Browsing by Subject "South African"

Now showing 1 - 12 of 12
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    A study of the immune response in murine experimental malaria, with special reference to the effects of South African medicinal plants, artesunate and chloroquine
    (2003) Gumede, Bonginkosi; Folb, Peter; Ryffel, Bernhard
    The role of pro-inflarrnnatory cytokines (TNF and IFN-y) in a murine experimental malaria model for cerebral malaria is reported in this thesis. Wild type and receptor knockout mice (IFN-y deficient mice (IFN-l") and TNF-a/fr1- double deficient) were infected with Plasmodium berghei ANKA {PbA). PbA induced fatal cerebral malaria in wild type mice, which died within 5 to 8 days. In contrast, IFN-f1- and TNF-a/[r1-were completely resistant to PbA-induced cerebral malaria. Both wild type and mutant mice developed a similar degree of parasitaemia in the initial phase, and anaemia and leukocytosis were not different, showing that both anaemia and mobilisation of leukocytes occur in the absence of TNF and IFN-y. The results show that TNF'- and IFN,f'- mice are resistant to PbA-induced cerebral malaria, and confirm the role played by Thl cytokines in its pathogenesis. Plasmodium chabaudi chabaudi AS infection results in splenomegaly, and activation of the immune system. Resistant C57BL/6 mice, which eliminate the parasites and survive the infection, developed marked splenomegaly. Susceptible A/J mice develop minimal splenomegaly. In this work it has been shown that there is a rapid deterioration in splenic architecture, although immunohistochemistry confirmed preservation of a high level of structure and organisation. CD 11 c {dendritic) cells moved from the marginal zone into the CD4+ T cell area (where their antigen presenting function would be maximal). The juxtaposition of CDllc and T cells might be associated with immune complex formation in the spleen during the infection. The findings were similar for C57BL/6 and A/J mice. A 14-day course of artesunate 100 mg/kg prevented completely the development of parasitaemia and cerebral malaria in Plasmodium berghei ANKA infected mice, with survival of more than 60d. Chloroquine enhanced production of IL-10. Artesunate displayed enhanced IL-1 0 activity but no effect on production of pro-inflammatory cytokines. Extracts of W. salutaris, a South African medicinal plant, reduced parasitaemia by >50% at doses of 100 and 500mg/kg, and of A. annua reduced parasitaemia by 64% at a dose of 200 mg/kg. These extracts, and extracts of H. procumbens, had immunomodulatory activity on TNF-a., IFN-y, IL-12 and IL-10 production by Con A- and LPS-induced splenocytes.
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    An analysis of income from staking crypto assets paid to a non-resident in terms of the South African Income Tax Act No. 58 of 1962, and a tax treaty established on the OECD Model Tax Convention
    (2025) Jordaan, Frederik Ernst; Hattingh, Johann; Parsons, Shaun
    The increasing prominence of crypto asset transactions has brought their tax implications into focus. This thesis explores whether returns from Decentralized Finance (DeFi) transactions, particularly staking activities, can be classified as interest for tax purposes under South African law and international tax treaties, specifically the 2017 OECD Model Tax Convention on Income and Capital (OECD Model). A comprehensive legal analysis, supported by an exemplar, is used to determine how these innovative financial transactions align with existing legal frameworks both domestically and internationally. South Africa, consistent with other jurisdictions, does not classify crypto assets as fiat currency or legal tender. Current guidance suggests that income derived from crypto asset transactions is subject to general tax rules, potentially taxed as ordinary income or capital gains. This paper assesses whether the returns from staking crypto assets resemble interest and could trigger the application of South Africa's withholding tax on interest (WTI). Section 24J of the Income Tax Act provides a non-exhaustive list of items considered as interest in relation to financial and lending arrangements, with the underlying principal in common law being that interest is compensation for the advancement of credit. Interestingly, across the definition under section 24J and the common law definition, the mutual understanding is that interest is not confined to arise from money or currency and can take various forms in substance. Under the OECD Model, interest is similarly defined as income from debt claims, with no explicit reference to money or currency. By contrast, the UK acknowledges similarities between DeFi returns and traditional interest but maintains that interest can only arise from money or currency, thus excluding DeFi returns from being considered as interest. This thesis examines whether staking returns from DeFi can be classified as interest under Article 11 of the OECD Model and whether tax treaties can reduce or eliminate South Africa's WTI on such returns. It concludes that staking returns could potentially be taxed as interest under South African law but underlines the need for clearer regulatory guidance at both national and international levels to address the growing complexities posed by DeFi.
