A Study on Visible Minority Immigrant Women\u27s Experiences with Domestic Violence

The purpose of this exploratory and qualitative research was to better understand the personal experiences of visible minority immigrant women seeking help with domestic violence in Southern Ontario, Canada. Over the course of two months, I interviewed two survivors of domestic violence and three professionals about their personal and professional experiences on the issue of domestic violence impacting visible minority immigrant women. A gender-based analysis of the participants’ narratives revealed that a number of diversity-related axis such as, gender, visible minority, immigrant status and economic status influenced women’s experiences with abuse. The results exemplify the various barriers they experience and supports that are available for visible minority immigrant women seeking help with DV, and presents several policy and practice implications. Specifically, visible minority immigrant women experiencing DV face challenges in respect to foreign credentials and employment, language, culture, isolation, and shelters. In addition, structural barriers such as the police, court, spousal sponsorship policies, legal status and fear of deportation/breakdown of sponsorship further contribute to obstacles in seeking help with DV. However, various supports were outlined as mitigating several of these barriers

Flotation of nickel-copper sulphide ore : optimisation of process parameters using Taguchi method

Froth flotation is widely used for concentration of base metal sulphide minerals in complex ores. One of the major challenges faced by flotation of these ores is the ever varying grade and mineralogy. This therefore calls for a continual characterisation and optimisation of flotation parameters such that concentrator performance as a whole is always maintained. In this study, the robust Taguchi experimental design method was used to determine the optimum conditions for the flotation of nickel, copper and cobalt from a nickel-copper sulphide ore. The parameters investigated include collector dosage, percentage solids, depressant dosage and pH. The effects of these parameters at three different levels on the recovery of Ni, Cu and Co were investigated using an L9 Taguchi orthogonal array. The optimum conditions for the recovery of the base metals are collector dosage, 80g/t; pH, 10.15; %solids, 25; and depressant dosage, 100g/t. Relative significance of flotation parameters (based on difference between max and min. values) indicates that pH has the most significant effect on the recovery of nickel, copper and cobalt during flotation. Analysis of variance showed that pH and depressant dosage were the most significant parameters affecting the recovery of Ni, while collector dosage and percentage solids were insignificant. None of the tested parameters significantly affected copper recovery whilst pH was found to also significantly affect cobalt recovery

The Influence of Social Media on the Transparency and Accountability of the South African Public Sector

There is a growing debate on the potential role of social media in improving government transparency and accountability and, ultimately, policy-making. This article analyses the contribution of social media, specifically Twitter, in increasing government transparency and accountability in South Africa by transferring information between the government and the public. To achieve this aim, we conducted an in-depth analysis of Twitter content, focusing on a curated selection of randomly selected top hashtags that became prominent in the South African context. These hashtags represent notable trends such as #FeesMustFall, #ZumaMustFall, #NotInMyName, #AmINext, and the #ThaboBester saga. By examining the discourses surrounding these hashtags, we aimed to uncover insights into how social media interactions intersected with government actions and reactions. Our results indicate that these hashtags served as potent catalysts for public engagement, driving discussions that critiqued government decisions and compelled timely reactions from the government

Governance Issues and State Capture at Eskom and Transnet: A Kingdon’s Multiple Streams Theory for Policy Studies

Governments across the globe establish State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs) or businesses with a view of participating in commercial activities and contribute to the state purse. If successfully established and operated, such enterprises significantly contribute to the socio-economic development as contemplated by the National Development (Vision 2030). This is done through ensuring that government possess substantial control by means of majority ownership of shares. On the basis of this background, this paper argues that SOEs in South Africa in general and Eskom and Transnet in particular are enormously failing in executing their developmental directives due to governance failures and state capture. It is therefore the aim of this paper to interrogate the phenomena of governance and state capture prevalent to certain South African SOEs in order to provide practical recommendations to remedy the situation.  ‘Bad governance’ and state capture at SOEs  is worsened by the fact that these entities continue to exist at the ‘mercy’ of National Treasury through guarantees and bailouts. This of course has undesirable impact on the fiscus and the economy, thereby reducing government’s capability in service delivery. Some of these anomalies manifest despite the existence of constitutional and other legislative prescripts such as the Public Finance Management Act (1 of 1999) amongst others. The paper is theoretical and adopts the Kingdon’s Multiple Streams Theory to point out both the governance mishaps and state capture in SOEs in the South African context using Eskom and Transnet as unit of analysis. It was successfully established through literature that SOEs in South Africa are prone to state capture and grand corruption as perpetrated mostly by those who are politically connected and affiliated particularly to the ruling African National Congress. The paper concludes by providing recommendations for the ‘relooking’ and properly reexamining the relevance of SOEs taking into consideration that they cater for the needs of various social strata

The impact of mobile marketing on consumer decision-making, brand equity and customer relationships: a UKZN student perspective.

