3. Electronic Theses and Dissertations (ETDs) - All submissions

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A preliminary description of South African Sign Language syntax
(2017) Wright, Donovan
This study is a preliminary investigation into the syntax of South African Sign Language. Utilising narrative data within a case study approach, signing is observed and analysed in terms of Radical Construction Grammar. An emphasis is placed on signs as form-meaning pairings, in which information of form is drawn from previous research on the phonology and morpho-syntax of signed languages. Meaning is explained within the same sphere, drawing on established literature regarding meaning in signed languages – with the addition of Mental Space and Conceptual Blending theories. The aim is to describe the signing elicited as in-depth as possible while covering a broad number of relevant aspects. The efficacy of Radical Construction Grammar as a theoretical framework in signed language is also considered. Results include descriptions of different construction types and a holistic view of signing. Schemas are proposed for common constructions, and Radical Construction Grammar is posited as a viable alternative to a traditional understanding of syntax.
An evaluation of foundation phase reading processes in an ndependent school context
(2020) DU TOIT, Demi Lauren
Rationale: An evaluation of the foundation phase reading processes within an independent girls school will provide insight into the status of reading within the elite context. Whilst the public schooling sector participate in a number of national and international assessments with results being made publicly available, the national and international assessments within the independent schooling sector are less readily available. Questions arise as to what the level of performance and proficiency of reading is within the independent schooling sector and how this level is achieved. Aims: (1) To describe the educators’ approach to reading. (2) To describe the implementation of a phonics program within the school and the educator’s perception thereof. (3) To describe educator strategies and intervention strategies in assisting students with reading. (4) To describe the setting in which children learn within the independent school including resources available. (5) To determine the reading proficiency of students within the foundation phase. Method: Eight educators responsible for teaching of the main curriculum subjects within the independent school completed a survey and participated in a focus group. Analysis of the educator’s approaches, opinions and strategies for the teaching of reading was conducted. Reading scores for students in Grade 1, 2 and 3 on the Schonell Single Word Reading Test and the New Group Reading Tests (NGRT) were analyzed in comparison to age appropriate norms. Results: The participant educators were all female with five or more years of experience in education. Jolly Phonics is currently being implemented at the school but only one participant expressed confidence in the Jolly Phonics approach. Other factors relating to reading i.e. how reading is taught, how frequently various methods, techniques and activities are utilised in the classroom and the educator’s opinions on reading development were inconsistent from participant to participant. The participants’ experience significant pressure to ensure that the students achieve in reading but demonstrate confusion in the methodology used to reach success in reading. Whilst the majority of the participants reported feeling good or comfortable in the teaching of reading initially, a picture of uncertainty, dismay, pressure and educator confusion became evident. Within the assessments conducted by the school, the Schonell Single Word Reading Test showed that the majority of the students from grades 1- 3 score above average for reading. However, within the NGRT assessment of passage comprehension, sentence completion and phonics, a less proficient image of reading within the foundation phase was depicted as a larger number of students scored below the average range. Weaker scores in the NGRT is of particular interest when considering: (1) the fact that the participants described not teaching comprehension skills due to limited understanding of the how to teach the skill and (2) the reading comprehension performance of students within the public schooling sector according to the PIRLS 2016. Conclusion and discussion: The statistics on reading within one independent school were shown to be significantly better than what appears to be the case in the public schooling sector despite a significant number of students scoring below average, particularly within reading comprehension. The children and educators alike continue to experience confusion, pressure, anxiety and failure within the literacy domain despite context.
