bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Aspects of irrigation development in the Netherlands East Indies
Authors: Ertsen Maurits W.
Published: June 2016

The ‘Romijn’ discharge measurement structure was developed in the Netherlands East Indies. By the end of the colonial period in the 1930s, it had become the standard structure in irrigation. The Romijn design is not only still the main discharge measurement structure in Indonesia, it is also used in Dutch water management practice and education. The question of continuity is at the heart of concepts such as ‘technological tradition’ or ‘technological regime’, and this continuity links the information embodied in a community of practitioners with the hardware and software the members master. Such communities define accepted modes of technical operation. Engineering education is an important mechanism in preference-guided selection of design solutions, and obtaining an engineering degree is much like passing the preparatory requirements for community membership. When, in 1967, a civil engineering student from Delft Polytechnic presented his final paper for an irrigation design to his supervisors, the first question they asked was why he had not used a Romijn weir as an off-take structure. The Dutch irrigation regime, which consists of the explicit and implicit rules of Dutch irrigation design, is the central subject of this paper. In this paper I shall discuss two related issues: (1) how the Netherlands East Indies irrigation regime developed, and (2) how the (dis)continuities in irrigation education and practice following Indonesian independence can be understood. Naturally, while discussion of these issues, to a certain extent at least, depends on the data available, it also depends on the researcher’s perspective.
Community knowledge and sustainable natural resources management: learning from the Monpa of Arunachal Pradesh
Authors: Singh Ranjay K. , Sureja Amish K.
Published: June 2016

Community knowledge and local institutions play a significant role in sustainable comanagement, use and conservation of natural resources. Looking to the importance of these resources, a project, funded by the National Innovation Foundation (NIF), Ahmedabad, India was implemented to document the community knowledge associated with agriculture and natural resources in few selected Monpa tribe dominating villages of West Kameng and Tawang Districts of Arunachal Pradesh, India. Dynamics of various indigenous practices, gender role, culture and informal rural social institutions, cultural edges significantly contribute in managing and using the natural resources sustainably. Experiential learning and location specific knowledge play a pivotal role in ecosystem sustainability. Study also indicates the synergistic relation existing between local knowledge and ecological edges, thereby helping in sustaining livelihood in high altitude. Indigenous resource management systems are not mere traditions but adaptive responses that have evolved over time.
The phenomenology of experiencing poverty – an exploration
Authors: Van der Merwe Karen
Published: June 2016

There is a plethora of research on poverty. Definitions of poverty are provided from various perspectives, reasons and causes for poverty are analysed, and descriptions are provided of the impact of poverty on adults and children. This article, however, tries to provide a unique view on the phenomenon of poverty: The focus is on a specific class of poor people, namely newly-impoverished people. It also provides a description and analysis of the very personal, subjective experience of poverty by this group of Afrikaans-speaking people. Various character strengths that may provide a sound foundation for psychosocial intervention programmes to re-launch newly impoverished people into economic independence are identified.
Anachronism and the rewriting of history: the South Africa case
Authors: Verbeeck Georgi
Published: June 2016

The use and abuse of anachronism is often seen as the quintessence of the writing of history. Historians tend to conceive it as the hardcore of their métier to avoid anachronism. It designates a confusion in order of time, especially the mistake of placing an event, attitude, or circumstance too early. The awareness of historical anachronism is omnipresent in times of a radical rewriting of history, in particular as a result of political transformation. History reflects the needs and ambitions of a political context, and the sense of what is deemed historically significant does not remain unattached hereby. Chronology and anachronism are essential to particular conceptions of history, and if history is in a process of being rewritten, they are the first items to be addressed by the defenders of the old system and the advocates of a new discourse. In political debates on the use or abuse of history anachronism is often seen as ultimate proof of the (un-)reliability of new insights and conceptions. As anachronism is defined as a way of transferring contemporary sets of values, assumptions and interpretative categories, every political reorientation inevitably provokes a discussion on that level. If a ‘new nation’ is in search of a ‘new past’, a new reflection on the basic categories of historical thinking becomes necessary. The changing discourses in South African historiography since the end of Apartheid serve here as an illuminative example.
Einleitung: Thema “Humankind at the Intersection of Nature and Culture”
Authors: Rüsen Jörn
Published: June 2016

No abstract available.
Mapping cultural and natural landscape: metaphors in mapping human nature
Authors: Du Toit Cornel W.
Published: June 2016

