The impact of the Government Immovable Asset Management Act (GIAMA) on the Department of Public Works, South Africa

Purpose of the paper: To investigate of the impact of the Government Immovable Asset Management Act (GIAMA, No. 19 of 2007) on immovable asset management by the Department of Public Works (DPW), South Africa, which is mandated to be the custodian of all immovable assets utilized by National Departments.Methodology. Primary sources included survey questionnaires and interviews with relevant managers of all business units involved in life cycle asset management within DPW. The units are Asset Investment Management, Professional Services, Policy and Key Accounts Management. The population was subdivided into three levels of management (Chief Directors, Directors, Deputy Directors). Stratified random sampling identified a total of 30 out of a total population of 80 managers from the four units.  A total of 27 completed questionnaires were received and analysed. Findings The study established that the roles and goals of the different business units are not properly aligned to strategic goals of the department. The asset register in the department was not updated. A number of asset management policy and skills gaps need to be addressed to comply with GIAMA. It is recommended that DPW should ensure that it addresses the gaps in the asset management systems, policies, skills and asset management planning in the department to ensure compliance.Practical implications.  Implementation of the recommendations should contribute to the optimization of the fixed assets owned by the South African government and to service delivery to User Departments

Shoot Heterogeneity Effects on Shiraz/Richter 99 Grapevines. I. Vegetative Growth

In this study the vegetative growth parameters of normally developed and underdeveloped shoots were compared in an attempt to quantify shoot heterogeneity in a Shiraz/Richter 99 vineyard. A field trial was performed in the Stellenbosch area,Western Cape, South Africa. Comparisons based on certain vegetative growth parameters were made between normally developed and underdeveloped shoots from both shaded and well-exposed canopies. The longer primary shoots of the normally developed shoots matured earlier in the season, with less apparent competition between shoot lignification and grape ripening. Reserves were more evenly distributed in these shoots. Total starch content over the whole shoot was found to be higher in the normally developed shoots, particularly when wellexposed. More and longer secondary shoots occurred on the normally developed shoots than on the underdeveloped shoots. No difference was found in the number of primary leaves (leaves on primary shoots) betweennormally developed and underdeveloped shoots, although the leaf area was much larger in the case of the former.  Normally developed shoots had more and larger secondary leaves (leaves on secondary shoots), while all the leaves that developed in the shaded canopies were found to be larger than those in the well-exposed canopies with a higher leaf area:mass ratio. The normally developed shoots seemed to have a greater potential for producing a higher yield, with better quality, than the underdeveloped shoots, as they have a more desirable leaf area composition in addition to a larger total leaf area per shoot

Ethical perspectives on the environmental impact of property development

Three perspectives that can be found in ethical decision-making are explored to suggest guidelines for ethical property development: the instrumental, the intrinsic and the pluralist perspective. Given the limitations of the instrumental and the intrinsic perspectives, it is suggested that the appropriate perspective to be adopted by ethical property developers is that of pragmatism, as being a system of moral pluralism. This perspective can be utilised as a flexible toolbox which unites both traditional ethical values and the diversity of environmental ethics, as well as allowing new values to emerge without adhering to relativism

Faecal nematode egg counts in Merino sheep following natural challenge

(South African J of Animal Science, 2000, 30, Supplement 1: 24-25

Shoot Heterogeneity Effects on Shiraz/Richter 99 Grapevines. II. Physiological Activity

In this study, the physiology of normally developed and underdeveloped shoots is compared in an attempt toquantify the effect of shoot heterogeneity in a Shiraz/Richter 99 vineyard, located in the Stellenbosch area of theWestern Cape, South Africa. Comparisons are made between normally developed and underdeveloped shoots fromshaded and well-exposed canopies. In the first five weeks after véraison, photosynthetic and transpiration rates,stomatal conductance and water-use efficiency (WUE) decreased as berry ripening progressed, while the internalCO2 levels of the leaves increased. Since differences in activity between individual leaves from normally developedand underdeveloped shoots only became apparent in the third week after véraison, it seemed as if the leaf area pershoot played a more important role than the photosynthetic output per unit leaf area in determining photosynthetatesupply to the rest of the vine up to this stage. From the third week after véraison, higher levels of photosynthetateswere produced by normally developed shoots than by underdeveloped shoots, due to the larger effective leaf areaper shoot as well as the higher photosynthetic activity per unit leaf area. This points to premature senescence of theleaves on underdeveloped shoots. The quantity and quality of the yield from normally developed shoots are expectedto benefit from the higher physiological output of the leaves. The enhancing effect on leaf functioning induced bycanopy exposure became apparent from the third week after véraison

Comments from the property industry on Masters Real Estate curricula in South Africa