Anomaly: an anthropology of Atypical children
(2020) Blackie, Deirdre Elizabeth
This thesis explores the lived experience of children defined as atypical. The ethnographic focus of the study spans an initial cohort of nine children from private schools in Johannesburg diagnosed variously with learning disabilities, ADHD, developmental delays, speech disabilities, sensory challenges, anxiety, and autism. In-depth observational work was also conducted with autistic children at a boxing programme based in the inner city, from more diverse socio-economic backgrounds. A final level of insight was gained from ‘deep hanging out’ amongst atypical adults in online ‘bio’ social media groups spanning autism, ADHD, learning disabilities and Ehlers Danlos Syndrome. Using the philosophy and methodology of phenomenology, I developed a model that illustrates a cycle of atypical embodied engagement with the world, spanning stages or phenomena of Presence, Perception, Control, Participation, Flow, Communication and Adaptability. While there is much contestation over the homogenisation of ‘neurodiverse’ brains (Ortega 2009), the lived experience of atypical children that I observed during my research had a high degree of consistency. Using a range of creative interactive methodologies, I collaboratively explored what is understood and misunderstood around each of these stages or phenomena from the perspective of those defined as atypical. Much of the dominant academic and popular discourse surrounding atypicality focusses on either a medical or social model of disability. By mapping medical diagnoses to a social model of engagement, a new holistic perspective was revealed. This traversed the physical, intellectual, emotional, and social motivations, behaviour and agency of the children illustrating their unique and different ways of being in the world. New enabling characteristics were identified in behaviours previously defined and diagnosed as disabilities. This exploration brings to light the meaning that atypical children derive from their various stages of engagement with their world. A new kind of spectrum emerged that moved beyond disabling biomedical labels to one of enablement. The vectors of this spectrum could travel in either direction, without implying dysfunction or defectiveness. My research revealed a multitude of cultural and social creativity and invention, which the children continue to expand in the ‘biosocial borderland’ that they occupy.
Beyond the pale: history, mobility, & the foreigner in the politics of xenophobia at the British Cape of Good Hope, C. 1800-1850
(2020) O’Halloran, Patrick
This dissertation historicizes the politicization of “the foreigner” in one corner of the British empire in the early nineteenth century. Through an approach that uses the colonists’ archive to position British colonization of the Cape of Good Hope within broader histories of empire and exclusion, the dissertation examines the local political contexts in which categories of “foreigner” emerged, and the ways in which they were explained. The dissertation is simultaneously a reconsideration of Cape colonial history through the question of xenophobia and an elaboration of a historical method that recovers and theorizes local appropriations of political categories and concepts from a wider historical world. Importantly, this research analyzes historical modes, meanings, and mobilizations of xenophobia, rather than treating history as a determinant of politics in the present. Its contributions are local, with respect to the colony’s exclusionary political discourses and movements, and “global,” with regard to both the emerging historical connections and the method of inquiry into colonial archives. Historiography of the British Cape Colony in southern Africa has largely been concerned with the development of colonial society and the processes through which white minority conquest and rule were established in South Africa. This dissertation approaches Cape history and the colonial archive differently, through considering the politicization of the figure of “the foreigner” in the Cape Colony, from c. 1800 to 1850. Specifically, it addresses modes of xenophobia: the politicization of “the foreigner” as threatening. No studies have focused directly on constructions of foreignness or modes of xenophobia in the Cape Colony. Nonetheless, different categories of “foreigner” as threatening or subversive were important to political discourses and movements in the Cape Colony. In brief, three intersecting political developments during this period of Cape history generated forms of xenophobia. First is the relationship between perceptions of foreignness and the politics of the colonial “frontier.” Second is the issue of mobility captured in the twin problems of “vagabondism” and “vagrancy.” Third is the opposition organized by colonists at the Cape around “convictism,” or the transportation of British convicted felons to the colony. This study of the politics of difference-making in a colonial context integrates but also complicates histories of race, racism, and colonial social relations. We find that mobility and perceived political difference often marked “the foreigner,” in unstable relation to racial and ethnic categories. The threat of “the foreigner” was articulated through “improper connections” to “outside” or “foreign” sites or forms of political power, whether independent African or creole polities, mobile persons, or even missionary societies and the imperial government. Importantly, colonial discourses drew on broader patterns of knowledge—imperial, colonial, British, global— that shaped how foreignness was rationalized and politicized in the colony. These frames of reference looked to histories and concepts from Ireland, the West Indies, and England in the making of local politics. They appropriated and adapted concepts like “the Pale,” “the Maroon,” and “the Vagrant” to explain boundaries of difference, the manufacture of autonomy, and dangerous forms of mobility, respectively. Therefore, the dissertation contributes not only to our historical understanding of the Cape Colony, but also speaks to the broader subjective worlds in which settler politics were fomented and explained. The research posits methods for historicizing xenophobia in relation to these complex contexts, as well as for engaging with the political-subjective knowledge that animated historical worlds. It forms a starting point for more extensive study of politicizations of “the foreigner” in the Anglo-Atlantic world.
