OpenUCT is the open access institutional repository of the University of Cape Town (UCT). It preserves and makes UCT scholarly outputs digitally and freely available, including theses and dissertations, journal articles, book chapters, technical and research reports, as well as open educational resources.
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Open Access
Student recruitment and relationship marketing - convergence or contortion
(2011) Beneke, J
This article investigates the intersection of student recruitment and relationship marketing in the public high education sector. They key objectives of this analysis are to understand if a strategic fit exists and whether South African institutions are indeed embracing the principles of relationship marketing in order to optimise their student recruitment programmes. Whilst the merits of building and developing student relationships over an extended timeframe are well documented in scholarly literature, the situation on the ground suggests that local institutions remain somewhat conservative in this respect. Despite success stories from a select number of private colleges, local institutions have tended to persist with tried-and-trusted recruitment techniques due to the logistical and financial resources in implementing a relationship-oriented strategy. In this respect, mass marketing and direct marketing techniques remain the order of the day, although relationship marketing is seen as a future platform should intensified competition necessitate a fundamental change in approach.
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Open Access
'Proper' attitudes without proper jobs? Popular support for welfare in Mogoditshane, Botswana, with comparative insights from Kamanga (Zambia) and Site C (South Africa)
(2026) Arthur, Winnifred; Seekings, JF
This dissertation offers a new account of welfare attitudes among the urban poor by examining how institutional context shapes popular support for redistribution. Using Mogoditshane, Botswana, as my primary case study, I draw comparative evidence from two secondary sites–Kamanga, Zambia, and Site C, South Africa—and ask: under what conditions do individuals support welfare, and how do different policy regimes shape these preferences? Theoretically, this study challenges the dominant focus on individual-level self-interest. I show that in high-unemployment settings, the household, and not just the individual, serves as a key site of interest formation. My study also advances a context-sensitive view of deservingness, demonstrating how institutional arrangements mediate which social units matter most in shaping welfare attitudes. Methodologically, I combine an original survey (N=817) with embedded experiments and qualitative fieldwork. Using systematic door-to-door sampling, I surveyed 427 respondents in Mogoditshane, 200 in Kamanga, and 190 in Site C. I construct a continuous index of welfare support and also classify respondents into three attitudinal profiles: consistently pro-welfare, consistently hostile, and ambivalent. The survey includes a deservingness vignette in all three sites, and, in Mogoditshane alone, a forced-choice conjoint experiment that varies the design features of a basic income grant (generosity, conditionality, and funding). These quantitative data are complemented by small-group discussions with participants in Botswana's workfare and public employment programs. My findings are twofold. First, consistent with comparative welfare state theory, support for redistribution is higher in more generous and institutionalized welfare regimes, and is strongly associated with subjective evaluations of poverty and income adequacy. Second, and more novel, is the role of household-level exposure. My findings show that co-residence with grant recipients produces a distinctive ambivalence toward welfare. Individuals who live in grant-receiving households (but do not receive grants themselves) are significantly more likely to express ambivalent (rather than supportive) attitudes than nonrecipients. This pattern emerges in the Mogoditshane sample and gains further support in the pooled comparative analysis, which strengthens its robustness across diverse institutional contexts. This finding suggests that household-level exposure to welfare programs creates a unique set of cross-pressures that shape political attitudes. Experimental and qualitative evidence corroborates this mechanism, highlighting how perceptions of deservingness interact with household formation patterns, kin obligations, and welfare regime type. Specifically, individuals support welfare under conditions of greater regime generosity and institutionalization. Different policy regimes influence preferences by activating different social units—the individual in some contexts, the household in others. The study concludes therefore that understanding welfare attitudes in contexts of high unemployment and uneven provision requires a multi-level view of self-interest. It moves beyond the narrow focus on the individual and shows how the household functions as a crucial site for interest formation. Comparative, multi-method approaches are thus essential to uncovering how institutional arrangements shape the contours of welfare legitimacy from below. My findings underscore the importance of adopting comparative frameworks that capture how contexts activate different social units, from the individual to the household, as drivers of public opinion.