The article uses the cartographic metaphor to describe the relations between culture and nature, science and life world, signifier and signified. Modernism may be defined as a project to map the whole of human reality to ensure our comprehension and control of it. The Hobbes-Boyle controversy is cited by way of example. Today this project is under critical scrutiny, because there is more to the world than what is captured in maps. The main example of control and reduction of meaning is the way human nature is defined. Nowadays the main factor is not so much ideology of one kind or another but, increasingly, technoscience. Mapping the future of humankind will depend on successful integration of humans with nature, faith with reason, natural sciences with human sciences, physicality with spirituality. Heidegger provides an example of a meaningful way to integrate science and technology with the human life world. Finally, the self-transcending character of human culture remains the driving force behind the process.
The quest for sustainable agriculture
Authors: Simon Peter
Published: June 2016

Since the Brundtland Commission on Environment and Development published its report in 1983 the idea of sustainable development has become popular. Although many definitions of sustainable development have been proposed, the concept is not easily implemented in a world which believes that high rates of economic growth are essential and in which economic systems are run on the basis of money flows in a setting of private property. Environmental degradation is seen as external to the system. The article discusses the concepts of technicism and economism as the dominant features of Western culture, meaning that all problems can be solved by technical and economic means. This is followed by an analysis of technicistic and economistic concepts of sustainability. In order to develop a concept of sustainability that is not marred by technicism and economism, key features of reformational philosophy, as represented by D.H.Th. Vollenhoven are summarized, especially concepts of time. This leads to an idea of sustainability that seeks to maintain the integrity of the kingdoms of things, plants and animals through a human culture inspired by wisdom and careful stewardship.
Some human actions in the destruction and construction of culture and nature – the Merafong region as a case study
Authors: Van Eeden Elize S.
Published: June 2016

For at least the past 180 years the Merafong Municipal region in the Gauteng Province of South Africa, (of which the Wonderfontein Catchment forms a part) has strongly relied on the primary sector for its economic existence and development. In the process some human actions, also related to serious water contamination/pollution, have resulted in phases of constructions1 as well as economic and health destructions. Differences over whose environment and whose nature it is spontaneously developed, with sometimes less friendly outcomes. The ‘end result’ up to 2006 is a complicated scenario experience, similar to that of many other regions or local areas, but also very unique and somewhat frightening. The long term focus of this article is to exchange knowledge2 on the region with the objective to contribute towards creating a sustainable nvironment by ensuring closer co-operation between the various economic active cultures operating or functioning in the Merafong municipal region. In this article four aspects are covered.
From genogram to genograph: Using narrative means to contextualize social reality in the counselling session
Authors: Van Niekerk P. J.M , Van Niekerk R. L. , Mushonga H. , Dogger A
Published: June 2016

This article addresses a process that occurs when applying narrative therapy during a counselling session, namely moving away from the genogram towards the more effective genograph. Narrative therapy implies that we often talk and share stories about ourselves and that these stories are usually within a social context, whether it is our families, personal relationships or work. Stories are an important aspect in narrative therapy and therefore the counsellor must be aware of a family’s different contexts both as a family system, and as a group of individual members. The article takes as point of departure the thoughts of Charles Horton Cooley and George Herbert Mead and their influence on the development of the ‘self’ and the construction of our social reality within this process. It further argues in favour of the use of a genograph as a symbolic representation of the personal meanings of a family member’s experience of the dominant and alternative stories with which they live.
The fantastically natural world of George Saunders
Authors: Finbow Steve
Published: June 2016

No abstract available.
An NGO’s report on pollution and its effects in the Vaal Triangle
Authors: Tempelhoff Johann
Published: June 2016

No abstract available.
New perspectives on learning
Authors: Grosser Mary
Published: June 2016

No abstract available.
Ekonomie en die bestudering van fratse
Authors: Tempelhoff Johann
Published: June 2016

No abstract avaialble.
From hauntology to a new animism? Nature and culture in Heinz Kimmerle’s intercultural philosophy
Authors: Hofmeyr Murray
Published: June 2016

Derrida has proposed a new spectrology in an attempt to deal with the ghost of Marx. Kimmerle shows that Marx has forgotten nature, and enquires about Derrida’s forgetting Marx’s forgetting. With specific reference to African culture he asks whether a new animism should not be explored within the framework of a new spectrology. Derrida uses the concept animism, but not in terms of the being of things in and ofthemselves, which could positively be thought as animated. Kimmerle proposes a way in which Western philosophy could be opened to African philosophy in order to understand the problem of animated nature more adequately. African philosophy has a concept of the universe of spiritual forces, in which nature and its powers arecompletely integrated. This paper explores these issues in dialogue with a number of African philosophers, while linking them to certain contestations within environmental philosophy and ethics, especially Murray Bookchin’s critique of spirit-talk in Deep Ecology. Kimmerle’s work on the relationship between Africa and Hegel sets the scenefor an elaboration of his re-evaluation of animism which is compared to the groundbreaking hypothesis of Bird-David. A relational epistemology is understood in ethical terms, and it is implied that such an epistemology would be more adequate for a new humanism that would be new in going beyond the western tradition, and in the processgain a more inclusive concept of “person” and “community”.
The role of technology in the economic growth of South Africa: The case of frequency allocations to cellular operators
Authors: Mellet André
Published: June 2016