Bullying behaviour and psychosomatic health among township learners: Cross-sectional survey
(2020) Malatsi, Nomsa
The study aimed to establish the association between bullying and psychosomatic health. The target population for this study consisted learners from three Orlando West high schools in the township of Soweto, Johannesburg. Approximately 300 learners were sampled, comprising girls and boys from grades 9–11. A convenient sampling technique was used to select participants for this research. The study analysed data from respondents using univariate, bivariate and multivariate analysis, specifically descriptive statistics as well as logistic regression. Regarding bullying, the study concluded that it happened more among boys than girls. Psychosomatic health challenges, however, occurred more among girls than boys and there was an association between bullying and psychosomatic health. The study has shown that bullying can affect the psychosomatic health of young people beyond psychological and academic performance effects as seen in previous studies. Going forward, it would be important for schools to prevent and decrease the levels of bullying in order to ensure increased levels of psychosomatic health among school children in South Africa.
Caregivers' experiences of Gastrostomy feeds: a Speech-Language Therapist's Role
(2022) Potgieter, Anna
Introduction: The insertion of a gastrostomy tube through the abdomen into the stomach is a common procedure for children with dysphagia or nutritional complications. This can be an emotionally laden decision for the caregivers of children requiring gastrostomy tubes. The caregiver’s decision-making process, and the emotional effects thereof, have not been well explored. Ongoing support from a multidisciplinary team (MDT) is essential in order to assist and guide the caregiver through the difficult decision-making and transition phase. The Speech-Language Therapist (SLT) plays a vital role as part of the MDT. This study aimed to describe the caregivers’ experiences of the decision-making process within the South African context when they consider a gastrostomy tube for their child. The study included investigating the SLT’s role as perceived by the caregiver and the professional. Methodology: This qualitative study was done using online questionnaires for thirteen caregivers of children with gastrostomy tubes in South Africa (SA), as well as for the twenty-three SLTs working in this setting. A follow-up focus group discussion was done with two willing caregivers. Participants were obtained using snowball sampling. All of the data was analyzed using a Reflexive Thematic Analysis approach following the six steps as set out by Braun and Clarke. Results and discussion: The results show that the caregiver’s decision to obtain and make use of a gastrostomy tube for the child under their care is a complex and emotionally laden one. A caregiver’s experience can be altered by the information they obtain, or the information available to the caregiver, as well as their specific support needs and requirements. The themes that have emerged included the impact on the family system, the support system, and societal issues. It is further evident that SLTs could play a greater role in the decision-making process as well as in the subsequent support services to be provided to the caregiver. In the South African context, a lack of resources appears to further complicate the care and support provided. The education and training provided to caregivers may therefore be limited and the importance of education and training may be overlooked. Conclusion: It is essential that healthcare providers are cognisant of how emotions and attitudes affect the family’s overall experience of a gastrostomy tube. Support and counselling are therefore an essential part of the process. Implication: The results from this study were used to assist in creating a protocol. The protocol could assist SLTs in educating and guiding caregivers through their decisionmaking processes when considering a potential gastrostomy tube. Further research would be required to assess the effectiveness of this protocol.
