Identification and quantification of bacteria associated with cultivated Spirulina and impact of physiological factors

Research into the use of 'algal' biomass for human consumption is receiving increased attention due to their favourable nutritional value, photosynthetic efficiency, and lower requirement of land and fresh water as compared to terrestrial crops. The Spirulina species, also known as Arthrospira, is of particular interest due to its high protein content and nutritional value. Open raceway pond systems are popularly used for commercial industrial scale cultivation of microalgae due to their economic feasibility. These open cultivation systems are, however, susceptible to contamination by other microorganisms. This raises concerns relating to suitability for human ingestion and the need to control bacterial growth to prevent contamination by pathogens and to minimise the overall bacterial load. Further, bacterial contamination in processed (harvested and dried) Spirulina biomass has been reported, suggesting that some of these contaminants may end up in the market ready product where appropriate processing approaches are not used. This study sought to identify the microorganisms that typically contaminate Spirulina cultivation ponds, to understand their interaction with Spirulina biomass during cultivation and to evaluate the vulnerabilities of these contaminants, in order to generate strategies for controlling their populations during open pond cultivation. The main objectives of this study were therefore: • To quantify the bacterial load in processed Spirulina powder from a single pilot facility to ascertain the presence of the contaminant in the final product derived from the outdoor pond system used as a case study, and to quantify the bacterial load in the outdoor cultivation cultures. • To identify and characterize the bacteria associated with these Spirulina cultures and processed powder from a pilot operation carried out in Franschhoek, South Africa, with a particular focus on evaluating the likelihood for pathogens. • To establish the dynamics of the relationship between Spirulina and bacterial growth under different environmental conditions including pH, salinity and temperature. • To develop practical methods to control and minimize contamination

Information security assurance model for an examination paper preparation process in a higher education institution

In today’s business world, information has become the driving force of organizations. With organizations transmitting large amounts of information to various geographical locations, it is imperative that organizations ensure the protection of their valuable commodity. Organizations should ensure that only authorized individuals receive, view and alter the information. This is also true to Higher Education Institutions (HEIs), which need to protect its examination papers, amongst other valuable information. With various threats waiting to take advantage of the examination papers, HEIs need to be prepared by equipping themselves with an information security management system (ISMS), in order to ensure that the process of setting examination papers is secure, and protects the examination papers within the process. An ISMS will ensure that all information security aspects are considered and addressed in order to provide appropriate and adequate protection for the examination papers. With the assistance of information security concepts and information security principles, the ISMS can be developed, in order to secure the process of preparing examination papers; in order to protect the examination papers from potential risks. Risk assessment form part of the ISMS, and is at the centre of any security effort; reason being that to secure an information environment, knowing and understanding the risks is imperative. Risks pertaining to that particular environment need to be assessed in order to deal with those appropriately. In addition, very important to any security effort is ensuring that employees working with the valuable information are made aware of these risks, and can be able to protect the information. Therefore, the role players (within the examination paper preparation process (EPPP)) who handle the examination papers on a daily basis have to be equipped with means of handling valuable information in a secure manner. Some of the role players’ behaviour and practices while handling the information could be seen as vulnerabilities that could be exploited by threats, resulting in the compromise in the CIA of the information. Therefore, it is imperative that role players are made aware of their practices and iv behaviour that could result in a negative impact for the institution. This awareness forms part and is addressed in the ISMS

Poor academic performance of detective trainees in Hammanskraal academy in Pretoria, South Africa

This study was intended to understand the experiences of individual detective trainees about poor academic performance in Hammanskraal academy. Detectives are the people who must ensure that perpetrators of crime face the full might of the law through investigating and proving before the courts the guilt on the part of the perpetrator, but also to prove the innocence in some instances. In this qualitative study, purposive sampling was used, and ten participants were selected to take part in the study. The participants include the six trainees who obtained below 50% mark in one of the summative assessments and could not qualify as detectives. Further, participants include the four trainers who had more than five years as trainers in the academy to give their perspective about the poor academic performance of trainees in Hammanskraal Academy. The unstructured interview was used to collect the data, and qualitative data analysis steps were applied to analyse the data. Some of the findings are the extent of damage that is caused by poor academic performance on the individual detective trainees, and that also affected their families. They also feel embarrassed that they did not qualify as detectives because of poor academic performance. In conclusion, there is a need to put measures that would deal with the poor academic performance of the detective trainees.PsychologyM.A. (Psychology