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    Detailed methodology and results for the final reference set of the South African Merluccius paradoxus and M. capensis resources for use in OMP testing
    (2006) Rademeyer, Rebecca A; Butterworth, Doug S
    This document gives detailed methodology, data and results for the final Reference Set for the joint assessment of the South African M. paradoxus and M. capensis resources that will be used in OMP testing.
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    An initial attempt at a spatially structured stock assessment for the South African hake resource including movement based on a gravity model.
    (2014) Rademeyer, Rebecca A
    The movement model for assessing the South African hake populations which was presented to last year’s review workshop is simplified by applying the “gravity” method to model movement. This reduces the numbering of movement parameters estimated from 234 to 68. This results in recent biomass estimates which are slightly more precise and somewhat lower in both absolute terms and relative to estimated pre-exploitation levels. Areas for possible future research are discussed briefly.
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    Proposed update of the proposed revised reference set for the joint assessment of the South African Merluccius paradoxus and M. capensis resources for use in OMP testing
    (2006) Rademeyer, Rebecca A; Butterworth, Doug S
    The plus-group for M. paradoxus and M. capensis in the joint assessment of these resources has been extended to age 15 (from 5+ for M. paradoxus and 7+ for M. capensis). Some results are presented for a subset of the proposed set of scenarios to be included in a revised Reference Set, that would then be used in subsequent OMP testing.
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    Summary of the most recent South African hake assessments
    (2006) Rademeyer, Rebecca A; Butterworth, Doug S
    In the most recent assessments (Rademeyer and Butterworth, 2006) of the South African hake resource, Merluccius paradoxus and M. capensis are treated as two separate stocks, but are assessed simultaneously within a single assessment framework and for the south and west coasts combined. This simultaneous assessment is necessary because much of the data is available in species-aggregated form only. Thus the model is one of two species and two spatial strata (see Fig. 1) with differences in the distributions by age within each stratum handled by allowing for stratum-specific commercial (in principle, though not in this particular implementation) and survey selectivities, rather than explicitly modelling movement. This follows the recommendation from the January 2004 BENEFIT/NRF/BCLME workshop (BENEFIT, 2004), though the further recommendation of that workshop to extend to four spatial strata (two by depth as well as two longshore) has yet to be implemented. The only data available which are explicitly disaggregated by species are those from research surveys that have taken place from 1986 to the present. However the framework does admit implicit disaggregation of data from the commercial fishery as summarised below.
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    The foreign direct investments and their impact on Canadian and South African telecommunications industry
    (2008) Bergeron, Caroline; Hudsun, Janisch
    The scope of this paper is to demonstrate that countries should abolish the restrictions on FDI in order to create a successful telecommunications market. FDI can increase competition with amazing consequences for consumers. In Canada, FDI restrictions apply on basic suppliers and are a major burden for companies competing in this market. The illustration of this issue occurred with the take over of one of the incumbent companies, Bell Canada Enterprise (BCE). In South Africa, the telecommunications industry is stagnate and needs the influx of FDI to compete on an international level. FDI restrictions thwart the expansion of the South African telecommunications industry by turning down foreign capital. Countries around the world are benefiting from FDI and it is time for Canada and South Africa to liberalise their telecommunications market and step forward in this new trend.