Purpose: The aim of this paper is to report comments given in a survey of property professionals in the industry on Masters Real Estate (MRE) curricula in South Africa. Methodology: A questionnaire was administered to obtain comments from property professionals in the industry on MRE curricula in South Africa. Findings: The property industry survey revealed that MRE curricula in South Africa have both strengths and weaknesses. The main strength of the curricula noted by the property professionals is that the curricula are interdisciplinary. Weaknesses reported include lack of case studies and practical components in the curricula. Research limitations: Results of the survey will not directly influence change to the processes of curriculum development for postgraduate real estate education in South Africa. Curricula development will largely depend on outcomes of discussions of lecturing staff and university administrations implementing the courses. Value: The study will support processes of curricula improvement for MRE programmes in South Afric

Shoot Heterogeneity Effects on Shiraz/Richter 99 Grapevines. III. Leaf Chlorophyll Content

In this study, the leaf chlorophyll content of normally developed and underdeveloped shoots was compared in anattempt to quantify the effect of shoot heterogeneity in a Shiraz/Richter 99 vineyard, located in the Stellenbosch areaof the Western Cape, South Africa. Comparisons are also made between normally developed and underdevelopedshoots from shaded and well-exposed canopies. No positive correlation was found between the photosyntheticactivity and the chlorophyll concentration of the leaves at five weeks after véraison. Equal amounts of chlorophyllper cm2 and a non-significant difference in the assimilation rate were calculated for the leaves of normally developedand underdeveloped shoots. No significant differences were found between the shaded and well-exposed canopies. Ittherefore appears that it is the effective surface area per leaf or per shoot rather than the chlorophyll concentrationor activity that may be responsible for any apparent difference in the photosynthetic output of the leaves fromnormally developed and underdeveloped shoots in shaded or well-exposed canopies

Genetic analysis of faecal worm egg count in South African Merinos under natural challenge

Sheep from a Merino selection experiment at the Tygerhoek research farm in the Southern Cape provided material for this study. The selection lines involved included a line selected for clean fleece weight, a “Wet and Dry” line, a fine wool line and an unselected Control line. Rectal faeces samples were obtained from individual animals at 13 to 16 months of age, after drenching was withheld for at least 10 weeks. Nematode eggs in these samples were counted. Fitting the appropriate fixed effects, the heritability of untransformed, cube root transformed and log transformed faecal nematode egg count (FEC) was obtained from single-trait analyses. The effects of sex and birth year were involved in a significant interaction. Means for FEC were generally higher in ram progeny than in ewes, but the magnitude of the sex difference was not consistent. Multiple lambs had a slightly lower mean for FEC than singles, while FEC was unaffected by dam age. The heritability of FEC was estimated at between 0.14 for untransformed data and 0.18 for log transformed FEC. Genetic correlations of log transformed FEC with two-tooth staple strength (-0.49) and coefficient of variation of fibre diameter (0.30) were favourable. Clean fleece weight was unfavourably related to FEC on a genetic level (0.19). Selection for resistance to parasitic nematodes after natural challenge should thus be feasible in the Merino lines studied. Keywords: Fleece weight; genetic correlation; heritability; live weight; resistance South African Journal of Animal Science Vol. 37 (4) 2007: pp.237-24

Assessment of the genetic diversity of geographical unrelated Microcystis aeruginosa strains using amplified fragment length polymorphisms (AFLPs)

Molecular marker analysis is becoming increasingly capable of identifying informative genetic variation. Amplified fragment length polymorphism markers (AFLPs) are among the recent innovations in genetic marker technologies, and provide a greater capacity for genome coverage and more reproducible results than previous technologies. We have investigated the usefulness of AFLP, which is based on the selective amplification of genomic restriction fragments by PCR, to differentiate between geographical unrelated Microcystis strains. In total 23 strains were subjected to the AFLP fingerprinting. After analysis of the data on the basis of the average linkage method, known as the Unweighted Pair Group Method using Arithmetic averages (UPGMA), a dendrogram with four clusters was obtained. Cluster 1 consisted mainly of the NIES strains that originated from Japan, while in cluster 2 the European strains grouped together. The South African strains that originated from the northern part of the country group together in cluster 3, while the strains collected from the central and southern regions group together with the US strains in cluster 4. The study had reveals extensive evidence for the applicability of AFLP in cyanobacterial taxonomy, and furthermore clearly demonstrates the superior discriminative power of AFLP towards the differentiation of geographical unrelated Microcystis aeruginosa strains that belong to the same species, as well as highlighting the potential of this fingerprinting method in evolutionary studies.African Journal of Biotechnology Vol. 4 (5), pp. 389-399, 200