Construct of reality: through the photo realistic works of Richard Estes
(2019) Brnic, Tanja
In this research I explore aspects of the work of the Photorealist painter Richard Estes as a lens through which I examine aspects of my own practice as a painter. Estes works from a multitude of photographs of everyday urban scenes as a fragmented “mirror” of a visual or perceptual reality in a way which parallels my own practice. As an artist, in my own practice, I am challenged constantly with transforming the external three dimensional visual world on to the two dimensional surface of the canvas. I paint from photographs as a means of capturing a specific moment in time and place. The process allows for reflection of my own reality, my everyday experiences and thoughts. This study does not claim to make an original contribution to our understanding of Realism or Photorealism, so much as to synthesise some key ideas and perceptions and apply these to the understanding of my own processes as a painter working in this mode. I will focus on the concept of “the construction of reality” as the interplay between what is “real” and what is perceived through photorealistic paintings of reflections and distortions. Painting, in my and Estes’ practice, is a means of transforming a temporary moment into something more permanent. Through a close analysis of a selection of Estes’ realistic paintings of everyday scenes of New York City which he manipulates, visually changing the original, I am able to discuss and contextualise my own painterly processes. I then extend this case study focus to a wider consideration of a number of art historical and theoretical perspectives on Realism and Photorealism. The aim is to engage in a dialogue with my series of work, discussed more fully in the final chapter, that represent in two dimensions, my own construct of an experienced three dimensional reality.
Developing harmonised terminonological units in isiZulu and isiXhosa at Tertiary Institutions
(2020) Gola, Luvuyo-Lwe-Afrika
The development of South African indigenous languages has been a contentious topic amongst scholars and the government since the South African indigenous languages were reduced to writing during the colonial era. At the height of decolonising tertiary education, the development of South African languages has especially been highlighted in the country by both students and scholars who feel marginalized and would like for students who are not English or Afrikaans first language speakers to be catered for equally. The lack of terminology in the South African indigenous languages has proven to be a problem and hence it is taken over a decade to implement the programmes of languages of teaching and learning to be in the indigenous languages. The lack of terminology is an effect of the larger number of languages that need to be developed and therefore, this research has suggested harmonisation as an aid to resolving this issue. Harmonisation is unifying two or more mutually intelligible languages as illustrated in this research with isiXhosa and isiZulu. The word formation processes were used alongside the nomenclature systems, which were used to study and analyse the terms to be harmonised. During the harmonisation process it was found that isiXhosa and isiZulu are very similar in structure and that most of the terms are merely synonyms of each other and in some cases they appear in both languages as the same. Therefore, this research has proven that language harmonisation is feasible between these two languages and new Nguni terms were created that can be used by both the isiZulu and isiXhosa speakers. For quality assurance purposes, these terms were given to a group of students in order to verify if they are understandable, functional and relevant to the language speakers. The findings were in the affirmative.
Disinformation: exploring the nexus between politics and technology in Nigeria
(2022) Olaniran, Samuel
Over the past decade, disinformation and social media hoaxes have evolved from a nuisance into a high-stake information war, exploiting weaknesses in our online information ecosystem. Although social media has the potential to strengthen democratic processes, there is increasing evidence of malicious actors polluting Nigeria’s information ecosystem during elections. Misleading narratives targeting candidates and political parties were picked up, liked, shared, and retweeted by thousands of other users during the 2019 presidential election campaign. Rooted in the theoretical lens of centre/periphery dynamics and equalizing and normalizing hypothesis, this study examines the networked nature of disinformation by identifying instigators, techniques, and motivations for spreading manipulated information around elections. While providing valuable data-driven insights drawn from a computational analysis of over 3 million tweets and a critical blend of qualitative framework, this study analyses the human agency and motivations behind online disinformation. The spread of falsities is coordinated in a way that “ordinary users” unknowingly become “unwitting agents” as “sincere activists” of concerted influence operations, a participatory culture that amplifies disinformation and propaganda. Agents’ participation in the “nairainfluenzer” industry is motivated by factors such ethnic and religious sentiments, poor economy, and low trust in news media. These findings broaden the perspective for examining top-down, orchestrated work as well as other types of coordination that stress how election-related disinformation heightens centre/periphery power dynamics. It further emphasizes that the systematic production and amplification of disinformation on Twitter represents a universal online behaviour not common “emotional-periphery” states.
