Contesting the transition from apartheid to democracy in the workplace

Paper presented at the Wits History Workshop: Forging the links between historical research and the policy process, 18-19 September 1999. Paper drawn from the Author's thesis "Trade unions in the workplace and the community 1984-1994; a case study of a steel mill.This paper explores the contestation between Highveld Steel and NUMSA over the transition from the apartheid workplace regime during 1993-1995. NUMSA wanted a radical democratisation of the workplace and the company; enhancing worker control and skills. Management wanted to retain control and disempower the workers

From the politics of resistance to the politics of reconstruction: The union and 'ungovernability' in the workplace

African Studies Seminar series. Paper presented 22 September 1997South Africa has undergone momentous change over the past decade. The trade union movement in the shape of COSATU has played a central role in that change. During the late 1980s it became the most organised and visible component of the internal mass democratic movement. After 1990 it became the major alliance partner of the unbanned ANC. On the one hand COSATU was an important advocate and organiser of the mass mobilisation campaigns which kept up the momentum of national political negotiations. It was the originator of the Reconstruction and Development Programme [RDP], later taken up by the ANC as the core of its election and governmental programme. COSATU also provided much of the organisation and the personnel for the ANC election campaign in 1994. At the same time the trade unions were trying to develop new policies and new strategies appropriate to the new conditions of a democratic - or democratising - society. The National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa [NUMSA] was at the forefront of developing such policies, focusing on reform of human resource policies and institutions, and on industrial strategy. These developments have been characterised by labour movement analysts as a shift from 'social movement unionism' to 'strategic unionism' founded on a strategy of 'radical reform', (see Joffe et al, 1992; Von Holdt, 1992b; Von Holdt and Webster, 1992

Trade unions, community organisation and politics: a local case study on the East Rand

This dissertation sets out as a challenge to two trends in the analysis of the trade union movement. The first trend implies that there is no fundamental difference in political strategy between the Federation of South African Trade Unions (FOSATU) and the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) which was formed in 1985 and included amongst others all the FOSATU affiliates. Swilling for instance writes that the unions established in the 1970s "shunned distinctions between economic and political issues and stridently challenged state policies" (Swilling, 1987: 2). Maree too implies that the involvement of the industrial unions in community and political struggles in the mid-1980s was not incompatible with their earlier position (1987: 10)

Lower Kuiseb River sediments and their control on dust emission

Includes bibliographical references.Previous studies, using remote sensing, have identified the Kuiseb River in Namibia as the dustiest river in Southern Africa. Dust plumes detected from this basin are mostly associated with the Lower Kuiseb River, between the end of the bedrock canyon at Natab and the Kuiseb Delta towards the Atlantic Ocean. The purpose of this study was to examine the surface materials of the Lower Kuiseb River and establish their potential towards dust production, leading to such plumes. This investigation focused predominantly on the size characteristics of 153 surface sediment samples collected from the Kuiseb main channel, its terraces, delta, gravel plain surfaces and tributaries, dunes and interdune, all of which were analysed using a Malvern Mastersizer 2000 laser diffractometer. In addition, other sediment characteristics such as mineralogy, organic matter content, soluble salts; and selected surface roughness elements were also considered. Furthermore MODIS satellite imagery was used to assess the dust emission activity from each of the geomorphological units sampled in the field for the period from 2005 to 2013. This study has demonstrated surface sediments suitable for dust production to increase towards the coast with particular "dusty" floodplain surfaces between Swartbank and Rooibank, as well as the Kuiseb Delta. It appears that silt crusts formed as the flood water dissipate, provide a main source of appropriately sized material for deflation. The crusts consist entirely of silt and clay sized material, with a maximum of 97% <63&#956;m, 39% <10&#956;m and 6% <&#956;m. Dust producing surfaces of the gravel plain include the gravel plain drainage, which has the largest quantity of clay sized material (maximum of 11% <&#956;m). Anthropogenic disturbances of the surface are likely playing a role in the production of dust, with livestock farming causing a fragmentation of crusts in the river valley, and mining and off-road driving disturbing the gravel plain

