining ecosystems, ecological restoration offers an attractive, and indeed inevitable, supplement where conservation alone is not sufficient to support ecosystem integrity. Restoration is undergoing a revolution, where evidence-based (EB) practice is emerging as a new approach to increase the chances of successfully achieving restoration goals. EB practice is based on the notion that implementation decisions need to be based on the appraisal and use of evidence of effectiveness of alternative options. The point of departure of this thesis is the contention that EB practice need not be dependent only on research evidence. The work presented herein thus addresses the production and use of evidence of effectiveness in restoration practice. Using ten restoration programs in South Africa, the quality of evidence produced in practice was assessed. Three components of evidence production that were evaluated were (i) baseline condition measurement; (ii) goal setting and (iii) monitoring. Results showed poor definition of goals; a bias towards the use of socio-economic goals and indicators; more monitoring of inputs than impact; and inconsistent and short-term monitoring of biophysical indicators. Practitioners regarded the evidence base as adequate, but cited a few challenges associated with planning and resource availability as attributing factors to the gaps observed. I propose that practitioners’ perception of the current evidence base poses an additional threat to the generation of a strong evidence base. In addition to the production of evidence, access to said evidence is a vital component of EB practice. In an exploration of how evidence is made available by practitioners, it became evident in that a considerable amount of the information that was not easily accessible in documented form was known by the practitioners. This highlights the need for a shift in practice culture towards the valuing and rewarding of the dissemination of information. An assessment of EB restoration would have been incomplete without a deliberate consideration of social factors. I thus conducted a case study of an invasive alien plant clearing program, to determine what drives the use of scientific evidence in decision making. I observed that organizational structure, policies, priorities and capacity influence, and even limit, the use of scientific evidence to inform decisions. The challenges to making restoration evidence-based are diverse in nature, ranging from poor planning of restoration work, which points to limited appreciation of the need to produce a strong evidence base, to a lack of instruments and incentives to drive the generation, dissemination and use of evidence that spans both the biophysical and social aspects of restoration. These challenges are largely rooted in the conventional way of approaching restoration from individual disciplinary perspectives, thus artificially simplifying and compartmentalizing a naturally complex problem like degradation. I end by proposing transdisciplinarity, which focuses on a holistic world view and the production of knowledge that embraces complexity, as a possible vehicle to help move the practice of restoration towards being evidence-based.
AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Wydverspreide, mens-veroorsaakte agteruitgang van ekostelsels en die gepaardgaande verlies aan biodiversiteit hou 'n direkte bedreiging vir menslike welsyn in. Alhoewel daar geen plaasvervanger is vir 'n gesonde, selfonderhoudende ekostelsel is nie, bied ekologiese restourasie 'n aantreklike en inderdaad onvermydelik, vul waar bewaring alleen nie voldoende ekosisteem integriteit kan ondersteun nie. Restourasie ondergaan tans ‘n revolusie, waar bewys gebaseerde (BG) praktyk 'n opkomende nuwe benadering om die kanse van die suksesvolle bereiking van herstel doelwitte te verhoog. BG praktyk is gebaseer op die idee dat die uitvoering van besluite gebaseer moet word op die evaluering en die gebruik van bewyse van die effektiwiteit van alternatiewe opsies. Die punt van vertrek van hierdie proefskrif is die bewering dat BG praktyk nie noodwendig afhanklik van navorsings bewys hoef te wees nie. Die werk wat hier aangebied word spreek tot die produksie en gebruik van bewyse van effektiwiteit in die restourasie praktyk. Deur die gebruik van tien restourasie programme in Suid-Afrika is die kwaliteit van die bewyse in die praktyk geassesseer. Die drie komponente van bewyse produksie wat geëvalueer is sluit in (i) basislyn toestand meting, (ii) doelwitstelling en (iii) monitering. Resultate toon 'n swak definisie van doelwitte; 'n vooroordeel ten gunste van die gebruik van sosio-ekonomiese doelwitte en aanwysers; meer monitering van insette as die impak; en teenstrydige en kort-termyn monitering van biofisiese aanwysers. Beofenaars het die gebruik van bewys gebaseerde inligting as voldoende beskou, maar 'n paar uitdagings wat verband hou met die beplanning en die beskikbaarheid van bronne is aangehaal as kenmerkende faktore in die gapings wat tans waargeneem word. Ek stel voor dat beoefenaars se persepsie van die huidige bewysbasis praktyk 'n bykomende bedreiging vir die generasie van 'n sterk bewybasis praktyk inhou. Benewens die produksie van bewyse, is die toegang tot bewyse 'n belangrike komponent van die BG praktyk. In die verkenning van hoe bewyse beskikbaar gestel word deur beoefenaars, is dit duidelik dat 'n aansienlike aantal inligting wel bekend is aan beofenaars maar nie maklik toeganklik in gedokumenteerde vorm is nie. Dit beklemtoon die behoefte vir 'n verskuiwing in die praktyk kultuur tot die waardering en beloning van die verspreiding van inligting. 'n Beoordeling van die BG herstel sou onvolledig wees sonder 'n doelbewuste oorweging van sosiale faktore. Ek het dus 'n gevallestudie van 'n indringerplant verwyderings program uitgevoer om vas te stel wat die gebruik van wetenskaplike bewyse in besluitneming aandryf. Ek het opgemerk dat die organisatoriese struktuur, beleid, prioriteite en kapasiteit die gebruik van wetenskaplike bewyse kan beinvloed, en selfs beperk. Die uitdagings om herstelwerk bewys-gebaseerd te maak is uiteenlopend van aard, dit wissel van swak beplanning van herstel werk, wat dui op beperkte waardering van die behoefte om 'n sterk bewyse basis te produseer, 'n gebrek aan instrumente en aansporings vir die generasie van besyse, verspreiding en gebruik van bewyse wat strek oor beide die biofisiese en maatskaplike aspekte van die restaurasie. Hierdie uitdagings is grootliks gegrond op die konvensionele manier van restaurasie wat gebaseer is op individuele dissiplinêre perspektiewe,wat lei tot die kunsmatige simplifiseering van ‘n uiteraand komplekse problem soos agteruitgang. Ek eindig af deur die gebruik van transdissiplinariteit, wat fokus op 'n holistiese wêreldbeskouing en die produksie en kennis van kompleksiteit insluit voor te stel, as 'n moontlike voertuig om die skuif in praktyk van restourasie na n bewys-basis te vergemaklik.
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Kim, Yejoo. "Why corporatism failed : comparing South Africa and South Korea." Thesis, Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2014. http://hdl.handle.net/10019.1/95881.
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Thesis (PhD)--Stellenbosch University, 2014.ENGLISH ABSTRACT: In this study the aim is to examine what the impact of the imbalance in the power dynamics between the state, business and labour is on corporatist institutions in South Africa and South Korea. In both countries, the corporatist institutions have failed to bring the actors together and to resolve the various issues as these institutions were expected to do. When looking at the establishment of corporatist institutions in the two countries it is clear that the state had to incorporate the interests of labour in their decision-making process due to the increasing power of labour during the democratisation process. However, the current situation proves that the corporatist institutions in South Africa and South Korea have faced various problems. Therefore why the corporatist institutions in the two countries have not functioned properly is explored in this study. It was found that labour has been placed at a disadvantage compared to the state and business. The influence of labour as an agenda setter and a representative of labour has diminished. On the other hand the state and business, which used to form a coalition under the authoritarian governments, have started gaining power along with globalisation. The adoption of neo-liberal economic policies, has resulted in the fragmentation of labour, generating unemployment and irregular jobs. The imbalance of power between the actors has negatively affected the corporatist institutions. Under the circumstances, the corporatist institutions did not ensure that the voice of labour was heard and heeded. Instead of using corporatism, labour in South Africa tends to use the tripartite alliance in order to advance its interests. Labour in South Korea is likely to use mass action, and this tendency prevails in South Africa as well. Also, the corporatist institutions have been criticised due to their lack of accountability and institutional problems; this has negatively affected their credibility. The corporatist institutions have become little more than names. In the cases of South Africa and South Korea, corporatism seems to have been adopted as a mere crisis response when the two countries faced political economic crises and it is seen as another control mechanism created by states experiencing democratisation. Furthermore, the imbalance in the relationship between actors negatively affected the corporatist institutions and in the end they collapsed.
AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: In hierdie studie word die impak van die magsbalans tussen die staat, sakesektor en georganiseerde arbeid op korporatisme in Suid-Afrika en Suid-Korea ondersoek. In beide gevalle het die korporatiewe instellings nie daarin geslaag om die nodige konsensus tussen die drie sleutel akteurs te bewerkstellig nie. As gevolg van demokratiseringsprosesse in beide state, en die toenemende invloed van arbeid, was die staat verplig om die belange van arbeid in besluitnemingsprosesse in ag te neem. Die korporatiewe instellings in Suid-Afrika, nl. NEDLAC en die KTC in Suid-Korea staar egter verskeie probleme in die gesig, Waarom die korporatiewe instellings nie behoorlik gefunksioneer het nie, word in die studie onder die loep geneem. Arbeid het in ‘n onderdanige posisie jeens die staat en die sake sektor te staan gekom aangesien die invloed van georganiseerde arbeid as ‘n agenda skepper en verteenwoordiger van arbeid afgeneem het. Aan die ander kant het die aanvanklike koalisie tussen die staat en die sakesektor gedurende die outoritere periodes - voor demokratisering - weer eens verstewig as gevolg van die invloed van globalisering. Namate neo-liberale ekonomiese beleide nagevolg is, het die vakbond beweging al meer gedisintegreer, werkloosheid het toegeneem en gelei tot werksgeleenthede wat al meer tydelik en ongereguleer is. Die ongelyke magsbalans tussen die rolspelers het die korporatistiese instellings negatief beinvloed. Onder die omstandighede, kon die korporatistiese instellings nie daarin slaag om aan die stem van arbeid gehoor te gee soos wat gehoop is nie. In plaas daarvan om dus van die korporatistiese instellings gebruik te maak, het arbeid in Suid-Afrika eerder van die vakbond beweging se rol in die regerende alliansie gebruik gemaak om beleid te probeer beinvloed. Arbeid in Suid-Korea, soos in Suid-Afrika, is ook meer geneig om van massa aksie gebruik te maak. Daarbenewens is die korporatiewe instellings daarvan beskuldig dat hulle nie deursigtig is nie en gebuk gaan onder institutionele gebreke, wat die geloofwaardigheid van die instellings ondermyn het. In die Suid-Afrikaanse en Suid-Koreaanse gevalle blyk dit dat korporatisme bloot as ‘n soort ‘krisis reaksie’ tot ekonomiese en politieke probleme ontwikkel het – in samehang met demokratisering - en nie as diepgaande beieldsprosesse in eie reg nie. Die gebrek aan ‘n magsbalans tussen die drie rolspelers het daartoe gelei dat die korporatiewe instellings in beide gevalle effektief tot niet gekom het.
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Manuel, Theodore Llewellyn. "The biology and ecology of Bifurcaria brassiceaformis (Kütz) Barton (Phaeophyta, Fucales)." Master's thesis, University of Cape Town, 1991. http://hdl.handle.net/11427/22478.
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Summary in English.Bibliography: pages 146-169.
The biology, population dynamics, and the environmental tolerances (temperature and light) in laboratory culture, of the endemic intertidal South African fucoid Bifurcaria brassicaeformis (Kütz) Barton have been investigated. A general description is included of the morphology and anatomy, and comparisons made with that of other species in the genus. Studies on plants collected from contrasting habitats on the lowshore and from mid-shore pools revealed that while cortical thickness of vegetative uprights were similar for both habitats, medullary diameters were generally higher, corresponding to generally thicker uprights in the low-shore. Observations on the method of zygote attachment revealed that attachment of the species resembles that of the European Bifurcaria and Halidrys siliguosa which both also display delayed rhizoidal development and initially attach by means of a mucilage secretion of the zygote wall. Observations on receptacle anatomy revealed that size of conceptacles increase from the apex to the base of a receptacle.
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Sowaga, Dulile Frans. "Lessons for South Africa's national identity: the political writings of Aggrey Klaaste." Thesis, Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, 2012. http://hdl.handle.net/10948/d1021077.
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This study is a content analysis of political writings of Aggrey Klaaste (1988-2002). Six theoretical themes suggest that Klaaste’s Nation Building philosophy can help deal with racial and social divisions in the country. These historical divisions are the source of racial tensions, lack of inter-racial socialisations and cause separate living. Lack of social cohesion makes it impossible for post apartheid South Africa to achieve much-needed single national identity. The process of nation building proposed by Klaaste starts with breaking down what he refers to as ‘the corrugated iron curtain’. Social curtaining is deliberate actions by people of different racial groups, religious formations and social classes to build psychological, physical, institutional, political, economic and religious boundaries around themselves to keep others outside their living spaces. These conscious barriers result in unstable democracy as the majority (black population) get frustrated with shack dwellings - as symbols of poverty - while the white population and the middle class blacks move to white suburbs. Moving to upmarket suburbs does not necessarily make race groups to cohere and share a common national identity. Instead informal settlements breed social ills such as poverty, crime and drug substances abuse. This status quo can cause serious political instability which will affect everyone – black and white. Klaaste argues that for collective survival all race groups need to enter into politics of action. For this he proposes specific processes and actions through Nation Building. It is argued that political solutions have failed to unite people and leaders from all sectors of society should emerge. Blacks cannot moan and hate forever. Whites will be affected and must actively support the rebuilding process. This treatise proposes nation building as a process to help everyone to find uniting issues free of political ideologies to create new brotherhood and Ubuntu.
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Muller, Cuen. "Evaluating the importance of mangroves as fish nurseries in selected warm temperate South African estuaries." Thesis, Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, 2017. http://hdl.handle.net/10948/12080.
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The value of mangrove habitats as fish nurseries was assessed by comparing communities of early stage and juvenile fishes between estuaries with and without mangroves. Early stage fishes were sampled using boat-based plankton towing while juveniles were sampled by seine netting. Sampling took place at five sites spaced 1 km apart starting near the estuary mouth in four estuaries along the temperate coastline of the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa. Four estuaries were selected based on shared similarities which included catchment area, estuarine area and shared habitats barring the presence of mangroves which occupied the river margins of two systems. Results revealed that early stage and juvenile fish communities (both marine- and estuary-spawned) were similar between systems with and without mangrove habitats. Differences in fish communities among estuaries were rather attributed to axial salinity gradients associated with greater freshwater input, while season and temperature produced significant variances in fish densities with Generalised Additive Models revealing responses of communities to these variables. A common estuarine-dependent fish, Rhabdosargus holubi (Family Sparidae), was further investigated to determine habitat use, residency and dietary patterns in different mangrove habitats. High habitat residency in this species was revealed during a short-term tagging study using Visible Implant Elastomer tags and long-term isotope analysis in juveniles sampled from two contrasting mangrove habitats. A wider feeding niche was observed in an eelgrass-red mangrove connected habitat when compared with more exposed white mangrove areas. Low dependence on mangrove habitats in temperate estuaries is likely due to their tidally dominated inundation and limited refuge potential due to smaller area coverage by mangroves in temperate estuaries. Relatively lower primary productivity in warm temperate mangrove areas, relative to their tropical counterparts, provides no significant feeding advantage or refuge opportunities relative to other available habitats in these estuaries. Warm temperate estuaries, which are both spatially and temporally highly variable, instead host species which are habitat generalists, able to capitalise on these highly dynamic environments.
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Kinsell, Andrew. "POST-APARTHEID POLITICAL CULTURE IN SOUTH AFRICA, 1994-2004." Master's thesis, Orlando, Fla. : University of Central Florida, 2009. http://purl.fcla.edu/fcla/etd/CFE0002787.
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Essel, Rudolf. "Short-term insurance of political risks in South Africa." Thesis, Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2012. http://hdl.handle.net/10019.1/20005.
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Thesis (MComm)--Stellenbosch University, 2012.ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Almost all enterprises, individuals and organisations face some form of political risk on a continuous basis. In the past, mines have been lost, terrorist attacks have been devastating, and financial markets have experienced large losses due to political risk factors. We live in an ever-increasing politically insecure world where political risk factors and the analysis thereof receive increasing attention from both international and domestic establishments. From a business perspective, making the correct business decisions and determining the appropriate risk management strategy consequently are crucial to the success of an enterprise, due to the ever-present nature of political risk factors in the business environment. Especially in the emerging market economies of the world, political risk is an important phenomenon. In such emerging market economies, political risk factors could play a role that is as important as the economic factors that are decisive in the performance of markets. It is well known that the emerging market economies of the world have been the main recipients of foreign direct investments. A closer study of these economies has indicated that the majority of such investments have gone to the so-called BRICS countries (the Federative Republic of Brazil, the Russian Federation, the Republic of India, the People‟s Republic of China, and the Republic of South Africa). After having studied the political and economic environments of the BRICS countries, it was concluded that ten political risk factors are common to these countries, namely nationalisation, confiscation, creeping expropriation, currency inconvertibility, breach of contract, non-honouring of government guarantees, war, violent civil unrest, non-violent civil unrest and terrorism. These political risk factors were investigated in a South African context by means of an empirical survey. A census was undertaken that consisted of structured personal interviews (based on a questionnaire) that were pre-arranged with most of the agents who sell Sasria insurance on behalf of Sasria Ltd. These agents mainly were conventional short-term insurers who handled claims on behalf of Sasria Ltd., which placed them in an excellent position to provide the study with valuable information. Violent civil unrest and non-violent civil unrest have not only been the political risk factors that had the most important impact on the total annual claims amount of the respondents over the past five years, but have also been the political risk factors that most frequently resulted in claims. It therefore did not come as a surprise that these were the two political risk factors for which there had been the highest level of demand for cover over the past five years. In terms of the importance of impact, the frequency of claims and the demand for cover, violent civil unrest and non-violent civil unrest are expected to remain the two most important political risk factors in South Africa over the next five years. When compared to the past five years, all the political risk factors (excluding breach of contract) are expected to have an increased impact in South Africa over the next five years. They are also expected to present an equal number or more claims in general. While excluding war and terrorism, the expectation is that the demand for cover against them will generally remain at the same level, but may increase. The South African short-term insurance industry generally faces considerable challenges regarding the cover provided against political risk factors to the public and businesses in South Africa. The industry and the South African public therefore need to be aware of the impact that various political risk factors have on the cover that is provided. This research study should assist the executives of short-term insurance in making better risk management decisions and exercising better control over their responsibilities regarding specific political risk factors in South Africa.
AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Feitlik alle ondernemings, individue en organisasies kom voortdurend voor een of ander politieke risiko te staan. In die verlede was daar verlies van myne, terroriste-aanvalle het verwoesting gesaai en finansiële markte het groot skade gely vanweë politieke risikofaktore. Ons bevind onsself in 'n wêreld van toenemende politieke onsekerheid waarin internasionale sowel as binnelandse instellings meer en meer aandag aan politieke risikofaktore en die ontleding daarvan wy. Vanuit 'n sakeperspektief word korrekte besigheidsbesluitneming en die vasstelling van toepaslike risikobestuurstrategië vanweë die voortdurende teenwoordigheid van politieke risikofaktore binne die sake-omgewing gevolglik van uiterste belang vir die sukses van 'n onderneming. Politieke risiko is veral in die ontluikende mark-ekonomieë van die wêreld 'n belangrike verskynsel. In hierdie ontluikende mark-ekonomieë kan politieke risikofaktore 'n rol speel wat net so belangrik is as die ekonomiese faktore wat deurslaggewend is ten opsigte van hoe markte presteer. Dit is welbekend dat die ontluikende mark-ekonomieë van die wêreld die vernaamste ontvangers van buitelandse direkte beleggings is. 'n Nadere beskouing van hierdie ekonomieë het getoon dat die meerderheid van sulke beleggings na die sogenaamde BRICS-lande (die Bondsrepubliek van Brasilië, die Russiese Federasie, die Republiek van Indië, die Volksrepubliek van China en die Republiek van Suid-Afrika) gaan. 'n Studie van die politieke en ekonomiese omgewings van die BRICS-lande het tot die gevolgtrekking gelei dat hierdie lande tien politieke risikofaktore in gemeen het, naamlik nasionalisering, beslaglegging, kruipende onteiening, onverwisselbaarheid van valuta, kontrakbreuk, nie-nakoming van regeringswaarborge, oorlog, gewelddadige burgerlike onrus, nie-gewelddadige burgerlike onrus, en terrorisme. Hierdie politieke risikofaktore is met behulp van 'n empiriese ondersoek binne die Suid-Afrikaanse konteks ondersoek. Gestruktureerde persoonlike onderhoude (wat op 'n vraelys gebaseer was), is gebruik om 'n sensus te onderneem. Hierdie onderhoude is vooraf met agente wat Sasria-versekering namens Sasria Bpk. verkoop, gereël. Die agente was hoofsaaklik konvensionele korttermyn-versekeraars wat alle eise namens Sasria Bpk. hanteer. Hulle was dus in 'n uitstekende posisie om die studie van waardevolle inligting te voorsien.
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Dlali, Patience Tobeka. "The socio-political impact of globalisation on South Africa." Thesis, Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2005. http://hdl.handle.net/10019.1/50525.
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Thesis (MBA)--Stellenbosch University, 2005.ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The primary aim of this study is to investigate the socia-political impact of globalisation on South Africa. The objective of the study is to gain a better understanding of how globalisation has impacted on govemance, policy-making, culture and civil society with special reference to South Africa. The study also looks at the effects of globalisation in terms of gains and losses accrued by South Africa and other African countries Globalisation presents many challenges to developing nations, as the effects of this phenomenon have been uneven. South Africa as a developing country became reintegrated to the world economy after the first democratic elections in 1994. The country re-entered the world stage at a time when the process of globalisation was gaining momentum. The process has had an impact on policy making which resulted in a shift from the original policy of RDP to the GEAR policy. Globalisation has had the effect of increasing in and out of the country. On the economic front foreign direct investment has increased and South Africa has entered into a number of multilateral trade agreements with the different countries. On the political arena, governance hiis been affected with emphasis on the democratic principles of governance. South Africa has been playing an active role in making Africa a stable continent advocating democratic principles of governance. Together with Nigeria, South Africa have been leaders of the African Union and its marketing wing the New Partnership for Africa's Development. President Mbeki has been the selling the vision of NEPAD to leaders of industrialised countries and South Africa is one of the first countries that will be subjected to the peer review monitoring system. South Africa has been active as well in peacekeeping missions in the continent where South Africa's troops can be found in countries such as Rwanda, Democratic Republic of Congo and Burundi. As globalisation impacts on society, it is inevitable that culture will be affected . Whether one views cultural changes as disadvantageous or advantageous depends on the individual. Globalisation through technology has made cross-cultural exchanges across borders possible with the result it is easy nowadays for people to move across within a limited amount of time. What this means is that globalisation has compressed time and space. Globalisation has met with resistance as evidenced by the anti-globalisation sentiments expressed by different civil society groups whenever there are meetings of the multilateral institutions. What needs to be done by the industrialised countries is to ensure that benefits of globalisation are filtered through so that even people in developing countries can enjoy them.
AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die hoofdoel van hierdie studie is om die sosio-politieke impak van globalisering op Suid-Afrika te ondersoek. Die doel van die studie is om 'n beter begrip te kry van invloed van globalsering op regering, wetgewing, kultuur en burgerlike samelewing met spesifieke verwysing na Suid-Afrika. Die studie ondersoek ook die effek van globalisering in terme van die opgehoopte wins en verliese deur Suid-Afrika en ander Afrika-Iande. Globalisering bied baie uitdagings aan ontwikkelende lande na gelang die effek van hierdie fenomeen ongelyk is. Suid-Afika, as 'n ontwikkelende land, is weer heringeskakel in die wereldtoneel op 'n tydstip wat die proses van globalisering in momentum toegeneem het. Die proses het 'n impak gehad op beleidmaking wat 'n verskuiwing tot gevolg gehad het van die oorsporonklike RDP beleid na die GEAR beleid. Globalisering het in toenemende mate 'n effek in en buite die land gehad. Op die ekonomiese front het direkte buitelandse belegging toegeneem en Suid-Afrika het tot verskeie multilaterale handelsoorenkomste met verskillende lande toegetree. Op politieke gebied is regering beinvloed met nadruk op die demokratiese beginsels van regering. Suid-Afrika speel steeds 'n aktiewe rol om Afrika 'n stabliele kontinent te maak terwyl demokratiese beginsels van regering voorgestaan word. Saam met Nigeria is Suid-Afrika leier van die Afrika Unie en sy bemarkingsvleuel, die Nuwe Vennootskap vir Afrika Ontwikkeling. President Mbeki is steeds besig om die visie van NEPAD aan leiers van ge'industraliseerde lande te verkoop en Suid-Afrika is een van die eerste lande wat aan 'n moneteringsisteem onderwerp gaan word. Suit-Afrika is aktief in vredessendings op die kontinent waar Suid-Afrikaanse Troepe geplaas is in lande soos Rwanda, Demokratiese Republiek van die Kongo en Burundi. Soos globalisering die gemeenskap be'invloed, is dit onvermydelik dat die kultuur beinvloed sal word. Of mens kulturele veranderinge as onvoordelig of voordelig beskou, sal afhang van die individu. Globalisering deur middel van tegnologie het kruis-kulturele verwisseling oor grense heen moontlik gemaak. gevolglik is verwisseling oor grense moontlik gemaak binne beperkte tydsduur. Dit alles beteken dat globalisering tyd en ruimte saampers. Globalisering het ook teen weerstand te staan gekom soos blyk uit die anti-globalisering sentimente by verskillende burgelike gemeenskapsgroepe wanneer daar vergaderings van multilaterale instellings is. Wat gedoen moet word deur ge'industrialiseerde lande is om te verseker dat voordele van globalisering deurgefilter word sodat ook mense in ontwikkelende lande dit kan geniet.
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Jenkins, Andrew Robert. "Behavioural ecology of Peregrine and Lanner falcons in South Africa." Doctoral thesis, University of Cape Town, 1998. http://hdl.handle.net/11427/16100.