Exploring a South African Indian woman poet and her poetry from Indigenous Perspective: interviews with Francine Simon and readings of selected poems from Thungachi
(2019) Govender, Arushani
This dissertation executes a critical reading of Francine Simon’s poetry in relation to contemporary perspectives of indigenous knowledge (IK), and against the political background and socio-cultural context of the poet’s lived experiences. Simon is an emerging South African Indian (SAI) woman poet in the contemporary poetry scene, and has recently published a debut poetry collection titled Thungachi. I unpack instances of IK from selected poems in Thungachi, through use of an indigenous language of critique. Linda Tuhiwai Smith conceptualises indigenous language of critique as a form of theory that indigenous research scholars should engage with, by combining questions of indigeneity with attributes of decolonisation (24). Framed by decolonial theory, this study serves the interests of decolonising research praxis, and thereby the nature of the knowledge produced. I have executed in-depth interviews with the poet to determine how she came to acquire IK and how such knowledge is conveyed and dealt with in her poetry. The interviews are presented as an experiential montage, countering the “objective” nature of academic research that distances the knower from the known. The dissertation is thus composed of theoretical analysis and creative reflections, which together offer a textured exploration of the selected poems and an experience of the poetry. Using the interview data as a supplementary device, I conduct the poetry analysis with the following questions, which pertain to examining the data from an indigenous perspective: What indigenous worldviews are prevalent in Simon’s poetry? To what culture/s may those worldviews be attributed? How is IK affected by diaspora, gender and cultural hybridity? This study finds that it is necessary to critique Simon’s poetry from an indigenous perspective in order to uncover its cultural complexities, ontological insights and social commentary. Additionally, Simon’s poetry demonstrates artistry, experimentation with language and form, and innovates a genre of decolonised feminist poetics that creates room for the heterogeneity of South African Indian women.
Identity politics in amaXhosa Dress: perspectives on modernity and public culture in the context of post-apartheid South Africa
(2020) Mathabathe, Gontse
This thesis highlights a moment in the continued resurgence of ‘traditional’ abaThembu dress in the urban South African landscape. I use one principal case study, namely: the appearance of Chief of the Mveso Traditional Council and Member of Parliament (MP), Nkosi Zwelivelile Mandlesizwe Dalibhunga Mandela and his wife, Nkosikazi Nodiyala Mbalenhle Mandela at the State of the Nation Address (SONA) in 2015. Ensuing from their previous three SONA appearances, they appeared dressed in modernised, ‘traditional’ abaThembu-inspired garments, designed by South African designer, Bongiwe Walaza. Despite the couple’s use of identifiably abaThembu material culture, their outfits draw from and incorporate dress styles from various other cultures. This thesis seeks not to be an ethnographic or, strictly, a historical paper but uses “a shared reality” (Dhar 2018) to unpack the nuances of modernised ‘traditional’ South African dress and fashion. Located in the current globalised era, I utilise critical theory and cultural discourse (Barbera & Payne 2010: 8) of dress and identity politics. I also employ a plethora of ‘unconventional’ resources found online, to indicate a hybrid use of material culture. The study aims to unpack how ‘traditional’ abaThembu dress practices have surpassed what, Magubane (1998) called “vanishing culture[s]” to becoming a recognisable cultural signifier, in the contemporary. It unravels the nuances of how ‘traditional’ dress practices – amongst the abaThembu people – have evolved to inform re-imagined notions of self-writing and identity-making.
Making the invisible visible
(2015) Coetzer, Diane
No abstract provided.
Melrose House Museum: Memory and Nostalgia the next stage of #RhodesMustFall
(2018) Lindeque, Melissa
The broad knowledge field of Melrose House located in 20th century South Africa explores the notion of #RhodesMustFall movement probing into the complex relationship with colonial and apartheid heritage in contemporary South Africa, do they still fit within a democratic genre? #RhodesMustFall movement challenges decolonising the South African education system arguably contesting memories found in daily South African life questioning the need of 20th century museums, statues and sites. Melrose House Museum, located in Pretoria, is a 20th century house museum with a 19th century collection. Utilising qualitative exploration of Melrose House Museum through concepts of memory, nostalgia and trauma I chart the relationship between #RhodesMustFall and Melrose House museum. The role of 20th century museums in South Africa is establishing and preserving South African history adding historical and monetary value to South Africa. This research falls within the scope of the aftermath of #RhodesMustFall questioning if museums are next on the chopping block adding to the relevance and need of Western exhibition in a postcolonial South Africa.