A South African retail bank’s readiness to knowledge management implementation

M.Com. (Business Management)This study focuses on one specific knowledge management process, namely the knowledge sharing process within an operational risk management cluster of a chosen South African retail bank. The study specifically focuses on the bi- weekly meetings that are used as platforms for knowledge sharing sessions. The primary objective of the study, is to ascertain how well the corporate investment bankers, shared services and CIB Africa operational risk management cluster is effectively utilising its meetings in terms of knowledge sharing to ensure that the operational risk management strategies of the chosen bank, provides optimal assurance to its stakeholders that the bank operates within its operational risk appetite. The study is divided into five chapters. The first chapter provides the readers with a thorough understanding of the research problem and topic. The second chapter provides the theoretical framework of the literature pertaining to the context of knowledge management with a specific focus of knowledge sharing. The third chapter discusses the research methodology adopted to conduct the study. The fourth chapter discusses the empirical findings and discussion of the study. Lastly, chapter five provides conclusions, recommendations and possibilities for further research. The theoretical framework of study began by focusing broadly on the concept of knowledge management weaving its way to the specific concept of knowledge sharing. A single case research approach was adopted. All respondents were attendants of the bi-weekly knowledge sharing sessions held in the chosen bank. The empirical findings of the study revealed that there is no common awareness and understanding of the concepts of knowledge management and knowledge sharing within the chosen bank. It was further established that factors such as the role of organisational culture, leadership involvement and participation, and rewards and incentives were key factors that had the ability to either enable or hinder the knowledge-sharing within the chosen bank

A Review of Critical Factors Impacting the Implementation of E-government in Developing Countries

A key challenge facing developing countries is the high failure rate of electronic government (e-government) programmes. Since its inception, e-government has been implemented globally with the aim that it will enhance the quality-of-service delivery, transform government's internal and external processes and make the public sector more effective and efficient. However, the majority of e-government initiatives have failed to meet their objectives, particularly in developing countries. Therefore, this research considers the factors facilitating and inhibiting the successful implementation of e-government in developing countries. The methodology adopted for the thesis was a qualitative research approach. Secondary data was collected through a literature review of various sources, namely government publications, annual reports compiled by international development agencies and relevant books. To address the research question, I identified literature from journal articles with expertise in information systems such as the Electronic Journal for E-government. The research findings indicate that e-government in developing countries is impacted by various infrastructural, financial, political, socio-economic, organisational and human related aspects. Some of these include the digital divide, resistance to change, limited ICT skills and a lack of robust regulatory frameworks. The study concludes that successful e-government does not solely rest on technology. Instead, developing countries need to understand the impact of the various local contextual factors. These are the fundamental aspects that must be considered during the strategic design of e-government initiatives to ensure they are appropriate for and relevant to local conditions

Development and empowerment of previously-marginalised languages: a case of African languages in South Africa

South Africa is a multilingual country with 11 official languages and 9 of these languages are Indigenous African languages. The South African government has developed policies and created an environment for these languages to be developed. National and provincial language policies have been adopted and the country has even passed a language Act called the Use of Official Languages Act, 2012. The national Department of Education has also passed policies and Acts that enable indigenous languages to be made compulsory to all learners in all public schools in the foundation phase. Despite all these efforts, very little has been done to implement these policies. The aim of this study is to interrogate the role played by these language bodies in the implementation of the National Language Policies, particularly the development and empowerment of these previously marginalized languages. Using textual analysis, questionnaires and interviews, the study identified the bottlenecks in the system that hinder the development of these languages. Amongst the many obstructions that were uncovered, is the increased economic benefit associated with English and how this continues to undermine efforts to elevate the status of African languages. Further, this linguistic hegemony has created a situation where speakers of the nine indigenous African languages are denied access to social, economic and political developments of the country, a clear violation of language rights enshrined in the Constitution of South Africa. The study concludes by making recommendations on steps that can be taken to develop African languages in South Africa

