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Browsing *Research Publications by SDG "SDG-17: Partnerships for the goals"
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Item Accurate hyperspectral imaging of mineralised outcrops: An example from lithium-bearing pegmatites at Uis, Namibia(Elsevier Inc, 2021) Booysen, René; Nex, Paul A.M.; Lorenz, Sandra; Thiele, Samuel T.; Fuchsloch, Warrick C.; Marais, Timothy; Gloaguen, RichardEfficient, socially acceptable and rapid methods of exploration are required to discover new deposits and enable the green energy transition. Sustainable exploration requires a combination of innovative thinking and new technologies. Hyperspectral imaging (HSI) is a rapidly developing technology and allows for fast and systematic mineral mapping, facilitating exploration of the Earth’s surface at various scales on a variety of platforms. Newly available sensors allow data capture over a wide spectral range, and provide information about the abundance and spatial location of ore and pathfinder minerals in drill-core, hand samples and outcrops with mm to cm precision. Conversely, the complex geometries of the imaged surfaces affect the spectral quality and signal-to-noise ratio (SnR) of HSI data at these very narrow spatial samplings. Additionally, the complex mineral assemblages found in hydrothermally altered ore deposits can make interpretation of spectral results a challenge. In this contribution, we propose an innovative approach that integrates multiple sensors and scales of data acquisition to help disentangle complex mineralogy associated with lithium and tin mineralisation in the Uis pegmatite complex, Namibia. We train this method using hand samples and finally produce a three-dimensional (3D) point cloud for mapping lithium mineralisation in the open pit. We were able to identify and map lithium-bearing cookeite and montebrasite at outcrop scale. The accuracy of the approach was validated by drill-core data, XRD analysis and LIBS measurements. This approach facilitates efficient mapping of complex terrains, as well as important monitoring and optimisation of ore extraction. Our method can easily be adapted to other minerals relevant to the mining industry.Item The administration of justice(Juta, 2003) Klaaren, Jonathan; Marcus, Gilbert; Davis, DennisOverview and analysis of the year's legal developments in the field of administration of justice. Includes references to legislation, cases and journal articles.Item Children’s use of iPads to document their own visible learning L’uso dell’iPad da parte dei bambini per documentare il proprio apprendimento visibile(2023) Phakathi, Nelisiwe; Moll, IanThis ethnographic study explores the use of iPads in the documentation of visible learning by children in a Reggio Emilia-inspired classroom. We report and draw on research conducted with nine- to ten-year olds in a Grade 3 class in the school, situated in Johannesburg, South Africa. “Visible learning” is a key theoretical concept in the Reggio Emilia approach to early childhood education. It envisages a collaborative pedagogy in which children, along with their teachers and parents, document and reflect on their own learning as it happens, thus maximizing its internalization by the children. The study investigates the affordances of iPads in actualizing the documentation of visible learning. The results show that iPads afford young learners with complex ways in which they can document their learning, also ensuring that the technology does not impose itself on them in an artificial manner. The article identifies an emerging language of description of the pedagogical affordances of iPads.Item Corporate financialisation: a conceptual clarification and critical review of the literature(Southern Centre for Inequality Studies, 2024-05) Reddy, Niall; Rabinovich, JoelCorporate financialisation (CF) comprises a major field of financialisation studies centred on the belief that significant changes in corporate governance and business models have been driven by financial imperatives, which have had a profound impact on investment habits, labour policies, organisational practices and the distribution of revenues. Experiencing explosive growth in recent years, this field has become mired in conceptual ambiguity, mirroring problems with financialisation studies as a whole. While seeking to restore some conceptual clarity and clearly delineate the boundaries of the concept, this paper offers a detailed review of empirical work on CF. At the core of the field, we identify four sub-theories, each addressing distinct aspects of the way business models have become financialised under the influence of shareholder value principles. Our dissection of the literature shows, however, that these theories mostly remain under-substantiated. The connection of financialisation strategies to key outcomes of interest, such as declining investment and rising inequality, remains nebulous in most cases. Beyond this, we identify key weaknesses in the way shareholder value orientation – the causal lynch pin of CF accounts – has been theorised. The field as a whole has paid insufficient attention to the variegated and uneven nature of the shareholder revolution, which has prevented a single uniform set of governance principles from diffusing. We also argue that the tendency to dilute definitions of corporate financialisation across explanans and explanandum has masked problems of verification. The critique concludes with a call for conceptual clarity and more care in distinguishing financialisation from causal channels associated with other structural dynamics, such as monopolisation.Item Detection of REEs with lightweight UAV‑based hyperspectral imaging(Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations., 2020) Booysen, René; Nex, Paul