Still Searching for the Gleam: The Unreal Realities of Joburg City in a Post-Apartheid South African Novel

Panel: The Cit

Lay Beliefs And Responses Concerning HypertensionAnd Its Management In Two CulturallyDistinct Groups

Objective: To determine quantitatively whether there are significant differences in lay beliefs about hypertension and its management between African- Caribbean (A.C.) living in the UK but born in the West Indian Caribbean Islands and white hypertensive patients in the UK. Design: Self-administered postal (and surgery) questionnaire. Setting: Two general practices in the Wembley / North London and Dagenham (Essex) areas. Participants: Male and female patients aged between 35 and 69 years of age registered with the above practices and receiving treatment for hypertension. These were selected from the age/sex/disease registers. Interventions: None Main outcome Measures: African-Caribbean vs. White/Caucasian responses to the 16-item questionnaire and determining statistical significance (the P value). This was done to determine whether or not there are significant differences in lay beliefs between the two ethnic groups i.e.A.C. versus white Caucasian. Results: Out of 525 patients who were sent the 16-item questionnaire, there were 427 responses (238 men, 189 women). This was an 81% response rate. In terms of race, there were 224 white and 203 African-Caribbean respondents. The responses to the questions strongly suggested that there are significant ethnic differences on matters of lay beliefs regarding hypertension and its management. This quantitative study supported the findings and conclusions of a previous (1988) qualitative one by Myfawny Morgan and C.J.Watkins on the same subject. Conclusions: Lay beliefs appear to be extremely important amongst all cultures and it would appear that these do have an impact on how an individual views his or her medical condition and how the doctors manage it. Intercontinental and international encounters appear to be here with us to stay due to a variety of factors e.g. trade, education, sports and wars. It is therefore of utmost importance that medical practitioners bear this in mind in their encounters with patients. An acceptance of this approach by all doctors and health workers may improve compliance. Keywords: Hypertension, Ethnicity, Lay beliefs, Compliance, Doctors SA Fam Prac Vol.25(2) 2002: 16-2

Pervasive skills and accounting graduates’ employment prospects: Are South African employers calling for pervasive skills when recruiting?

In today’s global and digital accounting world, the role and skills required of accounting practitioners have evolved, resulting in pervasive skills coming to the fore. Various Interventions, including changes made to the accounting degree curricula for an added focus on pervasive skills, have been made by universities offering accounting programmes in South Africa. However, it remains unknown whether such interventions provide an incentive for accounting graduates in the job-seeking process. In as much as the possession of pervasive skills may be associated with employment success, it is not clear whether employers are actually calling for these skills.  Through a content analysis of advertised online accounting vacancies, this quantitative study sought to investigate the importance of pervasive skills for accounting graduate employment prospects. The findings suggested that oral and written communication skills and critical thinking skills were the most sought after pervasive skills in accounting-related employment in South Africa. &nbsp

The Impact of Using Derivatives as a Hedging Instrument in Supporting Global Development Trends: An Analysis of the African Aviation Sector

With less than a decade before the impending deadline for the realisation of the United Nations 2030 Sustainable Agenda for Development and with the Covid-19 pandemic having significantly slowed down progress on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), aggressive collaborative efforts from all sectors of the global economy are required now more than ever, not only for the achievement of the targeted goals but also to aid in an inclusive global economic recovery. With the global airline industry having been identified as one of the key pillars for propelling this agenda forward as it is believed to contribute to at least 15 of the 17 SDGs, exploring ways in which this industry can remain profitable and sustainable, so it continues to contribute towards the unified goal has become an important focus area for those at the forefront of the agenda. One of the identified major threats to the longevity and prosperity of the airline industry is said to be the inherent exposure to the volatility in commodity markets, as fuel expenditure generally makes up the single largest cost component of an airline's operating expense. This dissertation, therefore, investigates the relationship between fuel hedging and the firm value of commercial airlines in order to establish the effectiveness of fuel hedging as a potential lever that can be used to effect the desired change towards the realisation of the SDGs. The study draws on evidence from African, European and North American airlines and makes use of a panel least square estimation technique to estimate the behaviour of the parameters in the selected statistical sample over a 10-year period from 2009 to 2019. Using Tobin's Q as a proxy for firm value, the study computes a series of regressions, incorporating different control variables such as airline size, percentage of jet fuel cost to total operating costs, jet fuel cost per passenger, and profit per passenger - which are all deemed to have significant explanatory power to allow for the isolation of the effect of fuel price hedging. The study further makes use of two hedging variables (percentage hedged and fair value of hedging derivatives to assets) in separate regression equations to ascertain their individual relationships with the dependent variable - Tobin's Q. The analysis of the results in this dissertation reveals a positive correlation between the airlines' hedging activity and airline firm value thereby suggesting that mitigating the risks associated to fuel price volatility could yield positive outcomes for firm value. These findings can prove to be useful for those at the forefront of the 2030 global development agenda, as well as the airline companies themselves in driving the SDG goals