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    The representation of the Ghost in contemporary South African novels by black writers
    (2025) Dladla, Asakhe; Boswell, Barbara-Anne; Moji, Polo
    The thesis reads the representations of the ghost in South African novels by black writers. The reading is specific to the context of the ghosts haunting South Africa. I ask: how has the ghost been represented by black South African novelists, and what does it signal/tell? The thesis finds that there is a relative paucity of critical studies on depictions of ghosts haunting South African novels as written by black writers. Depictions of ghosts by black South African novelists proliferated after 2000. Black South African novelists writing ghosts emerged as a proliferating current of novel writing after 2000. I account for the representational strategies, functions, effects, and meanings the novelists use to produce the vitality of the depictions of their ghosts to the novel's work. For this study, I read the uses of the ghost in Yvette Christiansë's Unconfessed (2006), Vera the Ghost in Kagiso Lesego Molope's This Book Betrays My Brother (2012), and Senami Tladi's ghost in Niq Mhlongo's Way Back Home (2013). It is in the ghost that I sustain a hermeneutic interest in the novels cited. It is an interest in what the ghost is doing to thinking, reading, and interpreting the work of the black novelist's text that it haunts. There is a sustained interest in the ghost commonality across the works, the ghost representations across the novel texts. These are corresponding efforts: to sustain the hermeneutic interest in the ghost, the interest in interpreting the particularity of the work through the depiction of the ghost that haunts it and sustaining the interest in the ghost commonality haunting across the novel works. The interpretative implications of the represented ghosts of the dead pulled me to say: I am watching the ghosts of the South African novel.
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    The South African prosecution service: linchpin of the South African criminal justice system?
    (2007) Keuthen, Jens Christian; Scharf, Wilfried; Steyn, Esther
    The prosecution service is a key role player in the criminal justice system. Its effectiveness and efficiency directly reflect on the performance and service of the whole criminal justice system. The South African prosecution service in its current shape is relatively young. Constitutional and legislative provisions supplemented by various policy papers have established a framework that in principle allows for an effective and efficient function of the prosecution service in the South African criminal justice system. However, the actual performance of the prosecution service is insufficient, as this thesis suggests. Reasons for the current underperformance can be identified and are strongly linked to the transitional development of the South African prosecution service. In order to increase the performance of the prosecution service and the service of the criminal justice system this thesis explores the challenges facing the prosecution service and that have to be addressed immediately.
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    The viewer as conscript: dynamic struggles for ideological supremacy in the South African Border War film, 1971-1988
    (2003) Craig, Dylan; Bickford-Smith, Vivian
    Fourteen South African films made between 1971 and 1988, and dealing with the Border War, are examined. The focus ofthis examination is on the ways in which films were used to persuade the white public to accept the legitimacy of the Border War. The period under examination is one during which the Apartheid government moved South African society ever closer to what has been termed a 'garrison state'. Rather than following the approach indicated by the notion of 'film as history', the current work attempts to use films as sources of data to explicate the nature of the ideological manipulation at stake in each case. The literature reviewed clarifies the socio-political context around both the Border War and South African Border War film, and justifies the use of these films as sources of data for a historical analysis. A close analysis of the films reveals the appearance, growth in prominence, and disappearance of several critical themes in Border War films during each of the war's main phases (1971-5; 1975-80; 1980-8). Moreover, what is clear from the analysis is the relationship between each film's thematic composition and particular developments in the Border War and/or the South African government's strategies for fighting it, at the time. By subjecting the critical themes identified and the changes in these to further theoretical refinement, three analytic categories are suggested: changes in the structures of power, social transformation, and the government's shifting ideological agenda. These categories allow the dissertation to be concluded with an evaluation of the thesis that locally made films between 1971 and 1988 portray dynamic struggles for control over the ideology that sanctioned the legitimacy of the Border War.
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    Towards a Higher Education curriculum for South African ecommerce entrepreneurs
    (2025) Budree, Adheesh; Cliff, Alan
    This study investigated the development of an inclusive curriculum for eCommerce entrepreneurship in South Africa. The main research question posed in this study was ‘How can an inclusive curriculum be developed to support the development of eCommerce entrepreneurs in South Africa?' The research question was broken down into three sub-questions addressing three domains, namely empirical, actual and real in the context of a South African eCommerce entrepreneurship curriculum, in line with a postcolonial critical realism theory as a theoretical framework. The study sought to identify the development principles associated with a curriculum based on the skills and competencies required by eCommerce entrepreneurs within the context of conducting online business in South Africa that allowed them to not only fully comprehend the markets they operate in, but to also thrive within these markets and adjust to evolving circumstances. This required the exploration of the attributes needed for successful eCommerce entrepreneurs within the context in which the entrepreneur exists which then informs the curriculum development process required to develop a curriculum that addresses the needs of up-and-coming eCommerce entrepreneurs in the country. Subject-matter experts in eCommerce entrepreneurship involved with curriculum development and the eCommerce industry were interviewed to analyse the requirements for an inclusive eCommerce entrepreneurship curriculum in South Africa. A thematic analysis was conducted to extract the main themes arising from the interviews. These were aligned with a conceptualised theory incorporating postcolonial critical realism which was used as the theoretical framework to interrogate the phenomenon. The themes were then analysed to derive design principles. By integrating these principles, the curriculum design for eCommerce entrepreneurship in South Africa can be both transformative and responsive to the needs and realities of a postcolonial society, leveraging education as a tool for empowerment and social change. The findings of this study are aimed at informing curriculum development across South African Higher Education institutions, both in the public and private sectors, which could positively impact on both higher education policy in allocation of budget to appropriate areas of development and economic development in both the short and long terms.
