THE PSYCHO-SOCIAL CIRCUMSTANCES OF CAR GUARDS: INTERVENTIVE ROLES OF THE SOCIAL WORKER

In South Africa unemployment is a major problem and many people are desperate to make an earnest living and are prepared to do any job as long as it brings in enough money for a roof over their heads and food on the table. Crime has become a major social problem within the South African society and motor vehicle thefts and car burglaries are high on the list of crime statistics. Police and security protection services are unable to keep guard over all the parking areas and informal car guards did not provide the answer. To address this problem, car watch organisations were introduced in the city centers. Social workers should identify those people who are especially vulnerable, including car guards, and ensure that their abilities and potential are developed and strengthened. The objective of the research project was to study the survival skills of car guards relating to their economic and social circumstances. The phenomena of difficult customers, dangerous and harsh working conditions, and poor remuneration were investigated. A qualitative study accompanied by a phenomenological research design was implemented for the study. Field research and specifically in-depth personal interviewing and naturalistic observation were used as research procedures

AN ADAPTED INTERVENTION RESEARCH MODEL: SUGGESTIONS FOR RESEARCH AND PRACTICE

The various existing models of intervention research all have advantages and disadvantages.Postgraduate students, and especially doctoral students in Social Work, have on many occasionsexpressed their dilemma in choosing a specific model of research for intervention procedures.Therefore, many have used the intervention research model or the developmental research andutilisation model, while others have adapted these models to suit their specific researchendeavours. After making a careful study of these two models, an adapted intervention researchmodel will be suggested for use in studies of a combined research and practice nature

POVERTY IN A RURAL AREA: THE ROLE OF THE SOCIAL WORKER

There are many ways of looking at poverty. When poverty is measured in absolute terms, itrefers to the financial means necessary for people to survive from day to day. The most basicmeasures of poverty in South Africa are the Minimum Living Level (MLL) and the HouseholdSubsistence Level (HSL). They measure the amount of money necessary to provide ahousehold (of six people) with the very basic necessities, including food, clothing, energy,washing, rent and transport to stay alive (Greeff, 2004:7). The Household Effective Level(HEL), which is the HSL plus 50%, makes provision for some important items not covered bythe HSL, namely tax, medical expenses, replacement of household equipment, education,recreation, personal care, pension and burial contributions. In 1999, for South Africa, thatwould have amounted to R800,00 per month (Greeff, 2004:7)

Field tuned critical fluctuations in YFe2Al10: Evidence from magnetization, 27Al (NMR, NQR) investigations

We report magnetization, specific heat, and NMR investigations on YFe2Al10 over a wide range in temperature and magnetic field and zero field (NQR) measurements. Magnetic susceptibility, specific heat and spin-lattice relaxation rate divided by T (1/T1T) follow a weak power law (T^-0.4) temperature dependence, which is a signature of critical fluctuations of Fe moments. The value of the Sommerfeld-Wilson ratio and linear relation between 1/T1T and chi(T) suggest the existence of ferromagnetic correlations in this system. No magnetic ordering down to 50 mK in Cp(T) and the unusual temperature and field scaling of the bulk and NMR data are associated with a magnetic instability which drives the system to quantum criticality. The magnetic properties of the system are tuned by field wherein ferromagnetic fluctuations are suppressed and a crossover from quantum critical to FL behavior is observed with increasing magnetic field

Ferromagnetism and the Effect of Free Charge Carriers on Electric Polarization in Y_2NiMnO_6 Double Perovskite

The double perovskite Y_2NiMnO_6 displays ferromagnetic transition at Tc = 81 K. The ferromagnetic order at low temperature is confirmed by the saturation value of magnetization (M_s) and also, validated by the refined ordered magnetic moment values extracted from neutron powder diffraction data at 10 K. This way, the dominant Mn4+ and Ni2+ cationic ordering is confirmed. The cation-ordered P 21/n nuclear structure is revealed by neutron powder diffraction studies at 300 and 10 K. Analysis of frequency dependent dielectric constant and equivalent circuit analysis of impedance data takes into account the bulk contribution to total dielectric constant. This reveals an anomaly which coincides with the ferromagnetic transition temperature (T_c). Pyrocurrent measurements register a current flow with onset near Tc and a peak at 57 K that shifts with temperature ramp rate. The extrinsic nature of the observed pyrocurrent is established by employing a special protocol measurement. It is realized that the origin is due to re-orientation of electric dipoles created by the free charge carriers and not by spontaneous electric polarization at variance with recently reported magnetism-driven ferroelectricity in this materialComment: Published in Physical Review

An empirical analysis of a private company’s corporate social investment in SMME development in South Africa

South Africa has a very high unemployment rate, low economic growth and dismal Total (early-stage) Entrepreneurial Activity (TEA) preformance. Both government and private businesses are attemptingto address this problem. A private company, the South African Breweries (SAB), as part of their corporate social investment, runs the SAB KickStart Programme to establish and grow entrepreneurial small businesses among young South Africans. The programme applies four interventions: General Enterprising Tendency test; twoweek live-in business management training; funding and mentoring; and a national competition for prize money. Taking into consideration the cost of funding and operating the programme, its eff ectiveness required investigation. The population for the study comprised all the participants of the SAB KickStart Programme, from 2001 to 2006. From an analysis of variance (ANOVA) applied to the turnover and percentage profi t fi gures of respondents, it was deduced that funding and mentoring, after training, add value to the programme. The programme contributes to enterprise sustainability ,as 80 per cent of the respondents were still operating their initial businesses, while a further six percent have started another business – hence, a ‘failure’ rate of only 14 per cent. In conclusion, it can be said that the SAB KickStart Programme adds value, advances entrepreneurship, and can be replicated by other large institutions in South Africa