Balancing the protection for intellectual property rights of copyright holders against the constitutional right to freedom of expression: a comparison of the South African approach and the United States of America’s approach.

Masters Degree. University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg.No abstract available

The medicinal ethnobotany of the Amandawe area in KwaCele, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa

Abstract : Please refer to full text to view abstractM.Sc. (Botany

In vitro assessment of selected ethno-medicinal plants as potential alternatives for the control of gastrointestinal nematodes in sheep and goats.

Masters Degree. University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg.Commercial anthelmintics are becoming ineffective against gastrointestinal nematodes (GIN) of ruminants due to development of resistant parasites. Research is exploiting anthelmintic ethno-medicinal plants for an alternative remedy. This study assessed the in vitro: (1) dose activity at different concentrations, (2) combined synergistic activity of ethanolic crude plant extracts on mixed GIN of sheep and goats; and (3) cytotoxic activity of these extracts on kidney vero cells. During assessment of in vitro dose activity, faecal samples of sheep and goats that were grazing on contaminated pasture were collected, cultured (12 days) to L3 larvae stage, and treated with 40, 20, 10, 5, 2.5, 1.25 and 0.25% v/v of Allium cepa, Ananas comosus, Bidens pilosa, Carica papaya, Crinium macowanii, Gunnera perpensa, Nicotiana tabacum, Ricinus communis, Sarcosterma viminale, Trema orientalis, Urtica dioica, Vernonia amygdalina, Zanthozylum capense, Zingiber officinale, Zizyphus mucronata and Aloe vanbalenii extracts. Larvae were subjected to Baermann technique for isolation and later observed under a microscope (10x objective). During the assessment of synergism at 1.25% v/v concentration (1:1), 28 crude plant extract combinations from eight (8) mostly edible plants namely: Allium cepa, Ananas comosus, Bidens pilosa, Carica papaya, Vernonia amygdalina, Zingiber officinale, Aloe vanbalenii and Nicotiana tabacum (inedible) were tested for their synergistic activity. The simple and Webb’s fractional product method were used to compute interactions of crude plant extract combinations. During assessment of cytotoxic activity MTT assay was used to assess effect of 16 individual plant extracts mentioned above on vero kidney cells. Results revealed that goats had a significantly higher efficacy than sheep at 40% (P=0.0253) and 20% (P=0.038) concentration (v/v); but goats had significantly lower efficacy at concentration (v/v) 1.25% (P= 0.0305) and 0.625% (P= 0.0158) relative to sheep. On the other hand, both goats and sheep had insignificant (P>0.05) efficacy for CPEs concentration (v/v) 10%, 5% and 2.5%. Plant species had no effect on efficacy at concentration (v/v) 40%, 20%, 10%, 5%, 2.5%, but had significant effect at lowest concentration (v/v) of 1.25 % (P=0.0085%) and 0.625 (P=0.0234%) which was not dose-dependent. Few plants had high activities at the lowest tested concentration (0.625% v/v). In goats it was Gunnera perpensa (89.47%±12.40), while in sheep Gunnera perpensa (100%±12.40), Urtica dioica (95.24%±12.40), Zizyphus mucronata (90.47%±12.40), Allium cepa (90.47%±12.40), Aloe vanbalenii (85.71%±12.40) and Bidens pilosa (80.95%±12.40). Interactions following Webb’s fractional product method were antagonistic and synergistic, whereas those following simple method yielded synergistic interactions only. In goats, V. amygdalina + Z. officinale (100%) was the most efficacious, while in sheep, A. cepa + C. papaya (100%), V. amygdalina + Z. officinale (100%), V. amygdalina + Z. officinale (100%) and A. comosus + N. tabacum (100%) were most efficacious. Animal species had a significant effect (P0.05) the efficacy of crude plant extract combinations. Vernonia amygdalina (IC50 = 0.01 mg/ml) followed by Zingiber officinale (IC50 =0.02 mg/ml) were the most cytotoxic crude extracts, while Allium cepa (IC50 = 0.27) and Aloe vanbalenii (IC50 = 0.22 mg/ml) were the least cytotoxic crude extracts. Cytotoxicity increased in a dose dependent manner. The concentration-cell viability relationship was negative linear in most crude plant extracts. While it was negative quadratic for Gunnera perpensa, Zingiber officinale and Vernonia amygdalina. Anthelmintic crude plant extracts are efficacious against GIN of sheep and goats. Although they are mostly harmless minimum effective concentration should be used. Crude plant extracts that were efficacious at the lowest concentration and observed synergistic crude plant extract combinations should be tested in vivo. Keywords: Anthelmintics, Animal species, Activity, Cytotoxic, Crude plant extract(s), Concentration, Ethno-medicinal, Gastrointestinal nematodes, Goats, In vitro, Plant species, Resistant, Sheep