Outsourcing transformation: the social justice impact of diversity interventions in privileged South African schools
(2022) Willand, Julia
The apartheid-legislated racial inequality enforced through the Bantu education system lives on today with privileged schools still being untransformed, inadequately geared towards the needs of Black learners and representing sites of daily violence against them. Inspired by the student protests which started in 2015, schools have increasingly been called out for their lack of transformation, and a number of them have started engaging diversity consultants. By examining participants’ perceptions and applying critical race and critical diversity theoretical lenses, this qualitative study explores the schools’ rationale and expectations of diversity consultants, the risks and possibilities that diversity interventions hold for transformational social justice at these schools, and the ways in which hegemonic power structures are disrupted or kept in place. The findings expose how interventions allow schools to merely perform transformation and exacerbate certain harm, but also illuminate how interventions can help untangle (albeit at a glacial pace) the thick webs of violent White ignorance and strategies of resistance. The #FeesMustFall and #BlackLivesMatter protests and related social media storms both conscientized learners and placed pressure on the schools. In combination with facilitated interventions this allowed for more critical and racially literate language across stakeholders, enabling a more robust and effective engagement with questions of race, power and transformational social justice. Through this, learners and alumni are found to have achieved a partial reversal of the privatization of diversity, turning the discourse around race back towards a more civil rights-based one in the “public sphere” and enabling transparent societal debate. The study further finds that the pressure of protests and the power of social media have allowed (and required) Black learners/alumni to step into the role of educators, bringing about what might be the start of an incremental counter-hegemonic power shift along the lines of race, intra-system position and seniority, in which the terms of who does transformation, and how, are no longer solely determined by White people in authority.
Pandemic Dreaming: an investigation of affective processing through Dream Transcripts and Self-Regulation during the COVID-19 pandemic
(2022) Campbell, Amonette
The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic has been associated with a range of social, emotional and behavioural changes, which is arguably observable in dream content. Since dreaming can be understood as a form of affective processing, changes in dream content are not only expected in a time of unprecedented change but allow a unique opportunity to examine how waking affect, self-regulation and unconscious affective processing are associated. Consequently, this research aimed to explore the associations between these variables—through dream transcripts—during the unique conditions of the COVID-19 pandemic, while further examining dream content differences. A quantitative, correlational research design was utilised and secondary data was used from an international survey study. Data analysis involved quantifying dream content through the Hall/Van de Castle method and drew on descriptive and inferential statistics for further analyses. Substantial changes were noted in the dream content, specifically in aggression and social interactions, with females reporting significantly more negative emotional dream content and males significantly more interactions with friends. Significant differences were also observed between the samples’ dream content (pandemic dreaming) and normative studies (non-pandemic dreaming), with key differences in dreamed social interactions, characters and emotion. Dream content and SSRQ scores were significantly associated for three content dream variables: imaginary and fictional characters, aggression and aggressive social interactions. Furthermore, anxiety scores were correlated with a range of content indicators including social interactions, dream characters and emotions. These results support the hypothesis that waking experiences reveal themselves within dreams and shows support for the relationship between emotional and self-regulation processes, and sleep experiences.
Perceptions of support among university students diagnosed with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)
(2021) Grove, Zacharias Blomerus
This study explored the perception of support of university students diagnosed with ADHD. It aimed to add to the limited existing research exploring university students’ perceptions of support. The study specifically aimed to highlight support utilised in the South African context. Eight participants were recruited for the present study: six males and two females. Seven participants were between 18 and 25 years, and one participant was older than 25 years. Non-probability purposive sampling methods were used to select candidates. The participants were from three institutions of higher education. The themes that emerged from the data analysis suggest that ADHD medication was the main form of treatment. Participants perceived this form of support to be effective in helping them to focus but expressed physical and socio-emotional side effects. Furthermore, participants indicated that they did not utilise psychosocial support systems and relied on themselves for support. Participants who did use psychosocial support expressed mixed perceptions. Participants also discussed the academic interventions they utilised in relation to their ADHD and their perceptions of this support. A need was expressed for tutorials and support groups, as well as greater social awareness about ADHD in the university context. The implications of the study and future directions are discussed.
