4. Electronic Theses and Dissertations (ETDs) - Faculties submissions

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    The leadership types appropriate to different levels of management in the South African railway industry
    (University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2023) Pillay, Theophilus; Sief, Grant
    The South African railway industry run by two state-owned entities, PRASA and Transnet have embarked on their Industry 4.0 strategy. It is a strategy that looks to reimagine the railway sector, the culture and its operations. The intent is to take SA and Africa to compete globally, and proudly take South African rail into this new digital platform. It is at the helm of these changes that organisations will need to adopt the state- owned entities strategy to remain competitive, producing railway solutions productively and efficiently to feed into the entities plans. One such organisation is Alstom International a rolling stock multinational that has been awarded the largest tender in South African history to produce the new Metrorail fleet for the state-owned entities. This research looks at one of Alstom International’s manufacturing subsidiaries in SA that produces railway solutions for the state-owned entities. It’s on the basis of the magnitude of the project that the study will consider the subsidiary to represent the railway industry of SA and will from this point onwards be referred to as the ‘organisation.’ There is a knowledge gap existing into the type of leadership behaviours that are needed to impact followers motivation and organisation’s success, which has become a major concern for the railway industry of SA. The purpose of this study was to investigate how and why transformational (TL) and transactional(TR) leadership behaviours can be used to fill this gap. HR and railway organisational practitioners will use this knowledge for improved recruitment practises and leadership development training. The study adopted a qualitative approach with semi-structured interviews conducted with 16 purposefully selected managers from the manufacturing organisation ranging from lower, middle to senior management. Thematic deductive analysis was conducted to determine the leadership behaviours used through the established transactional and transformational themes. Observations of the interactions between leaders and followers at various management levels were also done at the organisation to gather more data. The findings showed that transactional leadership behaviours were found to be the main style used by leaders. Transactional leadership behaviours were based on a strategy of compliance to Alstom International and also developed as the intent was to cut costs in manufacturing railway components. Transformational leadership behaviours were seen at upper 2 management levels, while transactional leadership behaviours were noted at lower management levels. Transformational leadership behaviours still had an augmenting role to play with blue collars to remove initial resistant because of past hurts caused by a fluctuating industry prone to retrenchments. It was found that the strategy of the organisation played a major role in the type of leadership behaviours used. The originality of the work is based on its South African railway context
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    A Comparative Analysis of South Africa's Tax Penalty Regime in Relation to the United States of America and the Commonwealth of Australia
    (University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2023) Poyana, Luvuyo Sidewell; Viljoen, Michelle
    Undoubtedly, tax compliance poses a significant challenge for all revenue collection authorities. Aspects such as self-assessment and electronic commerce further accentuate the importance of tax compliance. With self-assessment, the onus of calculating the appropriate tax liability and ensuring compliance with payment requirements rests on the taxpayer, rather than the revenue authority. While the Republic of South Africa has recently revised its penalty regime and enacted new legislation through the Tax Administration Act 28 of 2011, replacing the previous regime governed by Sections 75 and 76 of the Income Tax Act 58 of 1962, it remains imperative and pertinent to examine the operative penalty regime. Such an examination is essential to comprehend and confirm the extent and application of penalties in various circumstances. In order to ensure that the penalty regime of the Republic of South Africa is in accordance with internationally recognised best practices, this research report undertakes a comparative analysis with the United States of America and the Commonwealth of Australia. These jurisdictions possess extensive practical experience in the realm of tax administrative laws over an extended period. By drawing upon their insights, valuable lessons can be gleaned to enhance the effectiveness and alignment of South Africa's penalty regime. This research report aims to provide insights into the effectiveness of South Africa's penalty regime and identify potential areas for improvement by examining the similarities and differences in the implementation and administration of non-compliance and understatement penalties in the Republic of South Africa (RSA), the United States of America and the Commonwealth of Australia. By analysing the penalty regimes of these three countries, the research report identifies challenges or disputes that may arise with reference to previous litigations and provide policymakers and tax authorities with valuable information to improve the administration and implementation of penalties. The report suggests that, while the establishment of the new Tax Administration Act, No 28 of 2011, has demonstrated a standardised and systematic approach to non-compliance and understatement penalties, the subjective nature of the taxpayer’s behaviour is always going to result in non-compliance by some taxpayers. The comparison indicates that the South African penalty regime is relatively high in terms of understatement penalties and lower in terms of non-compliance penalties. However, the overall administrative penalties are broadly aligned with the Commonwealth of Australia and the United States of America.