A.M.; Zimmermann, Robert; Loren, Sandra; Kirsch, Moritz; Jackish, Robert; Gloaguen, RichardRare earth elements (REEs) supply is important to ensure the energy transition, e-mobility and ultimately to achieve the sustainable development goals of the United Nations. Conventional exploration techniques usually rely on substantial geological field work including dense in-situ sampling with long delays until provision of analytical results. However, this approach is limited by land accessibility, financial status, climate and public opposition. Efficient and innovative methods are required to mitigate these limitations. The use of lightweight unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) provides a unique opportunity to conduct rapid and non-invasive exploration even in socially sensitive areas and in relatively inaccessible locations. We employ drones with hyperspectral sensors to detect REEs at the earth’s surface and thus contribute to a rapidly evolving field at the cutting edge of exploration technologies. We showcase for the first time the direct mapping of REEs with lightweight hyperspectral UAV platforms. Our solution has the advantage of quick turn-around times (< 1 d), low detection limits (< 200 ppm for Nd) and is ideally suited to support exploration campaigns. This procedure was successfully tested and validated in two areas: Marinkas Quellen, Namibia, and Siilinjärvi, Finland. This strategy should invigorate the use of drones in exploration and for the monitoring of mining activities.Item A duty of support for all South African unmarried intimate partners Part I: the limits of the cohabitation and marriage based models(North-West University, 2018-10-19) Bonthuys, ElsjeThe democratic Constitutional dispensation has led to the gradual extension of spousal duties of support to unmarried couples who hitherto could not legally claim support from their partners or from third parties who had unlawfully caused the death of their partners. The new recipients of rights to support can be divided into three groups: wives in Muslim religious marriages, partners in same-sex intimate relationships and unmarried opposite sex cohabitants whose relationships closely resemble civil marriage in both form and function. However, certain distinctive features of customary marriage, the continuing consequences of apartheid policies for African families and certain distinctive patrilineal features of traditional African families have largely excluded African women – who constitute the largest and most economically vulnerable group of women – from the benefits of these developments. Part one of this two-part article analyses the trajectory of the developing right to support intimate partnerships which appear to be based either on marriage (in the case of Muslim marriages) or relationships similar to marriage, including monogamy and permanent co-residence in the case of same-sex and opposite sex partners. This leaves no room to extend rights to unmarried intimate partners whose relationships do not fit the template of civil marriage and, in particular, excludes many disadvantaged African women from obtaining legal rights to support from their relationships.Item Dynamic capabilities: axiomatic formation of firms’ competitive competencies(Elsevier, 2023) Mushangai, DandiraThe capabilities concept is critical in understanding the competitive competencies of firms. Capabilities allow firms to sense, seize and reconfigure their resources in response to opportunities and threats within their environments. This systematic review reviewed a total of 37 Scopus database-selected peer-reviewed articles on capabilities, technology, innovation, and capability frameworks. The purpose was to identify and discuss firms’ capabilities and formation processes and effects on competitive advantages to generate an encompassing framework that overcomes the limited and fragmented nature of current capability frameworks. The study employed thematic content analysis and author-anchored keywords analysis which enabled the identification of several themes regarding capabilities and formation processes. The findings of the study were discussed under the following themes: technological capabilities; supply chain capabilities; networking, collaboration, interactive, coordinating, and alignment capabilities; organisational capabilities; and lastly systems capabilities. The study contributes to enlightening a body of firms’ capabilities theories and generated an encompassing interactive capabilities framework to guide researchers in understanding firms’ capabilities formation processes. The value of the study to the research community lies in emphasising the multi-level approach (macro; mezzo; firm level) and the virtues of combining tenets from different frameworks for a nuanced understanding of firms’ capabilities development. The study will be critical in guiding firms in building their capabilities, particularly the importance of open innovation networks and collaboration in reducing innovation risks and costs. The paper is important to policy makers regarding the institutions facilitating the interaction of international, national and firms level dynamics in propping and propelling firms’ capabilities development.Item Geological Remote Sensing(Acdemic Press, United Kingdom, 2021) Booysen, René; Nex, Paul A.M.; Gloaguen, Richard; Lorenz, Sandra; Zimmermann, Robert; Alderton, David; Elias, Scott A.The field of remote sensing has recently witnessed major innovations that have been translated to Earth science applications. Before they can be used, remote sensing data must be corrected for effects originating from the sensors, the platforms on which they are deployed, atmospheric characteristics, and geometrical constraints. When the data are calibrated and geolocated, they can be used either as