Economists associate long-term economic growth with technological progress. Earlier growth literature, as well as modern literature, states to sustain a positive growth rate of output per capita in the long run, there must be continual advances in technological knowledge. Thisfact is embedded in one of the main growth models, namely the Solow growth model. This article firstly discusses the connection between technology and growth in the various models. Any country needs a positive real growth to develop. To create a better scenario forall its inhabitants, it is therefore important that technological development must be employed in the system. Secondly the focus is on analyzing the role of technology and mobile phonesfrom a growth perspective in developing countries. Various studies by independent annalists are referred to regarding studies about the impact of mobile phones in Africa. Various African countries experienced development by using more mobile phones. Finally, attention is given to frequency allocation to provide voice or data access services for mobile phone users by ICASA, as the controlling body in South Africa. This scarce resource is not effectively allocated for the following reasons: the allocation between government institutions and private sector companies is not economically equitable; and the allocation amongst private sector companies is also not economically equitable. Ineffective frequency allocation is then considered to be a waste of a scarce resource. This wastage, against the background of studies in Africa regarding mobile phones and GDP, will accordingly reduce the potential development of all the inhabitants of South Africa.
Recent trends in South African water historiography
Authors: Tempelhoff Johann
Published: June 2016

The discipline of water history is relatively young but since the 1990s there has been growing interest in the field. In this article an exposition is provided on the origins of the discipline of water history as a subdivision of environmental history. The discussion then turns to an outline of recent developments in the historiography of water history in South Africa. Attention is also given to the possibility of extending the study of this discipline into a number of allied fields.
Controlling the farmer: colonial and post- colonial irrigation interventions in Africa
Authors: Ertsen Maurits W.
Published: June 2016

Aiming at full control over farmer actions was a shared characteristic of colonial irrigation engineering approaches. However, the way control was sought in African irrigation projects was different from Asian colonies. This paper traces the origins of colonial approaches to irrigation development in Africa and the continuities between colonial and post-colonial approaches. The Kano River Project in Nigeria, part of a larger irrigation development program from the late 1960s and early 1970s, serves as a typical example of a post-colonial irrigation system in which engineers drew upon colonial experiences. The Dutch engineers responsible for developing the system applied technologies from the Netherlands East Indies to regulate water flows in the system. At the same time, they engaged in a debate on how to organize farmers in the project to ensure efficient and rational use of water in irrigated farming. They joined project managers in viewing strong control over farmer production – a central feature of African colonial irrigation projects – as key to success. However, given the social conditions in the Kano area, particularly landownership, this strong control proved difficult to realize.
Black workers, typhoid fever and the construction of the Berg River – Saldanha military water pipeline, 1942 – 1943
Authors: Visser Lieutenant Colonel GE , Monama F L
Published: June 2016

War creates a huge need for labour to support the war efforts of the belligerent parties. In South Africa tens of thousands of ‘non-white’ workers were mobilised during the Second World War to satisfy the Union Defence Force’s (UDF’s) labour needs at home and abroad. This article, firstly, outlines the role of ‘non-white people’, particularly black Africans, in the UDF with special reference to those employed within the Union of South Africa. Secondly, it briefly delineates typhoid fever as an historical thorn in the flesh of military forces up to the early 20th century. It then looks briefly into the incidence of and perceptions on typhoid fever as a killer disease in South Africa on the eve of the Second World War. Against that background, the article investigates the employment of black workers on the construction of the Berg River-Saldanha Bay military water pipeline and the UDF’s response to the threat and subsequent outbreak of typhoid fever amongst the workers at the Berg River intake site in 1943. The article concludes that the public health authorities and UDF were aware of the threat of typhoid fever with regard to the Berg River water scheme, but did not take sufficient precautionary measures, which could have had serious repercussions for the Allied war effort. This incident should serve as a warning to the South African National Defence Force when deploying on peace support operations on the African continent where typhoid fever remains a serious threat next to Hiv/Aids.
Disinfection by-products and extractable organic compounds in South African tap water
Authors: Nothnagel Carien , Kotte Karsten , Pienaar J J , Van Zyl P G , Beukes J P
Published: June 2016