An analysis of transformation initiatives to promote development: a case study of uMhlathuze Local Municipality.

Masters Degree. University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban.With the advent of democracy in 1994, the South African government made a commitment to deliver services to all citizens irrespective of race. To achieve this objective, service delivery was decentralized to local government. However, the wave of service delivery protests in South Africa raises questions around the successful implementation of this strategy. The journey to transform the South African local government system has not been an easy one. While the vision set out in the Constitution (1996) is clear, implementation is confronted by significant challenges. Scholars present conflicting results on decentralization. Some contend that decentralization resulted in substantial achievements in some regions and countries, but partial developmens with less positive impacts in others. The study sought to investigate the effects and impact of decentralization on governance, closely examining community participating in budgetary and policy-making activities. It further sought to establish if there is any correlation between audit outcomes and service delivery using the uMhlathuze Local Municipality as a case study. Finally, the study sought to establish factors that drive/impede the implementation of transformation initiatives. To realize the objectives of the study, the researcher utilized decentralization model as a lens to investigate whether governance practices are effective in improving service delivery through responsive, accountable, and efficient democratic participatory local government. For purposes of this study, the researcher adopted a quantitative research approach because of its objectivity and its ability to draw inferences. The researcher utilised purposive and convenience sampling. Convenience sampling was utilized to identify key informants. The results are presented using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 25. The SPSS analysis made it possible to formulate propositions. The study found that participatory democracy is present within the uMhlathuze Local Municipality but has not spread across all the areas within the municipality’s jurisdiction. Most of the study participants were of the view that the Municipality consults through ward councillors and/or headmen (izinduna), suggesting that ward committees are active. However, some areas still lack adequate services, especially peri-urban and rural areas. Party-political conflict is said to be the cause for concern. The study participants felt strongly that audit outcomes have a positive correlation with the service delivery and the quality thereof. In the last five financial year periods, the uMhlathuze Local Municipality has received clean audit opinions consecutively. At the same period, the municipality is reported to have achieved great strides in service delivery. These findings raise some doubt of the authenticity of the claims that local government is over-legislated, thus resulting in municipalities spending more time complying with the law than delivering services. It is however, concluded that participatory democracy in the local government is witnessed mostly during the run-up to elections, during budget and IDP processes. Endemic corruption, inadequate community participation, and undue political interference in local government are some of the reasons for the failure to implement good governance through decentralization