Masters Degree. University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban.The rise of new technology continues to present marketers with new ways of marketing their brands to consumers and mobile marketing has become part of these new advertising mediums. A number of issues continue to rise with regard to the effectiveness of mobile marketing as a means of enhancing communication and customer relationships and its effectiveness as a promotional tool. Therefore, the aim of this study was to determine the perceptions of UKZN students towards the use of mobile marketing, the impact of mobile marketing on their purchase decisions and also the perceptions of UKZN students in terms of the efficiency of mobile marketing in building brand awareness, brand image and customer loyalty. The other aim of the study was to uncover the perceptions of students regarding the use of mobile marketing and developing a certain understanding of the effectiveness of mobile marketing when targeting young consumers such as students. A sample of 359 students from the University of KwaZulu-Natal’s Westville campus was drawn for data collection using the simple random sampling technique. The data was analysed in order to test the hypotheses of the study and the researcher utilised both descriptive and inferential statistics. The results of this study show that there exist significant intercorrelations among the key dimensions (types of mobile marketing, convenience, credibility, informativeness, entertainment, attraction and retention, consumer-decision making, brand equity and customer relationships) of the study relating to UKZN students. It was also revealed that there is no significant difference in the perceptions of UKZN students, varying in biographical profiles (gender, age, race, educational level and college) regarding each dimension of the study (types of mobile marketing, convenience, credibility, informativeness, entertainment, attraction and retention, privacy, consumer-decision making, brand equity and customer relationships). The results also show that students believe that mobile marketing has an impact on their purchase decisions. The recommendations generated from the results of this study provide insight into how marketers can use mobile marketing to successfully target university students

Special Interest Councillors in Zimbabwean Local Authorities: Challenges and Opportunities

This paper explores the challenges and opportunities of integrating special interest councilors in the governance of Zimbabwean local authorities. The study revealed that the current way in which special interest councilors are appointed in local authorities is an assault on local democracy. The process spruces up the policy making base of the political party to which the appointing minister belongs. However the study also reveals that despite the political challenges posed by the integration of special interest councilors in Zimbabwean local authorities at the moment, such appointments may be a progressive measure if done in a genuinely and transparent manner. It can bring critical skills which democracy may filter in favour of populism

Differences between service and manufacturing companies : the impact on emerging market subsidiary performance

Emerging markets are contributing more to the global economy’s growth. This has attracted multinational manufacturing and service firms to these markets. This research investigated whether the subsidiaries of service multinationals outperform those of manufacturing service multinationals in emerging markets. The research identified 430 listed service multinational subsidiaries and 359 listed manufacturing subsidiaries currently operating in 27 emerging markets. The subsidiaries performance was analysed using the Shapiro Wilk’s test for normality and the Mann-Whitney test. In addition to this, the research ran 10 multiple regression models to test the impact of country competitiveness factors on subsidiary performance. The findings show that service multinationals’ subsidiaries outperform manufacturing multinationals subsidiaries. Additionally the findings show that manufacturing multinationals subsidiaries have developed capabilities better suited to minimising the impact of the emerging market environment on their performance.Dissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2013.mngibs2014Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS)MBAUnrestricte

Culture and Performance Appraisal Processes and Practices: Critical Insights from the South African Public Sector

This chapter provides an insight into culture and performance appraisal practices and processes in the South African public sector. Performance appraisal is an element of performance management – a relatively new phenomenon in many African countries, which depends on western-oriented reform initiatives and is becoming increasingly more popular. Literary discussions about cultural influences on performance appraisals in South Africa and some African countries are limited. Performance appraisal is a complex process whose outcomes are used for decision-making in an organisation – to improve employee performance. This chapter concludes that many African practices, attitudes and customs affect the effective use of performance appraisals in improving employee performance in the public sector. The chapter contributes to findings regarding cultural influences on performance appraisal in the South African public sector and the African public sector in general

Factors affecting the performance of South African municipal officials: stakeholders’ perspectives

Since the inception of the democratically elected post-apartheid government, South Africa has experienced growing numbers of protests about inadequate provision of basic municipal services. Recent studies have revealed that the poor performance of municipal officials contributes towards poor municipal service delivery. This article is based on a study which used qualitative key stakeholder interviews to analyse the performance of South African municipal officials, specifically in the delivery of services. It found that the following inter-related factors were responsible for the lack of performance: an unsupportive institutional environment, negative power struggles, over-regulation, political interference, a tense and bureaucratic environment, lack of coherent management systems, absence of a culture of excellence, poor skill utilisation, poor oversight mechanisms, weak capacity to engage in collaborations, and lack of trust between councillors from different political parties. The study concludes that for South African municipalities to meet their constitutional obligations to deliver optimal basic services to the people, the government must, inter alia, invest in building the capacity of municipal officials through the development of skills and other crucial local government interventions and transformations. The municipalities should also depoliticise local government and promote non-partisan appointment of municipal officials

Use of antenatal clinic surveillance to assess the effect of sexual behavior on HIV prevalence in young women in Karonga district, Malawi.

BACKGROUND: Antenatal clinic (ANC) surveillance is the primary source of HIV prevalence estimates in low-resource settings. In younger women, prevalence approximates incidence. Sexual behavior monitoring to explain HIV distribution and trends is seldom attempted in ANC surveys. We explore the use of marital history in ANC surveillance as a proxy for sexual behavior. METHODS: Five ANC clinics in a rural African district participated in surveillance from 1999 to 2004. Unlinked anonymous HIV testing and marital history interviews (including age at first sex and socioeconomic variables) were conducted. Data on women aged <25 years were analyzed. RESULTS: Inferred sexual exposure before marriage and after first marriage increased the adjusted odds of infection with HIV by more than 0.1 for each year of exposure. Increasing years within a first marriage did not increase HIV risk. After adjusting for age, women in more recent birth cohorts were less likely to be infected. CONCLUSIONS: Marital status is useful behavioral information and can be collected in ANC surveys. Exposure in an ongoing first marriage did not increase the odds of infection with HIV in this age group. HIV prevalence decreased over time in young women. ANC surveillance programs should develop proxy sexual behavior questions, particularly in younger women