Prosecuting Violence against Women in South African Courts: A Reflection of the Legal Culture from an Afrocentric Perspective

Introduction: The first author participated in a course related to critical feminist schools of thought while pursuing her doctoral program. Engaging with a scholarly community of feminist researchers, she gained multi-layered understandings and deeper insights on ways of knowing through the perspectives of the critical feminist schools of thought in the feminist movement. Unlike other feminist schools of thought, Afrocentric feminism is about the pluralism that captures the dynamism and fluidity of different cultural imperatives, historical forces and localized realities in the lives of African women. This feminist methodology assisted the author’s ability to link the ‘word to the world’ and ‘text to the context’ as it related to the oppression of women through the eyes of continentally based African women. Aim: Adopting an Afrocentric feminist conceptual framework, the authors sought to explore and describe the legal culture surrounding the prosecution of violence against women in South African courts. Research Methods: The study design was an Afrocentric feminist sensory ethnography. Court-scapes (recorded video tours of the physical setting of the courtrooms and court objects), participant observation, conversations with relevant court personnel, and review of relevant site documents were used to collect data. Insights: The culture of prosecution of violence against women was analysed using an Afrocentric feminist lens from a continentally based African women’s standpoint. The study indicated how kyriarchy as a socio-political system of perpetual hierarchical social relations, characterizes all women as inferior through the intersectional distinctions of race, ethnicity, class, ability, and locality. During the prosecution processes of violence against women, kyriarchy was evidenced and demonstrated through a collage of hierarchical criteria based on ethnicity, race, age, ability, and the location in which court case matter was heard. Conclusions: From feminist scholarship, evidence-based prosecution, which is in line with the South African Constitution Act No 108 of 1996 is recommended. The insights indicate that cases of VAW were prosecuted in open courts while there are intermediary facilities. This was a counter-practice on what is recommended by feminist scholarship on evidence as well as the Constitution, regardless of the prosecutors being on the side of the survivors

“If it is a tear let it be a tear, not a laceration”: Form J88 as evidence in prosecution of violence against women in South Africa

The availability of the J88 form in court is believed to convey the precise clinical description of the woman’s injuries as it is seen as prima facie evidence. This article reports how the J88 form is used in prosecution of violence against women (VAW). A four-phased sensory ethnographic design that used courtscapes, participants’ observation, document analysis and conversations with prosecutors and court personnel to generate data was employed. In this paper the focus will be on findings from conversations and reviews of relevant documents. The findings indicate that, regardless of J88 being legally endorsed as prima facie and standalone evidence, some trials of VAW cases continue without it. Most importantly, J88 forms presented for evidence are usually ‘silent’ as they don’t have any impact on prosecution of VAW. In some VAW cases, the J88 forms are viewed as recall for a victim’s condition. We recommend a synergistic approach that is transdisciplinary in nature in documentation of J88 forms. Such documentation will advance the legal and health practices.Keywords: South Africa, medico-legal document, prosecution of VAW, prima facie

Inevitability of Labour Broking in South Africa and the Need for Strict Regulation

It seems apparent that despite all the agitations, protests, and concerns raised by various organised trade unions, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), scholars and interested persons on the need for South Africa to out rightly ban the business of labour broking in South Africa because of the various unfair labour practices being perpetrated by the labour brokers and their clients, the business continues to thrive and prosperous. The ban continues to fail because till date, no single legislation has been enacted specifically to outlaw labour broking. Therefore, it seems that labour broking as a business is inevitable in South Africa and will continue to operate. That being said, even if it is not banned, this article strongly accentuates the need to stringently regulate labour broking considering various unfair labour practices that labour brokers and their clients perpetrate against workers. Against the backdrop of this, the article extensively relied on and utilised the recently enacted Labour Relations Amendment Act, 2014 which makes a moderate attempt to protect casual workers from unfair labour practices in South Africa. The South African courts have made tremendous progress by interpreting and applying this regulatory regime to protect the labour broker's employees and transform labour broking in South Africa. This article contributes to the body of knowledge regarding the need to ensure holistic protection for vulnerable casual works through stringent regulation of the business. This assertion is made against the backdrop that this aspect has not been robustly researched hence this article seeks to address the problem and proffer solutions