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Bibliography: p. 88-94.The Peregrine Falcon Falco peregrinus is a specialized predator of birds. It occurs almost worldwide but is generally uncommon. In many areas, it is sympatric with one of a complex of similar, less specialized, congeneric species (subgenus Hierofalco, the desert falcons). Peregrine density and productivity tend to decrease with latitude, while desert falcons may be most successful in the tropics. This study compares the biology of Peregrines and sympatric Lanner Falcons F. biarmicus in South Africa, and examines the relative influence of resource limitation and interspecific competition with congeners on the natural regulation of Peregrine populations in tropical environments.
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Bergamino, Roman Leandro. "Spatial and temporal variations in trophic connectivity within an estuarine environment : benthic-pelagic and terrestrial-aquatic linkages via invertebrates and fishes." Thesis, Rhodes University, 2015. http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1017799.
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Estuarine ecosystems are among the most biologically productive areas and they provide important ecosystem services such as erosion control, habitat and refugia for several species. These environments are characterized by the presence of a variety of organic matter sources due to their transitional position between rivers and the sea. The biotic compositions can undergo spatial and seasonal changes along the estuary due to the spatial and temporal fluctuations of environmental factors such as salinity, temperature and seston loads. Therefore, the different combinations of biotic and abiotic factors make each estuary a unique ecosystem. Because of this spatial and temporal complexity, the understanding of estuarine food web structure and which factors affect the trophic relationships within the ecosystem through space and time represent challenging tasks. Furthermore, estuaries are under an increasing number of anthropogenic perturbations because of the growing concentration of human populations in coastal areas. Knowledge of ecosystem structure and functioning is essential for effective conservation and management planning of coastal areas.In this dissertation, I combine the utilization of biological tracers to examine spatial and temporal variability in the food web structure within a small temperate and microtidal estuary located in South Africa. To this end, fatty acid profiles and stable isotope signatures were measured in several primary organic matter sources and consumers (including zooplankton, fishes and benthic invertebrates) during four consecutive seasons and in three different estuarine regions: upper, middle, and lower reaches. The three reaches had distinct habitat features of vegetation type and morphology, and in particular the lower reaches were colonized by the marsh grass Spartina maritima. Isotopic mixing models were used to estimate the relative contribution of each food source to the diets of invertebrates and fishes within the estuarine food web. The isotopic and fatty acid data showed similar results. In general, the lower reaches of the estuary were characterized by a higher deposition and assimilation by brachyuran crabs of carbon derived from marsh grass detritus, whiletowards the upper reaches a mixture of microphytobenthos and particulate organic matter (phytoplankton and detritus) was deposited and sustained the pelagic and benthic fauna. The highest deposition and assimilation of marsh grass detritus in the lower reaches of the estuary occurred during periods of low freshwater discharge (autumn and winter). In the upper reaches, microphytobenthos and suspended particulate organic matter were dominant basal food resources for the food web during all seasons. These results indicated that benthic consumers incorporated mainly local carbon sources from their local habitat.To clarify isotopic and fatty acid patterns I examined the trophic behaviour of the sesarmid crab Sesarma catenata through laboratory feeding experiments. Results from these experiments validated that decomposed leaves of riparian trees and the salt marsh plant S. maritima were the preferred food of the sesarmid crabs, potentially due to high bacterial loads. The remaining leaf material not assimilated by crabs, together with faecal material, are likely important subsidies for adjacent environments, hence representing an important energy pathway involving the microbial food chain. Furthermore, this dissertation showed the importance of mobile top predators as vectors energetically connecting distinct food chains within the estuary (i.e. littoral, benthic and pelagic). I concluded that a combination of physical (i.e. patterns of freshwater discharge and estuary morphology) and biological factors (i.e. organism feeding behaviour, mobility, primary productivity, the local vegetation type) influence the pattern of dominant primary organic matter sources, and therefore the food web structure along the estuarine environment. In particular, marsh grass detritus contributed substantially to the diets of estuarine fauna during periods of low freshwater discharge. Given the importance of the salt marsh habitat in providing trophic resources, it is important to preserve this environment to sustain the natural biota and ecosystem functioning.
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Roets, Francois. "Ecology and systematics of South African Protea-associated Ophiostoma species." Thesis, Link to the online version, 2006. http://hdl.handle.net/10019.1/1469.
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Bloemiers, Gary. "An evaluation of political participation by coloured people, 1994-2009." Thesis, Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, 2012. http://hdl.handle.net/10948/d1008078.
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The aim of the study was to gain an understanding of the level of political participation of Coloured people in the northern areas of Port Elizabeth. The focus was to investigate and identify if political apathy exists among Coloureds in the northern areas of Port Elizabeth and the reasons thereof, if it existed. The northern area of Port Elizabeth is a historically Coloured area created with the imposition of the segregation policies of the apartheid government. The study attempted to explore means to improve political participation of Coloured people in Port Elizabeth. Coloured people have played an important role in the political landscape in South Africa during the colonial and apartheid period. The voting power of the Coloured people during the colonial and apartheid period have been a determining factor in shaping the political landscape. The study commences with a broad overview of the political participation and political identity of Coloured people during the colonial and apartheid periods, including the current political dispensation. The study also included the analysis of secondary information in the form of statistical data in respect of election results from the 1999 elections through to the 2009 national elections. Data was collected by using qualitative and quantitative methods referred to as methodological triangulation. The qualitative method comprised face-to-face semi-structured interviews with political and community leaders in the northern areas that gained information on the levels of political participation and the extent of political disengagement. The quantitative method included a questionnaire that established views of respondents regarding levels of political participation and apathy to determine the levels of political disengagement. The interviews elicited valuable information on political participation of Coloured people before and after 1994. Information was also gained on the existence and the reasons for the perceived political apathy. Valuable insight was gained as to how Coloured people view the importance of political participation and the results indicated the limited participation beyond elections. Recommendations are made on the importance of civil society participation, the visibility of political parties and the importance of political education and how it can contribute to increased political participation.
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Rossi, Pierre. "The political ecology of ethnicity : the case of the South Tyrol." Thesis, University of British Columbia, 1990. http://hdl.handle.net/2429/29209.
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Unlike ethnies defined by genotype, religion or socio-cultural traits, ethno-linguistic groups require a structural basis that is territorial. Only in such a context can they exist and survive. The coexistence of three distinct ethno-linguistic groups - indigenous Germanophones and Ladins and recently-settled Italophones - in the South Tyrol is proof of this. This structural imperative stems from the societal changes of the last few centuries which made capitalist relations of production and statist institutions the dominant structural bases of social organization. The changes reshaped infrastructural mechanisms of social organization, their structured properties and the superstructural knowledge that guides human agency in instantiating such properties.
The consequences for the South Tyrol and its peoples were their subordination to external centres. Under fascist rule this subordination created a bifurcated spatio-functional order which, under conditions of democratic rule and political autonomy, enabled the indigenous periphery or complementary region to assert its centrality vis-a-vis the territory's Italophone-controlled vital centre by using autonomous political institutions located in the same vital centre.Arts, Faculty of
Political Science, Department of
Graduate
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McCord, Meaghen Erica. "Aspects of the ecology and management of the Soupfin shark (Galeorhinus galeus) in South Africa." Thesis, Rhodes University, 2005. http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1005066.
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Global trends in teleost fisheries indicate significant population declines. Thus, alternative fisheries are being developed to meet the growing economic and nutritional demands of the expanding human population. Recently, it has been established that elasmobranch fisheries may fulfill these demands. As many elasmobranchs possess life-history characteristics that make them particularly vulnerable to overfishing, it is imperative to develop management strategies prior to the inception of these fisheries to ensure sustainable resource utilisation. In South Africa, elasmobranchs have been commercially exploited since the 1930s. Although generally considered an under-exploited resource, the potential for growth within these fisheries has been recognized. In 2005, the commercial shark fishery will undergo a transition from medium to long-term rights allocations. This represents an ideal opportunity for scientists and managers to develop precautionary species-specific management plans for commercially exploitable elasmobranch species. The soupfin shark (Galeorhinus galeus) is one of the principal target species in South Africa’s shark fisheries. Given its inherent susceptibility to overexploitation, G. galeus was selected as a management priority by South Africa’s regional fisheries organisation. The purpose of this study was to examine and describe the stock status of G. galeus in South Africa, and to develop a precautionary fishery management plan to ensure the sustainability of this resource. Age, growth, and mortality calculations for G. galeus were made from research survey data collected between 1996 and 1999. A small sample size precluded independent analyses of females. The maximum recorded age for G. galeus was 33 years. Estimated von Bertalanffy growth parameters from observed length-at-age for males and combined sexes were: L∞ 1542.8 mm TL, K 0.21 year⁻¹ , t₀ -2.79 year⁻¹ and L∞ 1560.3 mm TL, K 0.19 year¹, t₀ -3.03 year⁻¹, respectively. The age-at-50% maturity was determined to be 6 years, corresponding to 1011 mm TL for males and 1100 mm TL for combined sexes. Natural mortality was calculated as 0.126 yr⁻¹. The rate of instantaneous total mortality was calculated as 0.27 yr⁻¹. Catch trend analysis showed that catches and CPUE of G. galeus are increasing in the demersal longline fishery, and decreasing in the handline fishery. Decreasing catches and CPUE were observed in fishery-independent research survey data. The status of the soupfin shark stock was modelled using per-recruit analysis. The SB/R model indicated the soupfin shark is being optimally exploited and spawner biomass is at 43% of preexploitation levels. Current fishing levels ( F = 0.14 yr⁻¹) approximate the Fsb₄₀ level (F = 0.17 yr¹); thus, an increase in fishing pressure may lead to stock collapse. It was determined that the current age-at-capture (7.9 years) should be increased to 10 years, or 1420 mm TL, to maximize yield and minimize the possibility of recruitment failure. The results of this study indicate a need for immediate scientific and management intervention in South Africa’s soupfin shark fishery. An assessment report and fishery management plan for G. galeus was compiled, and several management options were proposed. These include the implementation of licence and size restrictions, as well as seasonal/area closures. The potential for an experimental gillnet fishery should be investigated.
