Knowledge, chivanhu and struggles for survival in conflict-torn Manicaland, Zimbabwe

Includes bibliographical references.This dissertation explored how villagers in a district of Manicaland province of Zimbabwe deeply affected by violence and want survived the violence that has characterised Zimbabwe’s most recent politics (from the year 2000). Marked by invasions of white owned farms, by interparty violence, interpersonal violence as well as witchcraft related violence, the period posed immense challenges to life and limb. Yet institutions of welfare, security and law enforcement were not equal to the task of ensuring survival necessitating questions about the sufficiency of “modern” institutions of law enforcement, media, politics, economy and health in guaranteeing survival in moments of want. How villagers survived the contexts of immense want, acute shortages of cash, basic commodities, formal unemployment levels of over ninety percent, hyperinflation (which in 2008 reached over 231 million percent) and direct physical violence is cause for wonder for scholarship of everyday life. Based on ethnographic data gathered over a period of fifteen months, the dissertation interrogates how villagers survived these challenges. Unlike much scholarship on Zimbabwe’s ‘crisis’, it takes seriously matters of knowing and ontology with respect to chivanhu (erroneously understood as “tradition” of the Shona people)

Democratisation of Business: Zimbabwe’s Newest Business Entity

A ZLRev article on the parliamentary legislation Private Business Corporations Act (PBCA) that governs company operations.This article looks at the provisions of the Private Business Corporations Act [Chapter 24:111 of Zimbabwe (Hereinafter referred to as the PBCA). One of the criticisms of the companies legislation as it exists is that it is lengthy and too complex to understand. Its demands are too many and rigid, that it is not appropriate for the small businessman. It is important to look at the provisions of the PBCA Chapter 24:11 to establish whether the provisions available offer any added advantages to the small businessman than what was currently on offer then. It is also necessary to compare these regulations with the law governing companies, partnerships and co-operatives in order to conclude whether there was an actual need for such new regulations in the form of a new Act or whether it would have been easier and even more advantageous to incorporate these rules or regulations in the Companies Act. The PBCA creates the latest business entity in Zimbabwe.1 The intention of the Act is to provide a new form of enterprise which is most suitable for small businessman. This enterprise would enjoy liberalised regulations. It would be simpler to incorporate and at the same time enjoy the benefits of limited liability. Limited liability is a very important concept in business. It protects the investor from possible personal financial ruin if the business fails. However, it must be accepted that where there is such protection, it is essential to put in place some regulatory provisions for the protection of the other players in the field

Market segmentation and factors affecting stock returns on the JSE

>Magister Scientiae - MScThis study examines the relationship between stock returns and market segmentation. Monthly returns of stocks listed on the JSE from 1997-2007 are analysed using mostly the analytic factor and cluster analysis techniques. Evidence supporting the use of multi-index models in explaining the return generating process on the JSE is found. The results provide additional support for Van Rensburg (1997)'s hypothesis on market segmentation on the JSE

Assessing the organisational maturity level of Rhodes Music Radio with the introduction of social media

This research seeks to evaluate the organisational maturity of Rhodes Music Radio as it relates to its use of social media. The research takes place within the context of Rhodes Music Radio (RMR) which is a community radio station operating in Grahamstown, South Africa. The station serves the Grahamstown community as a whole, with core listenership coming from the Rhodes University population. RMR has its base on the Rhodes University campus. The contribution of this study is the development of a Social Media Maturity Model which was used to assess the organisational maturity of Rhodes Music Radio with respect to its use of social media. As with other media organisations around the world, social media has become a major factor within the normal operations and functions of RMR. There is much research that has been done about the use of social media as a tool for marketing and branding in business. This tends to be the typical focus of research efforts. Though RMR makes use of social media as a marketing tool, media organisations have gone beyond this one dimensional approach in using social media. Social networking online has become a source of news and trends for organisations within the media space. For an organisation like RMR, social media is used in some way by departments such as Communication, Marketing and Branding, Production, Programming, Music, Technical; together with the presenters and producers who are hosting shows on a daily basis. Bearing the above in mind, this study aims to assess the level of maturity that RMR has as an organisation with use of social media. The goal is to find out how integrated and what systems the station has as a whole to make effective use of social media across the various departments which then helps to make a judgement on the station as a whole. This research has its literature base in the knowledge area of change management and operational excellence. Organisational maturity exists within the broad knowledge area of change management. It provides the theoretical basis upon which to gauge the maturity of RMR in relation to its social media use. Operational excellence provides a basis upon which to judge the quality of RMR’s product which speaks to how well integrated and effective the station is with its use of social media. The method of research was an evaluation that used 2 types of data, making use of both document analysis and interviews as sources of information. This information is then analysed using the Social Media Maturity Model developed specifically for this research from similar organisational maturity models used in other industries such as general management and supply chain management. This model assesses the maturity of the station by first assessing the maturity of the various departments that make up the operations of RMR and then comes up with an aggregate maturity level for the whole organisation. The conclusion of this study is that Rhodes Music Radio is quite mature in terms of its social media use but not yet fully networked. According to the model, the station is described as having a “Community” or “Linked” social media use. On the model, this is Stage 3 out of 5 in terms of maturity. Recommendations given to RMR to further increase this maturity level are for staff members more involved in the social media of the station by following the various RMR accounts and engaging with listeners and other staff members on these platforms. RMR staff need to be trained on the importance of social media and how to use it. The station needs to find a way to convert its social media following into listeners of its broadcast programming. Finally, the station needs to finalise and endorse its Social Media Policy