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    Effect of boophone disticha on the behaviour and hippocampal neuroanatomy in a BALB/c mouse model
    (2024) Xhakaza, Nkosiphendule Khuthazelani
    Depression is one of the most common neuropsychiatric disorders and is associated with dysfunction of the neuroendocrine system and alterations in specific brain proteins. Boophone disticha (BD) is an indigenous psychoactive bulb that belongs to the Amaryllidacae family, which is widely used in Southern Africa to treat depression, with scientific evidence of potent antidepressant-like effects. The present study examined the antidepressant effects of BD and its mechanisms of action by measuring some behavioural parameters in the elevated plus maze, light dark box, open field forced swimming, brain content of corticosterone, brain derived neurotropic factor (BDNF), and neuroblast differentiation in the hippocampus of Balb/c mice exposed to the five-day repeated forced swim stress (5dRFSS) and 28 days chronic restraint stress. Male Balb/c mice were subjected to the 5dRFSS and 28 days chronic restraint protocols to induce depressivelike behaviour (decreased swimming, increased floating, decreased open arm entry, decreased time spent in the open arms and decreased head dips in the elevated plus maze test, increased time in dark box in the light dark box test, reduced frequency of rearing and increased time on the sides of the open field in the open field test), and treated with distilled water, fluoxetine and BD. Three weeks Boophone disticha treatment (10mg/kg/p.o) significantly attenuated both the 5dRFSS and chronic restraint-induced behavioural abnormalities and the elevated brain tissue corticosterone levels observed in stressed mice. Additionally, 5dRFSS exposure significantly decreased the number of neuroblasts in the hippocampus and BDNF levels in the brain of Balb/c mice, while fluoxetine and BD treatment attenuated these changes. In the chronic restraint stressed mice, similar effects of BD treatment were observed after 21 days of treatment, however, the levels of corticosterone were not different in control and stressed animals, probably due to habituation to stress. In both 5dRFSS and chronic restraint stress, the antidepressant effects of BD were comparable to those of fluoxetine, but unlike fluoxetine, BD did not show any anxiogenic effects, suggesting better pharmacological functions. It is important to note that in chronic restraint stress mice, it appeared that animals seemed to have habituated to stressful conditions, demonstrated in part by brain tissue levels of corticosterone that were not elevated in stressed animals treated with distilled water. However, BDNF levels remained significantly low in stressed animals treated with distilled water, suggesting that the effect of chronic stress in this parameter were not reversed when animals habituated. In conclusion, our study shows that BD exerted antidepressant-like effects in both 5dRFSS and chronic restraint stress mice, mediated in part by normalizing brain corticosterone and BDNF levels. Due to some degree of habituation in chronic stress model, caution should be exercised when evaluation effects of treatment in different parameters to evaluate antistress effects of tested agents, particularly levels of corticosterone. Furthermore, the persistent low levels of BDNF suggest that habituation of animals to chronic stress is due to normalising levels of corticosterone but not BDNF. The above occurrence could suggest that recovery from chronic stress without antidepressant treatment could alleviate other behavioural symptoms but not cognitive impairment which is influenced in part by BDNF levels.
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    The perceived impact of leadership coaching by branch managers at the First National Bank of Botswana
    (2021) Otukile, Maureen Udah
    This research examines the perceived impact of leadership coaching on the branch managers at the First National Bank of Botswana. It provides the foundation to investigate and understand whether coaching affects sustained behaviour change. It explores behaviour, attitudes and leadership effectiveness strategies and how the leadership coaching impacts them. In this, the researcher aimed at determining the perceived impact of leadership coaching on behaviour and attitudes; determining whether leadership coaching can impact leadership practices and establishing whether leadership coaching promotes leadership effectiveness strategies at the First National Bank of Botswana. The research used a qualitative research method to understand a phenomenon guided by the Theory of Planned Behaviour. Qualitative methods were chosen because of its nature of having a small sample size. The research adapted a case study since it is an empirical inquiry and case studies provide in-depth information that gives a detailed description of the phenomena. The main tool of data collection was a guided interview. The findings showed that leadership coaching positively impacts behaviour and attitude change needed for achieving their organisations’ objectives. Findings also showed that leaders who undergo leadership coaching are more likely to significantly contribute to better leadership practices like building adaptable cohesive teams, motivating team members to be engaged and maximizing the strengths and minimizing the weaknesses of subordinates. The research also found that leaders who complete a leadership coaching programme have better application of the leadership effectiveness strategies to help their teams achieve higher levels of self-efficacy