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Open Access
Design of an engineered model for in vitro testing of biotherapeutics for treatment of bacterial vaginosis
(2026) Apiyo, Davina-Nelson; Fagan-Endres, Marijke; van Zyl, Albertha
Vaginal dysbiosis is a common condition affecting a substantial proportion of women of reproductive age worldwide, with bacterial vaginosis (BV) representing the most prevalent manifestation. Although treatable via antibiotherapy, infection recurrence is frequent, which increases the risk of adverse reproductive-related complications. This has necessitated the exploration of alternative treatment strategies that reduce recurrence, with biotherapeutics showing promising clinical potential. However, successful treatment hinges on a comprehensive understanding of how biotherapeutics modulate the cervicovaginal niche to promote eubiosis. Preclinical studies often rely on conventional in vitro assays for this endeavour, though they fail to replicate the intricacies of the lower female genital tract. While animal models can permit the study of host-microbe interactions within a more complex biological context, species-specific differences constrain their ability to accurately recapitulate human cervicovaginal biology. Therefore, this motivates the development of representative in vitro models that can simulate the in vivo cervicovaginal niche to a high degree. This underscores the aim of this project, with the application of the model in exploring the efficacy of novel biotherapeutics for the treatment of BV. Three primary objectives were investigated, relating to the persistence and epithelial integrity of the model's biological components when exposed to an in vivo-like environment. This included assessing bacterial growth dynamics, epithelial morphology and viability, and epithelial paracellular permeability when co-culturing with bacterial communities. Mimicking the host cervicovaginal milieu required varying three key physicochemical factors – O2/CO2 partial pressures (replicating vaginal lumen hypoxia), medium acidity (comparable to the acidic vaginal environment) and medium composition (creating a medium simulating vaginal fluid (MSVF)). Bacterial growth dynamics were evaluated through optical density, pH, substrate and metabolite measurements, with the metabolic parameters quantified via high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). Cell culture experiments, on the other hand, were performed in three phases of increasing complexity – epithelial growth on an impermeable plastic surface (Phase 1), epithelial growth on a semi-permeable membrane (Phase 2) and co-incubation of bacteria with epithelia grown on the same semi-permeable membranes (Phase 3). Paracellular permeability in Phases 2 and 3 was monitored via transepithelial electrical resistance (TEER) readings. Bacterial culture experiments indicated that Lactobacillaceae strains could persist in an in vivolike environment, albeit with muted growth dynamics. Yet G. vaginalis (a BV-associated bacterium) could not – the strain could neither survive in an acidic medium, nor in MSVF, given its fastidious nature. Because of this result, an alternative medium that could support the growth of the (potentially) probiotic strains and the pathobiont was sought. This criterion was fulfilled with New York City (NYC) III medium without serum supplementation, rendering it a plausible candidate apical medium for the cervicovaginal model. Phase 1 assays further corroborated that the MSVF formulation evaluated in this study was unsuitable for integration into the in vitro system, as its nutrient-limited nature resulted in loss of cervical monolayer viability. In contrast, the monolayers persisted in NYC III medium, with 81.53% viability under normoxic conditions. These Phase 1 findings therefore informed progression to Phase 2 of the work, in which NYC III medium was employed apically and Dulbecco's Modified Eagle Medium (DMEM) supplemented with foetal bovine serum (FBS) basolaterally in the cervicovaginal model. Subsequent TEER data confirmed that this medium combination was not detrimental to epithelial integrity. Phase 3 assays were based on the postulation that G. vaginalis increases paracellular permeability due to its virulent factors disrupting tight junction complexes, whereas the Lactobacillaceae (which typically promote a healthy vaginal environment) improve tight junction expression, thus decreasing paracellular permeability. Interestingly, co-culture setups indicated a reduction in TEER regardless of epithelial co-incubation with either the probiotic strains or the pathobiont. Moreover, apical addition of Lactobacillaceae to G. vaginalis-infected cervical epithelia further damaged the in vitro monolayers, reflected by persistently low TEER values. This conflicting data posited two theories to explain the trends. Firstly, the metabolic states of the biotic components were brought to question, as HPLC data indicated no substrate utilization or metabolite production by G. vaginalis, and no lactate and acetate accumulation brought about by the Lactobacillaceae and the cervical epithelia. Secondly, cell line selection was further interrogated, as barrier protection in cervical tissues is primarily mediated by cervical mucus rather than the epithelium, rendering direct bacterial-epithelial contact potentially cytotoxic and concomitant with reductions in TEER readouts. Collectively, the contextual host-microbe interactions highlighted the intricacies of in vitro model development, elucidating the importance of media selection, epithelial context, cellular/microbial metabolic states and microenvironmental protection. Despite the negative trends exhibited in Phase 3, the model was still successful in demonstrating sensitivity and responsiveness to biologically relevant parameters. The extensive mechanistic protocol provides a robust framework for establishing a more human-relevant in vitro cervicovaginal platform, thereby exploring infection pathobiology and advancing novel treatment approaches for the reduction of BV recurrence.