Public school teachers’ perceptions of Educational Psychologists’ services in Limpopo Province (Mamaila circuit)
(2020) Macchweu, Makobo Nomsa
South Africa, as a member to the global community has ratified global statutes like the Sustainable Development Goals 2030, Education for All, and No Child Left Behind Act. At a national level the progressive democratic policy, the Inclusive Education White Paper 6, supports the mandate to ensure that all children have access to quality education. Lack of learner support and a misfit in the school context are some of the factors that contribute to the low performance and high school dropout rates in Limpopo Province. Therefore, a collaboration between teachers and Educational Psychologists may reduce the effects of the above-mentioned factors. The services of Educational Psychologists are, therefore, pertinent to the provision of psychological, learning and developmental support needs for children, and for teachers. It is against this backdrop that this study provides a snapshot on educational support perceptions of rural teachers and learners in the Mamaila Circuit, in the Limpopo Province of South Africa. The study focuses on teachers’ access to learning support services, with particular reference to the professional services provided by the Educational Psychologists. Eighteen public school teachers were interviewed in two focus groups, in a primary and a secondary school. Findings indicate a gap in teachers’ understanding of the nature of learning support services provided by Educational Psychologists, and the community’s inaccessibility to such services. The results of this study have implications for the Department of Education’s strategies to provide not only access to schooling, but quality education for all children, including rural children.
Reflective Essay: looking for Derrick
(2020) Langa, Mandla
No abstract provided.
Regime change and humanitarian intervention in secession cases: lessons from the success case of East Timor for future cases of self-determination, independence and secession
(2019) Madubela, Siwapiwe
The following research report is an analysis of the humanitarian intervention mission in East Timor in 1999. This research aims to aid our understanding of a successful case of humanitarian intervention and how it can be used to assist in modifying the current norm of R2P that is morally sound but is flawed in practice resulting in the worsening of already dire humanitarian crises. The research is specific to cases of self-determination, independence, and secession with humanitarian intervention being the vector for positive regime change. One of the important findings that the research yields is this idea of consent, which goes against the orthodox understanding of intervention but seems to be the strongest link to success in East Timor.
Stay in your lane: experiences in colour-blind love in colour-conscious South Africa: 1949 to 1994
(2020) Thomas, Maria Magdalena
The Prohibition of Mixed Marriages Act was one of the first pieces of apartheid legislation to be passed in 1949. In 1957, the amended Immorality Act included section 16, which worked in conjunction with the Mixed Marriages Act and together were known as the “sex laws”. The two acts served to maintain racial purity in South Africa during apartheid. By 1985, these laws were also some of the first pieces of apartheid legislation to be repealed. This paper looks at the experiences and stories of interracial heterosexual couples during the period of 1949 to 1994, under these laws. The stories and experiences revealed that most, if not all, interracial relationships and families were affected in apartheid South Africa, even when partners could legally get married, due to, for example, the Group Areas legislation. The apartheid government were committed to the sex laws, making sure to close up loopholes in legislation. In fact, South Africa’s sex laws serve as suggestive bookends to the commencement and demise of apartheid. As far as the effectiveness of the sex laws, it did not end interracial relationships in South Africa, either casual, short-term or long-term. Furthermore, every article written about the challenges of interracial couples, both locally and internationally, kept apartheid policies firmly in the spotlight and appealed to people’s shared humanity and romantic sentiments, thus, further uniting them against the apartheid government. In order to tell the stories and experiences of interracial couples, and how the laws and social regulation in South Africa impacted on their lives, I conducted several interviews. I also drew on other primary sources including the National Archives of South Africa, the Wits Historical Papers, as well as consulting various newspaper archives.

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