An important step in urban purification of drinking water is disinfection by e.g. chlorination where potential pathogenic micro-organisms in the water supply are killed. The presence of organic material in natural water leads to the formation of organic by- products during disinfection. Over 500 of these disinfection by-products (DBPs) have been identified and many more are estimated to form during the disinfection step. Several DBPs such as trihalomethanes (THMs), which is carcinogenic, poses serious health risks to the community. There is very few quantitative data available which realizes the actual levels of these compounds present in drinking water. The levels of four THMs present in drinking water were measured. It included chloroform, bromodichloromethane, chlorodibromomethane and bromoform. Although microbiological parameters are considered to get more attention than disinfection by-products, the measurement of the levels of these compounds in South-African drinking water is essential together with establishing minimum acceptable concentration levels. The target range for total trihalomethanes (TTHMs) established by the US EPA at the end of 2003 is 0-0.08ug/mL. The aim of this paper is to create an awareness of the problem as well as presenting preliminary results obtained with the method of analysis. Preliminary results indicate that urgent attention must be given to the regulation and monitoring of DBPs in South African drinking water.
Environmental ethics and crime in the water affairs of the Wonderfontein Spruit Catchment, Gauteng, South Africa
Authors: Van Eeden Elize , Liefferink Mariette , Tempellhoff Elise
Published: June 2016

This article provides an analysis of the water history regarding the Wonderfontein Spruit Catchment in the former Far West Rand in South Africa. The major scope for discussion is a short analysis of environmental ethics and crime in this area in the past, and how it has affected man and environment as analysed from a 21st Century perspective. The Wonderfontein Spruit Catchment forms part of the present-day Merafong municipal area, formerly Carletonville. Although voices of concern have featured prominently since the 1960s and even earlier, no extraordinary ethical approach towards this environment and its inhabitants is recorded in history. Bibliographic sources of the Wonderfontein Spruit Catchment currently number over 5000 entries. Despite this impressive production resulting from especially research, reports and whistle blowing in the past 55 years, the area was exposed to limited and insufficient ethically inspired actions, that should have had the ingredients to confirm a positive approach by primary role players regarding environmental management.
Spare a thought for students in Southern Africa
Authors: Publishing AOSIS
Published: June 2016

NO ABSTRACT AVAILIBLE
Towards an understanding of mergers in higher education
Authors: Publishing AOSIS
Published: June 2016

NO ABSTRACT AVAILIBLE
Comparative analysis of energy impacts of traditional and partly electronic environmental auditing: learning from the Japanese automotive industry case
Authors: Mbohwa Charles
Published: June 2016

This paper does a comparative analysis and assessment of energy impacts of traditional and partly electronic ISO 14001 environmental management system auditing that using videoconferencing systems. The focus is on the Japanese automotive industry. The idea is to quantify the environmental impacts of auditing and resolve the important question on whether or not the use of information and communication technology (ICT) in environmental auditing reduces environmental impacts in ISO 14001 environmental management systems. The main results show that there are no clear energy savings or environmental advantages associated with ICT use in environmental auditing for the set system boundary. However electronic auditing is shown to have clear advantages for stated variables within the model, for example when the distance travelled by the auditors by train and by car is less than 75 km and 17 km per day respectively. A comparison of modes of travel by auditors, shows that rail travel offers the most environmental and energy benefits. It is also noted that travel dominates in terms of energy consumption and environmental burdens compared to all other environmental aspects associated with auditing. The study contributes to knowledge in that among other things, it enables researchers to draw parallels from it applicable to other industrial sectors and other countries. Southern African countries can use this methodology in analysing auditing methods with little or no changes in the model used.
Linking southern Africa into global history
Authors: Publishing AOSIS
Published: June 2016

NO ABSTRACT AVAILIBLE
The role of science in deepening democracy: the case for water in post-Apartheid South Africa
Authors: Turton Anthony
Published: June 2016

South Africa is a water constrained country with a complex history of resource capture and human rights abuses. Science, as practiced by the national science councils, could play a significant role in deepening our democracy. This paper explores two possible paradigms - one where science is divorced from the national constitution, and the other where our science is embedded in the national constitution. The paper argues that the latter approach would make our national science more relevant, but of necessity would embroil it in issues of historic legacy and therefore become “messy”.
Legal issues concerning mine closure and social responsibility on the West Rand
Authors: Durand Francois , Liefferink Mariette , Van Eeden Elize S
Published: June 2016

