Truth is somewhere in between: an ethnographic account of Broad Based Black Economic Empowerment (BBBEE) in South Africa - a work in progress

Abstract Dissertation Title: Truth is Somewhere In Between: An Ethnographic Account of Broad Based Black Economic Empowerment (BBBEE) in South Africa Broad Based Economic Empowerment (BBBEE) policy, codes and scorecard were finalised in 2007 in South Africa. In an attempt to eradicate economic polarity, the policy’s aim is to pursue concurrent economic growth and social distribution. The goal is honourable, but is it achievable? Progress among all affected parties needs to be investigated and evaluated. In addition to much confusion arising between the policy’s discourses and practices, the uneasy logic of BBBEE in the neo‐capitalistic state of South Africa faces resistance and various challenges. Adopting an anthropological research approach, this paper makes particular use of participant observation in an effort to deconstruct the multilayered BBBEE concept and its practice. An examination of a firm that achieved broad based empowerment score provides the necessary ethnographic data. The dynamics of organisational culture, management and their BBBEE implementation, together with the perspectives of various stakeholders such as those within the community, government and among consultants, are all explored. BBBEE score, for all intents and purposes, was perceived as being irrelevant to the actual employees and their daily operations. To the degree that it may have been pertinent, the constant battles of culture and perceptions between various people and positions aggravated any hope of a possible point of reconciliation. Capitalist determination among all parties exists at the core of economic game they consent to play. Despite the policy’s effort to transform the management paradigm, the traditional organisational structure and practice is largely upheld and consequently, empowerment remains merely in the realm of discourses among both practitioners and beneficiaries. Narrow based empowerment persists as the dominant view of many and, as a result, BBBEE remains a sheer bureaucratic baby, impotent at bringing about any meaningful cultural transformation in the current economic trend of South Africa

Towards secure web browsing on mobile devices

The Web is increasingly being accessed by portable, multi-touch wireless devices. Despite the popularity of platform-specific (native) mobile apps, a recent study of smartphone usage shows that more people (81%) browse the Web than use native apps (68%) on their phone. Moreover, many popular native apps such as BBC depend on browser-like components (e.g., Webview) for their functionality. The popularity and prevalence of web browsers on modern mobile phones warrants characterizing existing and emerging threats to mobile web browsing, and building solutions for the same. Although a range of studies have focused on the security of native apps on mobile devices, efforts in characterizing the security of web transactions originating at mobile browsers are limited. This dissertation presents three main contributions: First, we show that porting browsers to mobile platforms leads to new vulnerabilities previously not observed in desktop browsers. The solutions to these vulnerabilities require careful balancing between usability and security and might not always be equivalent to those in desktop browsers. Second, we empirically demonstrate that the combination of reduced screen space and an independent selection of security indicators not only make it difficult for experts to determine the security standing of mobile browsers, but actually make mobile browsing more dangerous for average users as they provide a false sense of security. Finally, we experimentally demonstrate the need for mobile specific techniques to detect malicious webpages. We then design and implement kAYO, the first mobile specific static tool to detect malicious webpages in real-time.Ph.D

Newman v. Google

3rd amended complain

The Conflict of Laws: A Comparative Study. Volume Two. Foreign Corporations: Torts: Contracts in General

Full application of comparative methods to the law of conflicts requires a working plan of some magnitude. We ought to take stock of the conflicts rules existing in the different countries of the world, state their similarities or dissimilarities, and investigate their purposes and effects. The solutions thus ascertained should moreover be subjected to an estimation of their usefulness, by the standards appropriate to their natural objective. Conflicts rules have to place private life and business relations upon the legal background suitable to satisfactory intercourse among states and nations. They are valuable to the extent that their practical functioning, rather than their legal appearance, serves this purpose. To meet the challenge of this program with limited forces is a risky undertaking. Nevertheless it has to be attempted. The conditions of the law of conflicts are deplorable. It may be said, to the reader\u27s and my own consolation, that the staggering provincialism apparent in the international family law presented in this volume is not equaled in other parts. But if conflicts problems have been cultivated by men of the highest erudition, idealism, and endeavor, they have also been the object of prejudice and dogmatism. Suggestions of almost all needed ideas may be found, but little agreement on a sound choice. The courts of this country dealing with a wealth of interstate cases have prevailingly shown sincere respect for foreign legislation and applied an accomplished method of comparative research. But this admirable attitude, which is the most outstanding model for the practice of private international law, suffers exceptions, and in the field of international relations throughout the world, despite enormous efforts, the simple truth that harmony presupposes mutual understanding and tolerance, has not prevailed in conflicts law more than in foreign affairs.https://repository.law.umich.edu/michigan_legal_studies/1007/thumbnail.jp