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Graham, Greg A. "POSTCOLONIAL TRAGEDY: JAMAICA AND SOUTH AFRICA IN COMPARATIVE PERSPECTIVE." Diss., Temple University Libraries, 2012. http://cdm16002.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/ref/collection/p245801coll10/id/168914.
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Political SciencePh.D.
This dissertation argues that political tragedy--the circumstance in which the efforts of political heroes and their people's struggle to effect their societal ideals achieve the opposite outcomes with politically nihilistic consequences--is a feature of the recent attempts to establish viable democratic societies in the postcolonies of Jamaica and South Africa. The political tragedy that it puts forward is in this sense democratic political tragedy. The author examines G.W.F. Hegel's discussion of tragedy as the founding modern example of its treatment in political theory. After addressing its formal, Hegelian foundations, democratic political tragedy in the postcolony is shown to be a telling disjunction between the pursuit of the imperatives of economic growth and immersion in the global economy on the one hand, and the abiding quest for meaningful distributive social justice and national sovereignty on the other. The author argues that popular democratic expectations of the political imagination and creativity of historically oppressed and marginalized populations of Jamaica and South Africa have been aroused by tragic leadership figures. Jamaica under Michael Manley over the course of the 1970s and South Africa under the stewardship of Nelson Mandela from 1994 to 1999 provide the case studies against which the theory is tested. In both instances, the contemporary situation of those countries reveal the tragic course from solidarity and hope to despair under the weight of neoliberal regimes of radicalized inequalities and political disenfranchisement.
Temple University--Theses
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Gray, David Richard. "Studies of the biology and ecology of the high shore South African limpet, Helcion pectunculus (Mollusca : patellogastropoda)." Thesis, Rhodes University, 1997. http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1005464.
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Investigations were carried out into aspects of the bio!ogy and ecology of Helcion pectunculus along the coait of South Africa. These included studies of the distribution, density and biomass of the limpet at six sites along the east coast plus one site on the west coast; the growth of H pectunculus on both west and east coasts; a comparison of the reproductive biology of the east and west coast populations; the foraging activity and feeding behaviour of H pectunculus and the driving forces behind the rhythmic behaviour of this limpet; the importance of the crevice environment in the biology and ecology of H pectunculus. Helcion pectunculus has a restricted zonation, with the majority of animals residing in crevices in the upper Balanoid zone during diurnallowtides, although individuals were occasionally found in the lower Balanoid zone on shores with a gently sloping aspect. This limpet occurs in higher densities (50-lO0 individuals/m2) on shores which have large numbers of crevices and boulders i.e. quartzitic sandstone shores. On most shores, the ratio of males to females differed significantly from a 1: 1 ratio with the highest ratio being obtained on the west .. coast (3 males: 1 female). At all sites, the populations of H pectunculus exhibited strong sexual dimorphism. Males and females were always found to differ in size, with individuals of < 20 mm shell length generally being male whilst limpets with a shell length of> 22 mm were generally female. Helcion pectunculus grows allometrically, increasing in height faster than length, which is expected of a high shore gastropod mollusc attempting to reduce evaporative water loss. Growth rates were similar on both east and west coasts regardless of the differing oceanographic conditions. The theoretical values of Lmax were also similar being 30.86 mm and 30.71 mm respectively. Micro-growth bands are laid down within its' shell which have the same periodicity as the tidal cycle and these enabled age estimates to be made. Younger individuals were male whilst older animals were female, suggesting that H pectunculus is a protandrous hermaphrodite. Histological examination proved, unequivocally, that this limpet undergoes a protandric sex change, changing from male to female when they are about 2 years old. Both east and west coast popUlations had a marked reproductive cycle, exhibiting two spawning periods a year, one in April and another in November. The possibility that the reproductive pattern exhibited is now phylogeneticallyconstrained is discussed. It is suggested that H pectunculus has evolved a reproductive cycle which will allow its planktonic larvae to utilise the valuable phytoplankton bloom food source whilst using onshore winds to ensure that larvae are not transported out to sea and lost. The number of foraging excursions carried out by individuals of H pectunculus was found to have a significant effect on Gonad Index and hence potential reproductive output. The activity pattern of H pectunculus varied depending upon micro-habitat; animals inhabiting both east and west facing rock surfaces are active during nocturnal low tides whilst animals on west facing rock surfaces are also active during daytime low tides whilst in the shade. Limpets travel further during foraging excursions in winter (X = 85.53 cm) than in either spring (x = 55.7 cm) or summer (X = 48.8 cm) and also during spring low tides (x = 89.8 cm) compared with neaps (x = 40.9 cm). This limpet exhibits rigid homing to a fixed scar within a-crevice and feeding excursions were found to cons.is.t. of three distinct phases, a rapid outward phase, a slower foraging phase and a rapid homeward phase. Foraging was always highly directional, with a mean vector which took limpets onto an area of the rockface with the highest microalgal biomass and also the smoothest rock surface. Helcion pectunculus exhibits a free-running endogenous rhythm of locomotor activity with both circadian and circatidal components and it is suggested that this rhythm plays a role in allowing the limpet to avoid unfavourable environmental conditions. The exogenous entrainment factor of this endogenous rhythm was the time of exposure to air in the field. There was found to be an organized distribution of limpets within crevices with smaller, younger limpets being towards the back of the crevice and larger, older limpets towards the crevice mouth. It is hypothesized that juvenile limpets of this species actively select and settle at the backs of crevices responding to chemical cues of adult conspecifics. The crevice refuge supplies the limpets with a stable and buffered environment with higher relative humidities (X = 72.3%) and lower rock surface temperatures (X = 19.7°C) than adjacent exposed rock surfaces (X = 64.5%; x = 22.9°C). Limpet body temperatures were significantly lower in crevic~refuges compared to limpets on exposed rock surfaces. Body temperatures never exceeded the rock surface temperatures. It is suggested that this is the result of morphological adaptations such as shell ornamentation and allometric growth. Light levels above 1000 J.1E.m-2.s-1 inhibited foraging activity in H. pectunculuswhilst limpets subjected to 30-50% shade foraged even during daytime lowtides. This limpet is one of the least tenacious (2.75 ± 0.13 kg.cm-2 ) of all South African limpets and the possibility that wave activity governs both the activity patterns and homing behaviour of this limpet is discussed. Limpets deprived of a crevice refuge experienced extremely high mortalities, with 45% of the limpets being lost during the first high tide period. A hypothetical model of the hierarchy of exogenous factors controlling limpet foraging activity is introduced and discussed in relation to the results of this study. Finally, it is suggested that in addition to the "migratory" and "non-migratory" groups of limpets present on southern African shores a third group of limpets seem to be present which may be classed as "specialized non-migratory" species. These are species that do not migrate, garden or aggressively fight off like conspecifics. They have overcome the competition for space and food on intertidal rocky shores by adapting to a particular habitat which is exclusive to them alone. From the combined results of these studies, it can be stated that H. pectunculus has adapted physiologically, morphologically and behaviourally to successfully survive the extreme conditions in the upper Balanoid zone.
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Mann, Gareth. "Aspects of the ecology of leopards (Panthera Pardus) in the Little Karoo, South Africa." Thesis, Rhodes University, 2014. http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1012241.