Mining and, especially, gold and uranium mining have played a major role in the economy, history, and demography of South Africa. The contribution of the mines to the economy of South Africa over the past century has been overvalued, while the social injustices and negative environmental impacts that accompanied mining have been underplayed or ignored by the mining houses and government. The environmental situation has worsened significantly over the past few years due to the abandonment and pending closure of most of these mines. A reluctance is perceived on the part of the mining companies, and even government, to take responsibility for the damage caused by pollution, ecological degradation, and impact on human health by mining. Instead, the current informal policy appears to take smaller companies to court on minor environmental injustices to, perhaps, impress the broader public, while one of the biggest environmental concerns is stylishly treated. The inability of government to address the damage by mines effectively is in conflict with the National Water Act, the National Environmental Management Act, the Mineral and Petroleum Resources Act, the National Nuclear Regulator Act, and the Constitution of South Africa. The authors propose a multidisciplinary approach to address water-related environmental injustices on the West Rand and Far West Rand. We also describe the application of the National Environmental Management Act of South Africa (Act No. 107 of 1998) in the Wonderfonteinspruit and Tweelopiespruit Catchments and the current water quality situation.
Municipal governance and environmental crises: threats and thoughts
Authors: Nealer Eric
Published: June 2016

Local government in South Africa (SA) has come a long way from the period when there were over 1200 racially segregated municipalities. From more than 800 municipalities after 1996, they have been merged to currently 284 municipalities which now cover every ‘millimetre’ of the country, and are focused on growing local economies and maintaining the provision of a lot more diverse and complex basic municipal services to all their citizens and especially to geographical areas and citizens that were previously neglected. This transformed local government environment has brought about many changes in the nature and extent of basic public services delivered at the grass- roots level of this developing country with its limited resources and unlimited needs – especially in the areas of potable water supply and sanitation services.This article will firstly highlight the changed environmental context of public service delivery in the local government sphere of the country before the transformation in relevant legislation will be reported on. Subsequently the nature and extent of current realities of local governance, dynamics and challenges regarding the diverse and complex public services by a typical Category B Local municipality will be identified in the real SA out there. The use of the Politics – Administration System Model by Easton for environmental management analysis will also be illustrated. Lastly, for easy classification of typical characteristics and challenging issues in the dynamic municipal government sphere of SA, the SWOT-analysis format will be used.
The domesticated Absurd
Authors: Lacroix Fanny
Published: June 2016

In this article, translation, linguistics, philosophy and cultural studies meet in order to discuss the translation of Absurdist theatre. The aim of this discussion is to determine whether the universal and philosophical message conveyed by most Absurdist plays is accurately rendered in translation. Although the Theatre of the Absurd expresses absurd thoughts through absurd language, it is not meaningless, but on the contrary seeks to make people aware of the anguished purposelessness of human existence. It is therefore essential that translations of Absurdist plays render this message in the target language in an equally absurd, yet meaningful way. Since all Absurdist plays cannot be taken into account in the scope of this article, a case study will be carried out, using Eugene Ionesco’s play La Cantatrice Chauve as focus. An evaluation of its English translation by Donald M. Allen, The Bald Soprano, is carried out in order to identify its strengths and weaknesses. Suggestions are made where relevant to enhance the translation or comment on its level of success.
Passionate competitors: the foundation of competitive ballroom dancing in South Africa (1920s-1930s)
Authors: Green Alida
Published: June 2016

By the turn of the nineteenth century ballroom dancing had become a popular social pastime in Europe, North-America and South Africa. The years leading up to the First World War saw a number of South African social dancers, like their Western counterparts, striving to perfect the steps of these imported, ballroom dance routines. Dancers danced partly out of a sheer passion for movement but, more importantly, to maintain and increase their social status within society. Various international and later local dancing organisations were formed to organise and control these dancing events. The creation of these formal bodies unavoidably forced ballroom dancing into a competitive phase that transformed it from a mere social past time to a highly competitive sporting activity.This article will focus on how the founding of prominent international ballroom dance organizations influenced the creation of the South African Dance Teachers Association (S.A.D.T.A.) and how both the British and South African organizations developed competitive ballroom dancing during the 1920s and 1930s. It will also consider the infrastructures required by these official organizations, the shortcomings as well as the determining impact that this had on South Africa’s ballroom dance history. As a result of a number of prerequisites, competitive ballroom dancing is not a sport for the masses, and its formalization in the first half of the twentieth century saw an increased segregation in the dancing halls based on race and class. However, the passion that the 1920 ballroom dancers had for competing laid a firm foundation for the development of dance as a sport in South Africa.
Tegniek as bemiddeling tussen lewensritme en kosmiese ritme?
Authors: Wolff E.
Published: June 2016