The Effect Of Training Frequency On Selected Physical And Biochemical Health Parameters In The Conditioning And Reconditioning Of Sedentary Employees

Non-communicable disease evolved as a major health risk in South Africa and accounts for about 37% of all deaths. This burden also challenges human resources in the corporate environment where poor health status (high health risks) may lead to increased health care costs, lowered productivity and eventually to premature death. Some of the South African companies have tackled this challenge by providing various employee health promotion initiatives. One of the popular contributions in this endeavour is to encourage employees to become more physically active in order to prevent detrimental health risk factors or to remedy the existing factors. A major challenge in this initiative is to keep up the compliance of the employees with their physical conditioning programmes, especially when business responsibilities take them away from their health facilities which, in turn, may lead to physical deconditioning. This endorses the motivation of this research as little information is available in South Africa on the aspect of conditioning, deconditioning and reconditioning in the corporate environment. In this study, 60 healthy but sedentary employees, ages 28-49 years, from an academic institution were recruited to participate. They were randomly assigned to three groups, where Groups A and B form the experimental groups with Group C the control group. During the initial training phase (first 12 weeks) Group A and B followed a training frequency of three times per week, while retraining took place at a frequency of two and four times per week for Groups A and B, respectively. Group C was not involved in any intervention and continued with their normal daily activities and lifestyle. Results of this study indicated that after training at a program frequency of three times per week, a salutogenic response occurred in the selected physical and biochemical health parameters. With deconditioning, about 50% of the physical benefits were lost, which occurred faster than the decline in the biochemical (lipids) benefits. With reconditioning, a program frequency of two times per week seems to maintain the physiological status, while with a program frequency of four times per week, an improvement reoccurred, exceeding the benefits of the program frequency of three times per week. In conclusion, it is clear that a physical intervention regime, to the apparently healthy employees, can decrease some health risks; but with an interruption of the program, salutogenic benefits will be partially lost. With retraining, a program frequency of two times per week will not produce significant improvement, but will only maintain the physical status

Fish community of a small, temperate, urban river in South Africa

Freshwater and marine-spawned fishes were sampled from the Baakens River, a small urban river that runs through the city of Port Elizabeth in the Eastern Cape of South Africa. Using fyke nets, 8 sites were sampled along the river course over a 4-month period (January – April 2014). Catches were comprised of indigenous freshwater, marine migrant and alien fishes. Marine migrant fishes, including catadromous species dependent on freshwater for early life-history strategies, were significantly affected by instream barriers which prohibited upstream migration of all species except Anguilla mossambica. The freshwater fish fauna was dominated by Tilapia sparrmanii and Pseudocrenilabrus philander, species that are alien to the Baakens River. While indigenous Barbus pallidus and Sandelia capensis were both abundant and widely distributed in the river, only two Pseudobarbus afer were sampled from one survey site. The low abundance and narrow distribution of this endangered species is of concern and human-mediated impacts on this species require urgent evaluation and mitigation.Keywords: Baakens River, migration barrier, weir, alien fish, endangered fis

Stellenbosch Wine Route wineries: Management’s perspective on the advantages and key success factors of wine tourism

The South African wine tourism industry is currently regarded as one of the best developed in the world. However, the Western Cape still earns approximately 70% less per tourist than its rival, Napa Valley in California. Research has shown that South African wineries are not organised to derive the maximum benefit from wine tourism. An exploratory study conducted in 2009 and 2010 investigated wineries’ perceptions of wine tourism in the Stellenbosch region and identified some factors they deemed necessary for the development of a successful winery. This article presents the findings of the 2009– 2010 study. These findings confirmed international research results that demonstrate that some aspects of wine tourism are perceived to be advantageous to the winery, such as the ability to create brand awareness and opportunities to spend time with consumers, which were deemed the principal advantages of wine tourism. Certain tourism-related services and facilities are perceived to contribute to the development of a successful winery. It is recommended that wineries should capitalise on the opportunities presented by wine tourism to increase their income and develop the winery successfully.Key words: wineries, wine tourism, Stellenbosch Wine Route, key success factors, advantages and disadvantage

A qualitative investigation into the sources of job satisfaction among black middle level managers

This research aimed to qualititavely identify any new dimensions of job satsfaction , gender differences among black middle level managers as well as the impact of afrocentric values. Content and process theories provided the theoretical framework in the identification of determinants of job satsfaction. Semi-structured interviews were administered to eight employees in the educational and finacial sector. Interpretative phenomenological analysis was used to analyse the data. The results indicated that no 'new' dimensions of job satisfaction were identified in the selected sample. Behaviour, perceptions and actions, however, manifested against the background of the South African political and socio-economic history, as well as highlighting the process of acculturation. Findings referred to the importance of social needs against the background of ubuntu. The role of the supervisor and the necessity of open communication in the workplace were emphasised. Language issues were highlighted as significant in the perception of exclusion in the workplace. The need for recognition of qualifications and skills against the background of affirmitive action policies was clear. Participants suggested the significance of personal development as manifested in their need for self-actualisation and self-efficacy. Gender differences were prevalent in all determinants of job satisfaction bar recognition of qualifications in the work environment.PsychologyD. Litt. et Phil. (Psychology