Letters of comfort: a comparative law and trans-systemic analysis of chameleonic instruments

Over the last few decades, banks throughout the world have found it increasingly difficult to obtain outright guarantees from companies to cover loan or other financial facilities to subsidiaries. Consequently, various third party credit support devices or comfort instruments, generally known as letters of comfort, have developed to provide an alternative to traditional forms of security. It is necessary for a proper understanding of these instruments to investigate their origin, to delineate them, and to consider their use in corporate group and banking practice. The typical comfort letter transaction involves the parent‐subsidiary‐lender trinity and at least three different, but inter‐related relationships which may be regulated by different legal regimes – first, between a lender and the subsidiary; secondly, between a lender and the parent company; and thirdly, between the parent company and the subsidiary. When the relationship between a lender and the subsidiary breaks down or the latter becomes insolvent, the courts are usually asked to determine the contractual effect of the letter of comfort as between the lender and the parent company. Letters of comfort are predominantly used in international business transactions. The issue of comfort letter enforceability is considerably more complex within an international context than in one’s own legal system. Courts in different jurisdictions and in disparate legal systems have adopted distinct approaches to determine the contractual enforceability of letters of comfort. Accordingly, a trans‐systemic view of the contractual effect of letters of comfort is necessary to be aware of the way in which such letters are treated in other legal systems, and to facilitate a consistent treatment of an instrument of international use in one’s domestic law. Over the years, letters of comfort have become more detailed in content. The result is more litigation about the enforceability of letters of comfort and, because of courts undertaking more contractual analysis of such letters, a doctrinal foundation for the assessment of liability against a parent company has started to be developed by courts in some jurisdictions. Legal liability based on a letter of comfort is a real possibility. Like a boomerang, a letter of comfort is potentially a dangerous instrument when it returns to its unsuspecting originator

Exploring the Influence of Zimbabwean Teachers' and Learners' Attitudes Towards English on Language Use in Primary Classrooms

This study uses a postcolonial sociocultural theoretical framework to investigate the influence of teachers’ and learners’ attitudes towards the national language-in-education policy of using English as medium of instruction on language use in primary classrooms in Zimbabwe. The Zimbabwe national language-in-education policy requires use of learners’ mother tongue as medium of instruction in the first three years of primary education (grades 1-3) with English being taught as a subject. From grade four onwards, English becomes the medium of instruction although the majority of learners at primary school level have limited competence in the language. Methodology: Within the overall postcolonial sociocultural framework, the study utilises an interpretive methodology to explore primary teachers’ and learners’ attitudes towards English. Interviews and lesson observations are used to collect data from fourteen teachers and thirty six learners from five schools in the Harare Region of Zimbabwe. Findings: Findings are derived from a thematic analysis of interview and observation data. The study establishes that: i)While most teachers share the same home language as the learners they teach, because of language-in-education policy, they may/do not feel that they can call upon their knowledge of these learners’ home language to support them with their learning. ii)Teachers and learners are in favour of using English as medium of instruction because they perceive that parents are in favour of using English. iii)Teachers and learners do not consider Shona a suitable vehicle for teaching and learning because tests are administered in English and Shona is perceived to lack the necessary technical terms needed to express concepts tested in examinations. In addition teachers and learners are reluctant to use Shona as medium of instruction because learners have limited competence in the variety of Shona used in schools. iv)Although there is widespread support for English-only policies for communication in classrooms there is minimal adherence to the policies by both teachers and learners in all schools. v)Code-switching by teachers and learners occurs frequently in classes despite official opposition. Conclusions, Contributions and Recommendations: The study concludes by suggesting grounds for re-thinking the language-in-education policy framework in Zimbabwe in order to allow for the complementary use of English and learners’ mother tongue at primary school level so that learning opportunities for learners with limited competence in English are maximised. The study makes a contribution to theory by showing that postcolonial sociocultural theory can be used successfully to explore how the historical context can help to unravel some of the contradictions that manifest themselves in contexts where English is used as medium of instruction alongside other languages