Die doel van hierdie artikel is om na te dink oor ’n merkwaardige gebeurtenis waarin spitswetenskap en kuns mekaar ontmoet het: die astroseis- mologie van Conny Aerts en die komposisie van Willem Boogman. Op die punt van ontmoeting, tussen hierdie andersins uiteenlopende praktyke, is (1) ’n naden- ke oor ritme en ritmering, (2) wat tegnies bemiddel is en oor (3) die verhouding tussen die alledaagse lewenswêreld en die enormiteit van die kosmos wat daar- deur getematiseer word. Nadat die agtergrond van hierdie ontmoeting uiteengesit is, word ’n fenomenologiese analise van die komplekse weefsel van lewensritme uitgewerk om aan te toon hoe laasgenoemde deur vertroudheid gevorm word en wat die tegniese aard daarvan is. Daar word betoog dat ’n gelukkende lewen- skarakter hiervan afhanklik is. Lewensritme neem egter vorm aan onder druk van sosiale interaksie en van kulturele intervensies. In ’n wêreld wat onder die invloed van Westerse wetenskap staan, word mense se lewensoriëntering meesal geken- merk deur ’n verlies aan kosmiese lewensoriëntasie. Die vooruitsig dat hierdie verlore band tussen die mens en die kosmos deur wetenskap of kuns (of albei) herwin kan word, word aan kritiese nadenke onderwerp.
Municipal engineers in Johannesburg and Pretoria before 1910
Authors: Mäki Harri , Haarhoff Johannes
Published: June 2016

This paper examines the history of the first town engineers in Johannesburg and Pretoria by looking at the selection process that was applied in their appointment; their responsibilities; and the circumstances at the end of their tenures. It explores what was expected of municipal engineers in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries; shows how weak their position was within the municipal structure; and explains how vague their job description was in relation to their wide field of operation. It becomes clear that most early town engineers had no formal training for the positions they held and that there was added pressure from elected councillors in both municipalities who were prone to follow assiduously how officials were spending public money.
Reflective journals in service learning: a window into assessing learning and change in students' attitudes
Authors: Joubert R W , Hargreaves A T
Published: June 2016

As part of the curriculum for Community Based Rehabilitation, final year students from the School of Audiology, Occupational Therapy and Speech-Language Pathology are involved in service learning projects in a semi rural area in KwaZulu-Natal. The project runs one day a week from February to October and at the end of each day students submit a journal in which they reflect on each days activities and their learning experiences. The researchers used these journals as a source of data for determining learning and attitude change in students over the entire period of the practical. Method : 12 journals were randomly selected from over a period of 5 years and including students from all three disciplines. Content analysis was done to determine changing learning and attitudinal patterns over the 7 month period of the practical. The results revealed a rich pattern of emotional experiences coupled with positive attitudinal change and suggest a valuable source of evaluating learning progress in students.
Multidisciplinary perspectives on Cape Town's rivers and wetland heritage
Authors: Maki Harri
Published: June 2016

NO ABSTRACT AVAILIBLE
Capability approach on pedagogical use of ICT in schools
Authors: Chigona Agnes , Chigona Wallace
Published: June 2016

The use of Information Communication Technologies (ICTs) for enhancing pedagogical activities has enormous potential to raise s tandards and increase educators ’ and learners ’ capabilities. However, research and anecdotal evidence in South Africa show that there is a low adoption rate of ICT among educators in schools and, in cases where the technology has been adopted, the impact has not been optimal. This qualitative study analyses the factors which prevent educators from using ICTs in their pedagogy. The perspectives of limited access and/or use of ICT as deprivation of capabilities provide a conceptual base for this paper. Sen’s Capability Approach has been used as a conceptual lens to examine the educators’ situation regarding integration of the technology in their pedagogy. Face-to-face interviews, with fourteen educators and two Khanya personnel, were used to gather data for the study. The findings show that personal, social and environmental factors are hindering the educators from realising their potential capabilities from the ICTs available in their schools. For effective use of the technology in the classrooms, the educators need to be equipped with Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge.
Local service delivery enhancement – attitudes: a case study of the Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality
Authors: Tsatsire Israel , Taylor John Derek , Raga Kishore
Published: June 2016