Characterising the potential health risks associated with coal dust

Coal dust is inextricably linked to the development of dust diseases. To date, the role of mineral matter in coal has been investigated for its links to pulmonary damage; however, no consensus has been reached on which characteristics are relevant to pulmonary toxicity. This study hypothesises that the toxic potential of inhalable coal dust can be attributed to reactive mineralogy and the specific surface area for interaction between the particles and primary phagocytes such as macrophages. To test this hypothesis, the study developed an advanced understanding of the relationship between the physicochemical and mineralogical characteristics of coal particles and pulmonary toxicity. Three objectives were constructed to achieve this aim. Objective 1 developed a detailed particle characterisation dataset on coal particle samples utilising both routine (X-ray diffraction and X-ray fluorescence) and advanced methods of coal analysis (automated scanning electron microscopy systems). Objective 2 elucidated multivariant relationships between the particle characteristics and the immunological responses from exposed macrophage cells in vitro using advanced statistical methods. Lastly, objective 3 developed a protocol to empirically characterise the relative risk of coal dust-related damage on a cellular level. In developing a detailed characterisation dataset on the coal samples, both routine and automated analysis tools were used to define general, chemical, mineralogical, and mineral specific characteristics. An auto-SEM-EDS-XRD (Automated scanning electron microscope coupled with Energy Dispersive X-ray Spectroscopy and analyses generated by X-ray Diffraction) protocol was developed to obtain a broad spectrum of particle data by mineralogically mapping each particle. This protocol involved the rigorous analysis of uncertainty in the data using comparative datasets generated from XRD and XRF (X-ray Fluorescence) analyses. In summary, the study demonstrated that the combined use of both routine and advanced particle analysis tools allowed for the classification of chemical and mineralogical distributions as well as a discrimination between general and mineral specific particle characteristics. Generally, these results suggested that features relating to general particle characteristics (size, shape, roughness, and surface area) are more strongly a function of mechanical breakage and deformation than compositional variation. To assess the multivariant relationships between the numerous characteristics defined and response measures of cellular toxicity, a PLSR (partial least squares regression) was applied in a novel approach to attempt a single model comparison of such relationships. This model was chosen for its ability to relate response and explanatory variables based on a new set of variables which have undergone dimensionality reduction whilst maximising the covariance. The results from the relationship analysis showed that physical characteristics (particle shape in particular) displayed a greater influence on cytotoxicity and lipid peroxidation over mineral and chemical-based characteristics. Relating this observation to previous research it was suggested that the influence of shape and roughness on phagocytosis may have strong implications for magnitude of direct and indirect cellular harm and the predominance of either intracellular or extracellular damage. The results also showed that, apart from the influence of particle shape, radical-induced stress and cytotoxicity displayed a strong dependency on (1) the chemical and mineralogical reactivity Ca hosted in gypsum, (2) the release/inhibition of Fe from pyrite and Fe-sulfates, and (3) the surface activity of quartz based on its crystallite size. However, the relationships defined in the context of cytotoxicity displayed a more nuanced dependency with the silicate mineral content and their associated properties compared to lipid peroxidation. From this it was suggested that non-radical related pathways to cytotoxicity could also occur from coal dust exposure. Ultimately, the study demonstrates the first analysis which assesses relative impact and magnitude of multiple particle characteristics on cytotoxicity and cellular stress. Finally, to provide a more easily interpretable format for the analysis of the PLSR relationships, a protocol was developed to screen variables based on: (1) their level of importance to the defined relationship and (2) the rank of importance for each influential variable represented on a unified scale. Elements which explained the variability within the sample characteristics and the responses were clustered using the k-means algorithm to determine classes of samples which display similar characteristics or levels of toxicity. The comparison of the classes grouping samples with similar properties versus samples groups with similar toxicity levels showed that even though samples may share similar properties, their reported level of toxicity may differ. This confirms the observations from previous studies which have shown that the relative toxicity of coal dust cannot be explained on the basis of isolated properties. Rather the set of ‘influential variables' showed that a combination of general, chemical, mineralogical and mineral specific data are needed to determine the differences between levels of toxicity. Ultimately, the application of this protocol on 17 different dust-sized coal samples demonstrated the key differences between samples and their influence on levels of cytotoxicity and lipid peroxidation, which until this study have not been demonstrated by a single regression. As an outcome of such results, this study provides a robust analysis strategy for elucidating particle cell relations which can further advance the understanding of coal dust induced disease pathology. Additionally, the protocol has demonstrated the usefulness of disseminating the complex data structures to more easily interpretable data formats such that a generalisable analysis of risk factors related to coal dust-based cellular damage can be utilised by stakeholders in data-based decision making. Ultimately, the results of this study propose that the toxic potential of coal dust is primarily a function of the reactive mineralogical and chemical components within the particles, however, the magnitude of this intrinsic reactivity is subject to the mitigative factors which can either neutralise of supress the anticipated reactivity

Development of infrastructure asset management software solutions for municipalities in South Africa

This Record of Study presents the development of infrastructure asset management software solutions for municipalities in South Africa. The study was performed within a multidisciplinary engineering consulting company in South Africa with an interest in expanding its infrastructure asset management consultancy services in the local government market. South Africa faces a large backlog in the delivery of basic services to communities; existing infrastructure is showing signs of advanced aging; and municipalities are inadequately staffed to effectively provide services with limited funding. The company identified the opportunity to support South African municipalities with the delivery of sustainable infrastructure services through the implementation of infrastructure asset management best practice. The provision of these services required the development of infrastructure asset management software that satisfies the needs of municipalities. Infrastructure asset management practice around the world and in the context of municipalities in South Africa was reviewed to gain an understanding of the specific requirements of the asset management software solution. The software functionality was conceptualized and the technical requirements were identified to aid development. Finally, a business plan was prepared to assess the commercial viability of the software and to guide its introduction into the market