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Leopards (Panthera pardus) are the most common large predators, free roaming outside of protected areas across most of South Africa. Leopard persistence is attributed to their tolerance of rugged terrain that is subject to less development pressure, as well as their cryptic behaviour. Nevertheless, existing leopard populations are threatened indirectly by ongoing transformation of natural habitat and directly through hunting and conflict with livestock farmers. Together these threats may further isolate leopards to fragmented areas of core natural habitat. I studied leopard habitat preferences, population density, diet and the attitudes of landowners towards leopards in the Little Karoo, Western Cape, South Africa, an area of mixed land-use that contains elements of three overlapping global biodiversity hotspots. Data were gathered between 2010 and 2012 using camera traps set up at 141 sites over an area of ~3100km², GPS tracking collars fitted to three male leopards, scat samples (n=76), interviews with landowners (n=53) analysed in combination with geographical information system (GIS) layers. My results reveal that leopards preferred rugged, mountainous terrain of intermediate elevation, avoiding low-lying, open areas where human disturbance was generally greater. Despite relatively un-fragmented habitat within my study area, the leopard population density (0.75 leopards/100km²) was one of the lowest yet recorded in South Africa. This may reflect low prey densities in mountain refuges in addition to historical human persecution in the area. Currently local landowners are more tolerant of leopards than other wildlife species with incidents of conflict involving leopards being rare relative to black-backed jackals (Canis mesomelas), baboons (Papio hamadryas), caracals (Caracal caracal) and porcupine (Hystrix africaeaustralis). Although current levels of conflict between leopards and stock farmers are low, leopards do depredate livestock, which constitute 10-15% of their diet. Improved livestock husbandry measures and co-operation between conservation authorities and farmers are necessary to mitigate such conflict and balance economic security with biodiversity conservation in the region. Leopards are the only remaining top predators throughout much of the Little Karoo and the Western Cape and as such are predicted to play a critical role in ecosystem structure and the survival of other species. Current high levels of connectivity between areas of suitable leopard habitat bode well for the conservation status of leopards within this region and future conservation efforts need to ensure that narrow corridors linking such habitat are preserved. The potential for leopards to serve as both an umbrella and a flagship species for biodiversity conservation suggests that long term monitoring of this population would be a conservation priority for the Little Karoo.
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Moon, Sinechole. "Facilitating trade in mineral resources : policy implications for trade between Africa, South Africa and East Asia." Master's thesis, University of Cape Town, 2014. http://hdl.handle.net/11427/13151.
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Includes bibliographical references.This thesis aims to carry out a comparative research to analyse the policies and countermeasures taken by various countries related to the trade in Rare Earth Elements (REEs). The similarity of the approaches of East Asian countries – China, Korea, and Japan – towards the African continent, and South Africa's mineral policies with the goal of national development provides the basis for the formulation of a SWOT Matrix analytical tool. As mineral resources, particularly REEs, have increased in significance with the advancement of modern technology, it will be valuable from an academic, business and political perspective to undertake such research in order to consider the optimal policy instruments that can benefit resource poor countries, such as Korea in particular, and resource rich countries such as South Africa. In Chapter 3, a number of proposals for Korea to establish rational policy systems to secure a stable REE supply chain will be put forward, followed in Chapter 4 by a SWOT Matrix analysis to provide some recommendations to South Africa for a number of policy instruments to meet its requirements of generating inclusive economic growth through establishing cooperative models.
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Janse, van Rensburg Aletta Hendrika. "Strengthening democracy in Africa with the Internet : a comparative study of South Africa, Kenya and Zambia." Master's thesis, University of Cape Town, 2011. http://hdl.handle.net/11427/11073.
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For the first time since democracy in the classical Greek sense became practically impossible, the Internet's networking facilities are creating opportunities again for all citizens to be active, engaging participants in democracy. Open communication channels to government and fellow citizens can now be a reality that allows people at all levels of society to form part of a vibrant public sphere by exchanging ideas, sharing experiences, spreading ideologies and news, and comparing agendas.
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Goldin, Jaqui. "Trust and transformation in the water sector in South Africa." Thesis, University of Cape Town, 2005. http://hdl.handle.net/11427/6690.
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Water policy under the 1956 Water Act actively discouraged participation and water was managed centrally. The principles enshrined in the National Water Act (no 36 of 1998), designed in line with international sustainable development goals that actively encourage participation of a wide range of stakeholders operating closest to the resources that are being used, require a shift from governing through direct controls to governance where the state interacts with a wide range of interest groups. Although policy seemingly embraces a new water management paradigm, the old is being resurrected with all the contradictions and contortions that precipitated the shift in focus from the old to the new in the first place. There is on the one hand an undeveloped notion of what participation should entail, but there is also a culture in the domain of water that negotiates meanings around technical rather than social discourses. It is the absence of knowledge, the unequal power relationship between water users and the inhibition of agency that makes participation so difficult and keeps those who have knowledge, in - and those who do not have knowledge, out, with the unintended consequence of strengthening bonds between those who have had, in the past, privileged access to water. Those who suffer water deprivation have not been able to use their franchise to improve their access to water and their access to decision-making bodies in the water sector. Repeated failures to achieve reform are costly in terms of finance, and they are costly because they affect the production of trust and make it difficult to retain the 'spirit of the law.' The changing role of the state and the influence that state policy and intervention has in developing or hindering the production of trust and the perpetuation or production of shame is pivotal. Trust is a valuable but volatile resource and the broader set of analytic tools have provided a scafIold using the following set of analytic themes: style of government, way in which bureaucrats accept or resist change, ability of non-state and state actors to develop synergistic relationships, equalising of power, meaningful transfer of knowledge and creation of an agency-enhancing and agency-enabling environment. Trust is a product of a set of 'ideal' conditions, public officials being trustworthy, trading credit slips between water users, having a sense of agency and being able to trust. The ideals of trust present trust as a product of democratic processes and in these ideal conditions trust, as an experience, is reproduced and smoothes relationships. The study expands on the theme of trust by introducing the idea of shame as an inhibitor of trust and examines conditions that activate shame based feelings.
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Goredema, Ruvimbo Nyaradzo. "Women and Rhetoric In South Africa: Understanding Feminism and Militarism." Master's thesis, University of Cape Town, 2009. http://hdl.handle.net/11427/3772.
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Grange, Neil. "The influence of contrasting freshwater inflows on the feeding ecology and food resources of zooplankton in two eastern Cape estuaries, South Africa." Thesis, Rhodes University, 1993. http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1005400.
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The trophodynamic implications of reduced freshwater inflow on the zooplankton of eastern Cape estuaries was investigated by a comparison of the community composition and standing stocks, grazing rates and food resources of zooplankton in two systems, the Kariega and the Great Fish estuaries, which are subject to contrasting freshwater inflow. The climate of South Africa is semi-arid, and the low rainfall, coupled with high evaporative loss, result in the region having one of the lowest conversions of rainfall to run-off in the world. In addition, many of the major rivers are extensively impounded, consequently, estuaries often experience prolonged periods of zero or reduced freshwater inflow. The amount of freshwater available for estuarine management in the future is expected to decline as the demand for domestic, agricultural and industrial use increases. The influence of climate, tidal amplitude and wave action are essentially constant, consequently, the individual characteristics of an estuary are determined largely by the indirect influences of catchment size and regulation. Estuaries along the eastern Cape coast range from negative hypersaline systems, to positive systems in which a salinity gradient is well established. The Kariega estuary is a homogeneous marine estuary as a result of minimal freshwater inflow, whereas the Great Fish estuary receives sustained freshwater inflow and is partially-stratified. The quality and quantity of particulate food resources for suspension-feeders depended to a large extent on the allochthonous import of material associated with freshwater inflow. Nutrients, rather than light penetration of the watercolumn are the major factor limiting phytoplankton standing stocks. In the Kariega estuary, phytoplankton standing stocks were low (up to 1.0 μg l⁻¹) and the estuary is classified as oligotrophic. Correlation analyses indicated that lower quality detritus, originating from fringing macrophytes, may contribute substantially to suspended particulate organic material. Phytoplankton food resources were considerably higher in the Great Fish estuary (up to 21.8 μg ⁻¹) which is classified as mesotrophic/eutrophic, and correlation analyses indicated that phytoplankton comprised the dominant fraction of the particulate organic material. Although this suggested that the organic material was of a higher quality, the seston was "masked" by a higher suspended inorganic load. Consequently, the organic fraction comprised between 13 and 22% of total particulate material in the Great Fish estuary, compared with between 20 and 39% in the Kariega estuary. Food resources demonstrated a fairly uniform distribution along the length of the Kariega estuary and exhibited a slight seasonal increase during warmer months. By contrast, the point source influence of freshwater inflow resulted in a spatial gradient of food resources in the Great Fish estuary with higher values recorded towards the upper reaches. There was evidence that higher concentrations of particulate material in the upper reaches are also a consequence of hydrodynamic trapping. There was no marked seasonal pattern in the availability of food resources which were generally elevated in response to sporadic pulses of freshwater inflow. Tidal currents were responsible for elevating suspended food resources by re-suspension of material from the sediments. This effect was probably of greater importance in the Kariega estuary where food resources were generally limiting. In the Kariega estuary, the zooplankton community was dominated by calanoid copepods of the genera Acartia and Pseudodiaptomus. However, in the Great Fish estuary, the community was dominated by the mysid Mesopodopsis siabberi, and the calanoid P. hessei. Community biomass generally reflected the trophic status of the estuary. The mean seasonal biomass recorded in the Kariega estuary was 38 mg m⁻³ compared with 1597 mg m⁻³ in the Great Fish estuary. Greater spatial variability in community biomass was evident in the Great Fish estuary, partly in response to the food resource gradient, but also due to the inability of the mysid shrimps, which dominated the community biomass, to penetrate the lower salinity water of the upper reaches. Zooplankton in the Kariega estuary demonstrated a seasonal pattern of abundance whereas in the Great Fish estuary, community biomass was elevated in response to sporadic pulses of freshwater inflow. Grazing rates, measured in situ using a modified Gliwicz-Haney chamber, indicated that the zooplankton communities were capable of "clearing" substantial proportions of the watercolumn at certain times of the year. The pattern of grazing pressure over a diel cycle was examined in relation to the diel vertical migration movements of the zooplankton. Higher nighttime grazing rates were generally associated with the greater abundance of zooplankton resulting from the movement of zooplankton into the watercolumn after dusk, and their return to the sediments at dawn. Seasonal estimates of diel grazing pressure, extrapolated from daytime and nighttime feeding rates, indicated that the zooplankton "cleared" up to 40% of the watercolumn in a day in the Kariega estuary, and up to 120% d⁻¹ in the Great Fish estuary. However, values of around 25% d⁻¹ in the Kariega estuary, and 50 to 80% d⁻¹ in the Great Fish estuary, were not uncommon. Multiple regression analyses were used in an attempt to explain the influence of environmental factors on the variation in in situ grazing rates. These attempts were largely unsuccessful and the possible reasons, as well as recommended improvements to the methods used, are discussed. Seston concentration in the estuaries was highly variable as a result of the effects of tidal re-suspension and freshwater inflow. Consequently, further laboratory-based experiments were carried out to examine the influence of seston concentration on the filtration rates of the dominant calanoid copepods. Results indicated that some of the unexplained variability in the community filtration rates may be attributed to differences in species-specific response to changes in seston concentration.