In this article, the new developmental mandate as s igned to local government is reviewed using the Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality (hereafter referred to as the NMBM) as a case study. The concept of developmental local government is of cardinal importance as it imposes additional specific obligations on municipal councils. In addition, the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996 (hereafter referred to as the Constitution) requires local government to render quality, affordable and sustainable basic services. Therefore, councillors are now required to meet specific Constitutional and other developmental legislative prescriptions pertaining to their communities and areas of jurisdiction.An empirical survey was conducted at the NMBM to test selected senior officials and councillors’ attitudinal responses to service delivery and the new developmental mandate as s igned to local government. The survey intended to es tabl ish whether there was institutional capacity to enhance basic service delivery. These findings are elaborated upon in this article.
Observing representational practices in art and anthropology - a transdisciplinary approach
Authors: Preiser R
Published: June 2016

It has been suggested that anthropology operates in “liminal spaces” which can be defined as “spaces between disciplines”. This study will explore the space where the fields of art and anthropology meet in order to discover the epistemological and representational challenges that arise from this encounter. The common ground on which art and anthropology engage can be defined in terms of their observational and knowledge producing practices. Both art and anthropology rely on observational skills and varying forms of visual literacy to collect and represent data. Anthropologists represent their data mostly in written form by means of ethnographic accounts, and artists represent their findings by means of imaginative artistic mediums such as painting, sculpture, filmmaking and music.Departing from a paradigm that acknowledges the importance of transdisciplinary enquiry, the paper proposes a position suggesting that by combining observational and knowledge producing practices, both anthropology and art can overcome the limits that are inherent in their representational practices. The paper will explore how insights from complexity theory offer the necessary conceptual tools with which anthropology and art can work together in offering solutions to problems of presentation that emerge when dealing with complex issues.
Political opposition in patriarchal East London, 1950-1960: dilemmas of paternalism
Authors: Atkinson D
Published: June 2016

This paper describes the growing level of politicization in East London in the 1950s, and the way this affected the patriarchal normative system, which prevailed in urban adminis tration. Patriarchal ism, as a sys tem, was susceptible of different interpretations by white municipal officials, and their response to black political opposition ranged from liberal forbearance to rigid and uncompromising intolerance. Black leaders’ attitudes to the patriarchal order were similarly nuanced. The Location Native Advisory Boards vacillated between opposition to the white patriarchal order and compliance with it. Towards the late 1950s, the political climate became ever more polarized. The paper draws on archival sources from East London to show that patriarchalism, as a moral system, was sufficiently robust to accommodate a variety of viewpoints, within the white and black communities. But as violent resistance took its toll during the 1950s, more coercive forms of paternalism came increasingly to the fore.
Some patterns of internal migration in North West Province, South Africa, 1996-2001
Authors: Palamuleni Martin
Published: June 2016

Migration is an important component of population change in North West province of South Africa. Unfortunately, reliable data on migration is difficult to collect. The aim of this study is to provide estimates of net internal migration for North West province using indirect estimation procedure based on survival ratios. This method has been under-utilised in demographic research in the country. The results indicate that during the intercensal period 1996-2001 North West province experienced net out-migration. There are migration differentials by region, municipalities and gender. Bojanala and Southern regions experienced net in-migration whereas Central and Bophirima regions experienced net out-migration. The above migration patterns resemble the nature of social and economic development in the province. One policy implication of the study is that efforts should continue being made to make the sending municipalities more attractive so as to reduce the inflow of people to the crowded and more affluent municipalities.
Using a transdisciplinary approach for environmental crisis research in History
Authors: Van Eeden Elize
Published: June 2016

Although it is true that each local area or region possesses its own historiography – and for that matter its own environmental historiography – there should not be much difference in the research methodology, sources and pitfalls or drawbacks of doing environmental history research in labelled environmental crisis areas. This article presents a concise historiography on dealing with environmental crisis in literature is provided. This is followed by a proposed transdisciplinary (TD)-methodological structure that can serve as a guideline to specifically to environmental historians, and perhaps other discipl ines in the humanities , that studying local or regional environmental crises. A local environment in South Africa, namely the Far West Rand, serves as an example for conducting TD research that features an environmental cris is.The paper concludes by also, amongst others, suggesting that environmental historians and other environmental experts in a variety of fields and disciplines in South Africa and Africa should form an Environmental Studies Association to support one another, particularly in their efforts to work together in interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary ways with researchers from a broad range of academic fields. This paper therefore serves merely as a debate to open up discussions for refining the perspectives and existing methodologies of research in environmental history.
New Public Management, science policy and the orchestration of university research – academic science the loser
Authors: Elzinga Aant
Published: June 2016