The evolution and dynamics of stocks on the Johannesburg Securities Exchange and their implications for equity investment management

[No subject] This thesis explores the dynamics of the Johannesburg Stock Exchange returns to understand how they impact stock prices. The introductory chapter renders a brief overview of financial markets in general and the Johannesburg Securities Exchange (JSE) in particular. The second chapter employs the fractal analysis technique, a method for estimating the Hurst exponent, to examine the JSE indices. The results suggest that the JSE is fractal in nature, implying a long-term predictability property. The results also indicate a logical system of variation of the Hurst exponent by firm size, market characteristics and sector grouping. The third chapter investigates the economic and political events that affect different market sectors and how they are implicated in the structural dynamics of the JSE. It provides some insights into the degree of sensitivity of different market sectors to positive and negative news. The findings demonstrate transient episodes of nonlinearity that can be attributed to economic events and the state of the market. Chapter 4 looks at the evolution of risk measurement and the distribution of returns on the JSE. There is evidence of fat tails and that the Student t-distribution is a better fit for the JSE returns than the Normal distribution. The Gaussian based Value-at-Risk model also proved to be an ineffective risk measurement tool under high market volatility. In Chapter 5 simulations are used to investigate how different agent interactions affect market dynamics. The results show that it is possible for traders to switch between trading strategies and this evolutionary switching of strategies is dependent on the state of the market. Chapter 6 shows the extent to which endogeneity affects price formation. To explore this relationship, the Poisson Hawkes model, which combines exogenous influences with self-excited dynamics, is employed. Evidence suggests that the level of endogeneity has been increasing rapidly over the past decade. This implies that there is an increasing influence of internal dynamics on price formation. The findings also demonstrate that market crashes are caused by endogenous dynamics and exogenous shocks merely act as catalysts. Chapter 7 presents the hybrid adaptive intelligent model for financial time series prediction. Given evidence of non-linearity, heterogeneous agents and the fractal nature of the JSE market, neural networks, fuzzy logic and fractal theory are combined, to obtain a hybrid adaptive intelligent model. The proposed system outperformed traditional models

Prime numbers demystified

The paper is the ultimate prime numbers algorithm that gets rid of the unneccessary mystery about prime numbers. All the numerous arithmetic series patterns observed between various prime numbers are clearly explained with an elegant "pattern of remainders". With this algorithm we prove that odd numbers too can make an Ulam spiral contrary to current ""proofs". At the end of the paper this author proves the relationship between a simple arithmetic series pattern and the Riehmann\u27s prime numbers distribution equation. This paper would be important for encryption too. As an example, prime integer 1979 is expressed as 1.2.4.5.10.3.7.3.1.7.26.18.11.1. This makes even smaller primes useful for encryption as well

Trace elements in groundwater near an abandoned mine tailings dam and health risk assessment (NE Zimbabwe)

Groundwater from shallow hand-dug wells at an abandoned gold mine tailings dam was characterised for selected physicochemical parameters during dry and wet seasons of 2018 and 2019. Health risk exposure of the local population (adults and children) through ingestion and dermal exposure was assessed. Groundwater quality parameters were lower than international drinking water quality guidelines (p < 0.05). The parameters were significantly influenced by season of the year (As, Cl−, SO42−), nature (As, Cd, Cl−, Fe, NO3−, SO42−), depth (Cd, Cl−, Fe, Ni, SO42−) and direction of the well (Cu, Cl−, Fe, NO3−, Pb, SO42−) (p < 0.05) relative to the tailings dam. Groundwater did not pose non-carcinogenic risk due to studied trace elements. However, arsenic had the potential to cause medium to high cancer risk to the local population. We propose re-vegetation of the tailings dam, diversion of surface tailings drainage to a containment pond and the provision of continuous piped water supplies

The restructuring of intergovernmental transfers: a case study of Mogale City Local Municipality

M.A. Faculty of Humanities, University of the Witwatersrand, 2011.The main goal of this study was to critically examine the role of restructured intergovernmental transfers in assisting the local government to fulfil its commitment to provide free basic services to the poor. To meet this goal, the role of transfers was analysed by assessing how policies and legislation applicable to free basic services and indigent management influenced the provision of services to the poor in Mogale City, and by dissecting how commodification of services and non-payment of services affected the provision of these services. A comprehensive literature review showed how the transfer practices in South Africa have impacted on the provision of basic services at the municipal level. Findings obtained through in-depth interviews and content analysis demonstrated that transfers, despite the constitutional prescription and official aims to achieve equitability, have failed to boost Mogale City’s capabilities to provide basic services to most of its poor residents. A number of reasons for this are expounded here, but the key conclusion is that transfers are insufficient in helping the local government to provide free basic services to the poor