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Paterson, Angus William. "Aspects of the ecology of fishes associated with salt marshes and adjacent habitats in a temperate South African estuary." Thesis, Rhodes University, 1999. http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1013010.
Full textAbstract:
There is a paucity of published information on fish utilization of salt marshes outside North America. This dissertation represents the first intensive examination of the ichthyofauna associated with salt marshes in southern Africa and examines the species composition, diversity, size structure, distribution and estuarine dependence of fishes that utilize salt marshes in the Kariega Estuary. The research was concentrated on Taylor's salt marsh, with comparative studies being conducted on other salt marshes and habitats within the marine dominated Kariega Estuary. The possible importance of salt marshes as feeding and refuge areas for fishes was examined, as was the role of salt marshes in the food web of the estuary. The fishes frequenting salt marshes in the Kariega Estuary were predominantly the juveniles of marine species, with Mugilidae being the dominant family. The ichthyofauna was distributed primarily in the intertidal creeks with very few specimens captured on the vegetated Spartina maritima and Sarcocomia perennis flats. The different reaches of the intertidal creek were characterised by distinct fish assemblages. The fish assemblages associated with the intertidal salt marsh creeks were significantly different from those found in the eelgrass beds, the other dominant intertidal habitat in the Kariega Estuary. The eelgrass beds were dominated by estuarine fish species and had a higher density and standing stock of fishes when compared to the salt marsh creeks. The diversity of fishes in the two habitats was however similar. The intertidal salt marsh creek ichthyofauna also differed significantly from that found in the main estuary channel. The creek ichthyofauna was dominated by 0+ juveniles while the main channel had many subadult and adult fishes. The channel habitat also had numerous large piscivorous fishes which were absent from the salt marsh creeks. The low number of piscivorous fishes, together with limited fish predation from other sources, may be the reason why salt marshes provide a refuge for juvenile fishes that frequent these habitats. Unlike previous studies on North American, Australian and European salt marshes, the dominant fish species that frequented Taylor's marsh were not recorded feeding extensively on the marsh, and those that did had a limited distribution. The role of fishes in the transfer of energy off the Kariega salt marshes is therefore likely to be minimal. A stable carbon isotope study on the dominant primary producers and consumers within the Kariega Estuary revealed that detritus originating from the high lying salt marsh plants Sarcocornia perennis and Chenolea diffusa was not utilized by fishes in the Kariega Estuary. Preliminary results indicated that the cord grass Spartina maritima may be an important energy source to the fishes in the Kariega Estuary, but further research is needed to confirm this.
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Chong, Sandra Pow. "Political communication: a case study of the Democratic Alliance and its use of digital media in the 2014 South African General Elections." Thesis, Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, 2015. http://hdl.handle.net/10948/11416.
Full textAbstract:
Political organisations are now using a two-way path of communication thanks to the development of technological platforms that work in-sync with the internet to allow this to happen. Information can now flow across new networks to allow exchanges from the many to the many. This study sets out to explore the use of social media by political organisations as a means of political communication. A case study was conducted which focussed on online communication used by the Democratic Alliance in the 2014 General Elections in South Africa. The social media strategies adopted by the Democratic Alliance was examined. Reference is made to the 2008 Obama Campaign. The study revealed that the DA primarily made use of two-way asymmetrical communication despite the party posting a lot of consistent information and content; however in response to many questions and comments posted on the social media fora by online users, the DA only selectively responded to a handful of these.
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Naidoo, Vinothan. "Ethnic nationalism and democratisation in South Africa : political implications for the rainbow nation." Thesis, Rhodes University, 2000. http://eprints.ru.ac.za/2313/1/NAIDOO-MA-TR00-92.pdf.
Full textAbstract:
Ethnic identities in South Africa have had a particularly contrived history, set within the constraints and motivations of population classification by race. A more democratic political environment emerged with the dismantling of apartheid, bringing with it a multitude of issues including the design and character of the country’s political institutions and framework. This thesis will address two principal questions. The first and primary one investigates what lies behind the initiation and development of ethnic bonds. The second concerns the political implications and management of ethnic expressions in a democratic South Africa. An analysis of Zulu ethnic nationalism will be undertaken, because it constituted the most prominent case of assertive communal interests during
democratic transitional negotiations.
This thesis argues that circumstantial and instrumental factors (based on conditions, and the actions of individuals and organizations respectively), have been predominately responsible for the initiation and formation of ethnic bonds, especially amongst those who identify with a Zulu identity. The “conditions” describe the increasingly segregationist direction in which successive South African
government authorities were moving, especially after the 1948 election victory of the National Party and the subsequent introduction of apartheid. Secondly, the “actions” denote the motivations of both Zulu actors and governments in generating and elaborating an ethnic discourse where their desired interests could be more effectively supported and assured.
It will also be argued that because of the instrumental and selective use of ethnicity, as well as the narrow interests being served by its popular and community-centred expressions, a developing South African democratic culture should seek to protect ethnic diversity rather than promote ethnic interests. To do so would be to deny the perpetuation of ethnic cleavages and the violence and instability perpetrated in its name in recent years. The “protection” of cultural diversity is consistent with a constitution that seeks non-discrimination among all South African identities. Finally, it is believed that an emphasis on the individual as individual, as well as member of a cultural group, will break from subordinating the individual to an ascribed racial and ethnic identity as in the past, and assist in reconstituting the state as equally reflective of all South Africans.
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Smallwood, Samuel. "Evaluating ecological monitoring systems on Mabula Game Reserve, Limpopo, South Africa." Pretoria : [s.n.], 2010. http://upetd.up.ac.za/thesis/available/etd-02162010-105501.
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Reynolds, Elizabeth. "Oil and political stability in Cote d'Ivoire and South Africa." Thesis, Webster University, 2015. http://pqdtopen.proquest.com/#viewpdf?dispub=1526212.
Full textAbstract:
There are many theories linking natural resource rents to violent conflict; few theories link rents to domestic political instability. Extending these theories to assess rents' relationship to political stability or instability yields thirty-three mechanisms by which rents affect political stability. I conduct case studies of the oil industries and political, economic, and societal factors present in Côte d'Ivoire and South Africa and examine how the production and export of oil affects the political stability of these countries. I find that although these countries are not dependent on rents for their defense and welfare spending, rents contribute to both stability and instability in both countries.
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Essop, Mohamed Salim. "Political repression and the law in South Africa since 1948." Thesis, University of Leeds, 1992. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.392614.
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Mathekga, Mmanoko Jerry. "The political economy of labour market flexibility in South Africa." Thesis, Stellenbosch : University of Stellenbosch, 2009. http://hdl.handle.net/10019.1/1532.