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Open Access
Women on Boards on the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange - Good for business?
(2026) Antonio, Esther; Alhassan, Abdul Latif
This research examines the relationship between gender diversity and company performance, addressing the question of whether women on boards on the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange are “good for business” in terms of enhancing financial performance. The research focused on 54 companies listed on the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange (ZSE) analysed over a period of four years, 2014-2017. The research used four regression models incorporating both the proportion of all female directors (GD) and a gender diversity index (GDI) measuring the proportion of independent female directors and evaluating their effects on return on assets (ROA) and return on equity (ROE). The data showed that the number of women on boards on companies on the ZSE was low (12% average in absolute terms) , including 35% of companies with no female directors and an average of one female director per company. Small positive associations appear in the ROA models, while the ROE models produce larger but highly unstable coefficients, reflecting the volatility of equity-based performance measures. In contrast, leverage consistently demonstrates a strong negative effect across all specifications, and firm size and board size contribute minimally to explanatory power. Overall, the findings suggest that gender diversity on boards does not reliably enhance immediate financial returns, indicating that the business case for women on boards requires a multi-dimensional and longer-term approach to build out. These results underscore the importance of continuing to explore the broader strategic and structural benefits of board gender diversity beyond short-term financial metrics as well as the need for future research to explore longer-term, non-financial, and structural dimensions of board diversity that may better capture its organizational value. The dissertation recommends actions for the ZSE to increase female representation on company boards as well as further avenues for research.
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Open Access
Can the South African regulatory framework keep up with the evolution of disruptive technologies offered by Fintech: An evaluation of the law regulating Fintech Transactions, with a greater focus on Mobile Money and Crypto-assets, and whether it is an enabler of financial inclusion?
(2026) Allie, Tareq; Mesthrie, Sapna
Financial technology (fintech) has rapidly developed throughout the twenty-first century with many global citizens and economies adopting the innovations and initiates which it encompasses. Considering the shift from traditional financial services to more digitally enabled tools and channels, regulators around the world have had to focus their attention on how to adequately regulate these disruptions. Regulators are faced with the dilemma of balancing innovation against the risks that these technologies bring. It is with this backdrop that this study sets out to evaluate whether the South African regulatory framework can keep pace with the evolution of fintech. This is achieved through focusing on and assessing the framework of two specific fintech innovations, namely Mobile money and Crypto assets. Through using doctrinal desktop-based legal research, this dissertation has unpacked key statutes, including the FSR Act, the NPS Act, the Banks Act, the FIC Act as well as the FAIS Act. It has further analysed and extracted journal articles, textbooks as well as online resources such as reports and websites to support the study. This dissertation comprehensively unpacks the current regulatory framework for mobile money and crypto assets as well as the implications it has on the entities and/or fintech companies providing such services. The findings of the study have shown that the current regulatory framework of fintech in South Africa is fragmented, although the regulatory environment is largely progressive in its approach to acknowledging as well as fostering innovation. It has also been found that there is different regulatory treatment to fintech innovation. On the one hand regulators have taken a conservative approach to the regulation of mobile money, which remains very rigid. On the other hand, regulators have been proactive in their treatment of crypto assets in acknowledging their use and function as well as amending existing legislation to accommodate it. The study therefore concludes that while there has been substantial progress in adapting to the fintech disruptions, there should be greater consideration for an encompassing fintech framework through legal reform.