physical quantities, such as reflectance and temperatures, or as images. The recent development of new sensors has permitted the remote measurement of a large area of the Earth's surface, with direct geological applications. Additionally, advances in machine vision, machine learning and artificial intelligence, combined with an unprecedented increase in computer processing power, have led to innovative remote sensing data processing techniques that simplify the handling of large amounts of complex data. As a consequence, it is now possible to characterize the geological settings of large areas with precision and even their changes through time. Remote sensing data are now directly integrated into modelling algorithms that describe surface and subsurface processes at different scales. Geological remote sensing currently encompasses multi temporal, multi-source and multi scale approaches. The retrieval of big data in disseminated archives, as well as (near) real time processing are the challenges that remain to be solved. These new applications in geology ensure cost efficient, safe, and rapid surveys and monitoring that not only benefit the research community but society at large.Item Practicalities of the National Development Plan: prospects and challenges, using the rural economy as a case study(University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2017) Chilenga, Thokozani JThe National Development Plan 2030 (NDP) is arguably South Africa’s widest and most inclusive plan for economic and social development since 1994. It is evidence of the urgent need for development in South Africa, although its political will is yet to be determined. A test of the NDP’s strength is whether it can implement development beyond the document using existing state institutions and structures. This article argues that the NDP may be a prudent plan for South Africa to become a democratic developmental state. However, the plan fails to mention critical factors in its chapters that will affect the strength and achievability of the plan. The chapter on the rural economy is evidence of this major flaw of the plan as it fails to mention the role of women in the rural economy and the critical factor of traditional leadership and governance (TLG) in a meaningful way that will establish the connection between the two. Ultimately, the NDP does not recognise the interface between women, rural development and TLG, and this flaw will lead to complications in the implementation of the NDP unless it is clarified, refined and asserted.Item Towards multiscale and multisource remote sensing mineral exploration using rpas: A case study in the lofdal carbonatite-hosted ree deposit, Namibia(MDPI, Basel, Switzerland, 2019) Booysen, René; Nex, Paul A.M.; Zimmermann, Robert; Lorenz, Sandra; Gloaguen, Richard; Andreani, Louis; Möckel, RobertTraditional exploration techniques usually rely on extensive field work supported by geophysical ground surveying. However, this approach can be limited by several factors such as field accessibility, financial cost, area size, climate, and public disapproval. We recommend the use of multiscale hyperspectral remote sensing to mitigate the disadvantages of traditional exploration techniques. The proposed workflow analyzes a possible target at different levels of spatial detail. This method is particularly beneficial in inaccessible and remote areas with little infrastructure, because it allows for a systematic, dense and generally noninvasive surveying. After a satellite regional reconnaissance, a target is characterized in more detail by plane-based hyperspectral mapping. Subsequently, Remotely Piloted Aircraft System (RPAS)-mounted hyperspectral sensors are deployed on selected regions of interest to provide a higher level of spatial detail. All hyperspectral data are corrected for radiometric and geometric distortions. End-member modeling and classification techniques are used for rapid and accurate lithological mapping. Validation is performed via field spectroscopy and portable XRF as well as laboratory geochemical and spectral analyses. The resulting spectral data products quickly provide relevant information on outcropping lithologies for the field teams. We show that the multiscale approach allows defining the promising areas that are further refined using RPAS-based hyperspectral imaging. We further argue that the addition of RPAS-based hyperspectral data can improve the detail of field mapping in mineral exploration, by bridging the resolution gap between airplane- and ground-based data. RPAS-based measurements can supplement and direct geological observation rapidly in the field and therefore allow better integration with in situ ground investigations. We demonstrate the efficiency of the proposed approach at the Lofdal Carbonatite Complex in Namibia, which has been previously subjected to rare earth elements exploration. The deposit is located in a remote environment and characterized by difficult terrain which limits ground surveys.Item Where do competency and competency frameworks fit into building a capable and competent state that delivers?(University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2023) Centre for Researching Education and Labour (REAL); University of the Witwatersrand, JohannesburgIn the wake of Cabinet approving the 2022 National Framework for the Professionalisation of the Public Service, the debate has intensified around transforming the Public Service Sector (PSS) to contribute to a professional, ethical and capable developmental state. Therefore, a renewed focus has been on professionalising the PSS with competent and skilled employees. The first question to answer is how the sector assesses whether public servants are competent and performing in line with specific behaviours linked to their roles and functions.