Full textAbstract:
Thesis (MPhil (Political Science))--University of Stellenbosch, 2009.ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The impact of globalisation can be found in every aspect of human life. Globalisation has also brought about changes in the world of work, such as the call for labour market flexibility, which has restructured the workplace. This study focuses on the implications of labour market flexibility for workers in South Africa and for trade unions, within the context of the introduction of a macroeconomic neoliberal policy in South Africa in 1996. The study examines the changing nature of employment and work in a company in the South African retail sector, namely Pick n Pay. Labour market flexibility comes about as companies try to compete and cut costs at the expense of workers. This implies a reduction of protection and benefits and has resulted in the creation of a ‘working poor’ labour segment. Trade unions have been ineffective in providing a voice and representation for the new working poor. This study argues that under conditions of economic globalisation, trade unions are disempowered and flexible labour market practices are introduced to cut costs in order to maintain market share and increase competitiveness. Economic globalisation has pressurised the South African government, and the African National Congress (ANC), to shift gradually to the right and to adopt a neoliberal macroeconomic policy. This has led to an increase in inequality, unemployment, new forms of insecure jobs and the creation of an informal economy. This study found that instead of creating jobs and alleviating poverty, the government’s Growth, Employment and Redistribution Strategy (GEAR) has resulted in retrenchments, downsizing and restructuring. The unemployed, retrenched and working poor find themselves in the ‘second economy’. The retail sector in particular makes use of labour market flexibility in order to compete for market share. Pick n Pay is an example of a retail company that increasingly makes use of flexible labour market practices. This study found that labour market flexibility has created a situation that trade unions find difficult to deal with, and that labour market flexibility has been accompanied by increasing inequality, which overlaps with race and gender identities. Furthermore, Pick n Pay maintains flexible employment under conditions of increased productivity and contrary to labour legislation.
AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Impak van globalisering kan in elke aspek van mense se lewens waargeneem word. Globalisering het verandering in die wêreld van werk teweeggebring, soos die aandrang op arbeidsmarkbuigsaamheid wat tot die herstrukturering van die werkersmag gelei het. Hierdie studie fokus op die implikasie van arbeidsmarkbuigsaamheid vir werkers in Suid‐ Afrika, en die implikasie vir vakbonde in die konteks van die inwerkingstelling van ’n makroekonomiese neo‐liberale beleid in Suid‐Afrika in 1996. Verder ondersoek die studie die verandering in die aard van indiensneming en werk in ’n Suid‐Afrikaanse maatskappy in die kleinhandelsektor, naamlik Pick n Pay. Buigsaamheid in die arbeidsmag ontstaan wanneer besighede in ’n poging om kompeterend te wees, uitgawes ten koste van werkers besnoei. Dit bring die vermindering van beskerming en voordele mee, wat tot ’n arbeidsegment van ‘arm werkers’ lei. Vakbonde kon nie ’n stem en verteenwoordiging aan hierdie nuwe segment van arm werkers gee nie. Hierdie studie voer aan dat ekonomiese globalisering werkersunies magteloos laat terwyl buigsame arbeidsmarkpraktyke aangewend word om kostes te sny ten einde markaandeel en verhoogde kompetisie te verseker. Ekonomiese globalisasie plaas meer druk op die Suid‐Afrikaanse regering, die African National Congress (ANC), om ‘n verskuiwing na regs te maak en ’n neo‐liberale makroekonomiese beleid te volg. Dit het gelei tot verhoging in ongelykheid, werkloosheid, nuwe vorme van onsekere werksgeleenthede, en die skepping van ’n informele ekonomie. Die studie bevind dat die regering se Groei, Indiensnemings‐ en Herdistribusiebeleid (GEAR), wat veronderstel was om werk te skep en werkloosheid te verminder, eerder tot meer afdankings, afskaling en herstrukturering gelei het. Die werklose, afgedankte en armwerkerskorps bevind hulself nou in ’n ‘tweede ekonomie’. In die besonder maak die kleinhandelsektor gebruik van arbeidsmarkbuigsaamheid om vir ’n deel van die mark te kompeteer. Pick n Pay is ’n voorbeeld van ’n kleinhandelmaatskappy wat toenemend gebruik maak van arbeidsmarkbuigsaamheid. Die studie kom tot die slotsom dat arbeidsmarkbuigsaamheid ’n situasie geskep het wat vakbonde verlam het, en wat met ’n verhoging in ongelykheid wat verder met ras en geslagsidentiteite oorvleuel, gepaardgaan. daarby maak Pick n Pay gebruik van buigsaame indiensnemingspraktyke onder omstandighede van verhoogde produktiwiteit, in weerwil van arbeidswetgewing
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Annan, David. "Effects of political instability in development in South Sudan." Thesis, Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, 2015. http://hdl.handle.net/10948/d1020190.
Full textAbstract:
The signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) between the Republic of Sudan represented by the National Congress Party (NCP) and the SPLM (Sudan People’s Liberation Movement) which represented the people of the Southern part of Sudan in January 2005 ushered in a rare era of peace and hope for the rebuilding and construction of the war ravaged South Sudan. Coupled with the attainment of Independence for South Sudan through an internationally supervised referendum in January 2011, the objectives of years of struggle by the people of the formerly semi-autonomous region were completed. From 2005 until after the independence of South Sudan however, a period that initially was marked by huge euphoria and broad based anticipation of development boom, the support from both local and international actors for the struggle and the plight of the people of South Sudan is waning and at worst has now turned into despair and hopelessness. After attaining independence in 2011, the highest party organ, the Political Bureau decided to remove candidates who were popularly voted by their constituents and replaced them with their cronies, leading to mass exodus of cadres from the party. On top of that, the wide believe that the elections were rigged for SPLM candidates at the expense of the Independent candidates led to another wave of exodus and open rebellion by many veteran cadres of the movement. Today, these rebellions coupled with some complex problematic societal issues are major concern and a source of political instability and violence in some parts of the country. Secondly, the hasty process of the Disarmament, Demobilization, and Reintegration (DDR) campaign, which in some cases were forcefully done left some communities exposed and venerable to attacks by rival communities. This continue to exacerbate and ignite tribal hatred, tension and stereotypes between communities especially in the traditionally volatile parts of the country that are known for cattle rustling and tribal rivalry as a form of cultural practice. Unresolved post secession issues within the SPLM had resulted to political instability and violence thus having negative economic consequences for South Sudan and all the gains the country had made in the past few years vanished after December 15 2013 political upheaval. This thesis will examine the effects of these mentioned complex political instability and economic dilemma South Sudan is being confronted with in the face of the fact that it is still in the process of nation building having attained its Independence only in July 2011.
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Du, Plessis Morne Andre. "Behavioural ecology of the Redbilled Woodhoopoe Phoeniculus purpureus in South Africa." Doctoral thesis, University of Cape Town, 1989. http://hdl.handle.net/11427/6252.
Full textAbstract:
Includes bibliographies.A study was made of two Redbilled (Green) Woodhoopoe Phoeniculus purpureus populations spanning an eight year period (1981-1988) and 258 'flock-years', in the eastern Cape Province of South Mrica. The main objectives of the study were to investigate (1) why woodhoopoes live in groups; (2) why nonbreeders do not breed; and, (3) why nonbreeders provision young that are not their own? Ecological and demographic data were gathered in addition to detailed behavioural observations of 54 woodhoopoe flocks. The following experimental manipulations were performed: (1) breeders were removed from flocks to (a) monitor dispersal patterns and restructuring of flocks; and, (b) observe behavioural reactions by remaining birds; (2) cavity availability was (a) decreased, to enable quantification of availability; and, (b) increased, by addition of nest/roost boxes to an area which supported no permanent woodhoopoe territories; and, (3) stimuli, associated with the food provisioning response of adult birds, were manipulated to investigate the evolutionary basis of allofeeding behaviour Variability in social and reproductive behaviour reflects environmental selection pressures, in the form of roost-cavity availability, with a reduction in cavity availability leading to increased group size. The group-territorial social system and high level of inbreeding of Redbilled Woodhoopoes have evolved primarily in response to environmental constraints on dispersal, rather than by particular benefits that arise from group living. Therefore, the habitat-saturation hypothesis best explains group living of woodhoopoes. Behavioural dominance hierarchies ensure that dominance relationships are well-defined among potential competitors (for breeding status), and thereby minimize disruption to flock cohesion upon the death (or removal) of a breeder. If competition for a breeding vacancy arose at the time of the breeder's death, the resultant delay in occupancy of the breeding vacancy would increase the likelihood of competition from unrelated birds. The establishment of such hierarchies is therefore adaptive in the context of the direct component of kin selection. The presence of nonbreeding helpers do not increase fledgling success, breeding frequency, survivorship (of any age, sex or social class), or number of breeder-offspring produced. Because no unambiguous indirect fitness benefits could be shown to result from helping behaviour (specifically allofeeding), I propose that the unselected (misdirected parental care) hypothesis is a viable alternative to the 'functional hypotheses.' This hypothesis is supported by observations/manipulations of misdirected food provisioning by both breeders and helpers.