In many countries - during the past three decades - there has been increasing alignment of public administration with neoliberal modes of governance driven by processes of globalization and privatization. Key is New Public Management (NPM) as an instrument for applying private sector or market-based techniques to public services. The paper concerns the implications and impact of these developments as they relate to the university sector where we are seeing an influx of bibliometrics to assess performativity with measures that are frequently far from adequate. These changes are related to the broader context of a globalized privatization doctrine of science policy that has gained currency in many countries. The analysis presented here probes and discusses a nexus between NPM, bibliometric performance audits, and a new paradigm in science policy. As such the paper seeks to fill an important gap in science policy studies and the literature on New Public Management more generally. It summarizes various characteristics associated with NPM, and expl icates the connection with methods of research evaluation now being introduced in academic ins titutions . It also takes up varying responses evoked within academe by the use of bibliometrics and current methods of ranking of tertiary educational institutions. Apart from gaining a better understanding of significant changes in the higher educational and research landscapes or disciplines and the interplay of these with broader economic and political trends in society at large, the aim of the paper is also to stimulate discussion and debate on current priorities, perceptions and policies governing knowledge production.Keywords: New Public management; research policy; transdisciplinarity; postnormal science; Audit Society Agencification; Accountingization; peer review evaluationDisciplines:Public Management and Governance; Management Studies and Research Management. Science Policy; Science Studies; Political Science
Exploring the impact of Feuerstein’s Instrumental Enrichment Programme on the cognitive development of prospective mathematics educators
Authors: Kloppers M M , Grosser M M
Published: June 2016

In this article the researchers report on the findings obtained from a sequential explanatory mixed method study through testing and narratives in order to determine the extent to which 24 prospective Mathematics educators at a South African university enrolled for a BEd-degree possess cognitive skills, and to establish the potential of the Feuerstein Instrumental Enrichment programme (FIE) to develop and improve the cognitive skills of the said prospective educators. Results indicated that there is a need for improving the cognitive skills of the prospective Mathematics educators and that the FIE programme possesses the latent potential to improve and develop cognitive skills.The significance of this research lies in the contribution it makes in particular to equip lecturers involved in educator training with knowledge regarding the merits of the Feuerstein FIE programme for improving cognitive performance.Keywords: Cognitive skills; cognitive development; intervention; mediation; cognitive development; Instrumental EnrichmentDisciplines: Mathematics teaching; Cognitive development; Teacher education
Viewing ‘the other’ over a hundred and a score more years: South Africa and Russia (1890–2010)
Authors: Liebenberg I
Published: June 2016

Whether novel is history or history is novel, is a tantalising point. “The novel is no longer a work, a thing to make las t, to connect the pas t with the future but (only) one current event among many, a ges ture with no tomorrow” Kundera (1988:19). One does not have to agree with Kundera to find that social sciences , as his toriography holds a s tory, a human narrative to be shared when focused on a case or cases. In this case, relations between peoples over more than a century are discussed. At the same time, what is known as broader casing in qualitative studies enters the picture. The relations between the governments and the peoples of South Africa and Russia ( including the Soviet Union), sometimes in conflict or peace and sometimes at variance are discussed. Past and present communalities and differences between two national entities within a changing international or global context deserve attention while moments of auto-ethnography compliment the study. References are made to the international political economy in the context of the relations between these countries.Keywords: Soviet Union; South Africa; Total Onslaught; United Party; Friends of the Soviet Union; ideological conflict (South Africa); Russians (and the Anglo-Boer War); racial capitalism; apartheid; communism/Trotskyism (in South Africa); broader casing (qualitative research)Subject fields: political science; sociology; (military) history; international political economy; social anthropology; international relations; conflict studies
Book review: Linking relationships between scientists, policy-makers and stakeholders in water management
Authors: Nealer E
Published: June 2016

No abstract available.
The expenditure patterns of households receiving the State’s Old- Age Pension (SOAP) grant in Kwakwatsi Township
Authors: Sekhampu T J , Grobler W
Published: June 2016

The study on which this article is based investigated the expenditure patterns of households receiving the state’s old-age pension grant. The old-age pension grant is the second-largest social grant in terms of the number of recipients and the largest when it comes to the monetary cost for the national government. The study looked at households in Kwakwatsi township receiving an old-age pension grant as the main source of income. The state’s old-age pension grant is used only for sustenance, and for buying basic household necessities. Food is the biggest household expenditure for pension grant recipients. The pension grant is also used to support additional family members, thereby reducing its distributional impact. Households spend the grant mainly on products that support the daily functioning of the household.Keywords: Social Grants, Poverty, Development Economics, Household Expenditure, Welfare Economics, Social Development, Household Income, Expenditure PatternsDisciplines: Economics, Poverty Studies, Development Studies, Policy Studies, Public Economics, Social Sciences, Health Sciences