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    Understanding factors for investment into South African diaspora bonds: an extended theory of planned behaviour
    (2024) Kader, Faatimah; Alhassan, Abdul Latif
    South Africa's power infrastructure faces a multi-faceted crisis linked to electricity supply, ageing infrastructure and a concentration of coal-based production, as well as shortfalls in financing infrastructure development. Diaspora bonds offer a promising alternative financing mechanism for infrastructure development in emerging markets like South Africa. This study explores investor demand for South African diaspora bonds, employing thematic analysis within an extended Theory of Planned Behaviour framework. The research entailed semi-structured interviews with 11 individuals from the South African diaspora based in the USA, UK, and Australia. The results of the thematic analysis reveal that attitudinal, social, ability and environmental perceptions towards investing into South African diaspora bonds are largely shaped by conditionalities pertaining to risk and benefit realisation. Further economic, institutional and regulatory reform is needed to attract investors towards South African diaspora bonds. The main attitudinal motives are underpinned by (i) patriotism with varying conditionalities, (ii) risk perception, (iii) corruption, governance and institutions, (iv) return expectations and (v) informational advantages. The participants were more inclined to invest for patriotic reasons on condition that personal welfare benefits are realised if a return to South Africa is planned, and/ or investment exposure was limited relative to the perceived risk. The participants perceived a heightened risk, in terms of credit default risk, due to corruption and inadequacies in the rollout of infrastructure projects, as well as currency risk, especially when not planning to return to South Africa. However, a positive risk perception relating to asset class diversification and the ability to offset rand-denominated liabilities in South Africa was observed. From a governance, institutions and corruption standpoint, the participants were concerned about government service delivery, misappropriation of funds, poor international relations, as well as corruption in procurement, weak institutions, and government policies deterring FDI; however, they had confidence in the regulatory bodies, governing financial instruments. Some participants were willing to accept a low return based on patriotism; however, this was conditional, as these investors were seeking limited exposure, and intent on returning to South Africa, in the hope that the bond would improve infrastructure. Other participants had expectations of a high return, due to the perceived high risk, or planned to base the return on the collective of the costs and benefits. Informational advantages were also observed to result in a poor sentiment of South Africa in general, with the participants preferring international geographies for investment purposes. The main social perception was that South African diaspora bonds may be a high-risk investment, largely informed by opinions and guidance offered by friends and family members with investment experience and/ or living in South Africa, investment managers, and partners often with shared finances. In terms of ability to invest into South African diaspora bonds and/ or Perceived Behavioural Control, enablers and disablers were identified. The main enablers include: (i) sufficiency in disposable income, (ii) technology as a means to streamline investment processes, and (iii) adequacy in investment knowledge. The primary disablers observed were: (i) limitations on current mandatory investment schemes, (ii) insufficient disposable income due to retirement or being employed part-time, (iii) limited knowledge on diaspora bonds and renewable energy, and (iv) bottlenecks in international fund flows. The primary environmental motives emanating from the research are: (i) Satisfaction, (ii) Policy Influence and (iii) interest in the underlying asset. The findings indicated that satisfaction played a role, when the participants linked the investment to supporting the welfare of South Africa. Additionally, the research revealed that the participants may be incentivised through policy such as tax incentives, improvements in procurement processes, resource allocation, and improved diaspora engagement amongst others. This research further finds that respondent interest in green finance, as well as the improvement of the electricity infrastructure, may play a role in driving investment into a South African diaspora bond. Based on these results, recommendations pertaining to the research include targeting the South African diaspora bond at the diaspora intending to return to South Africa. The findings further suggest that engagement with the South African diaspora need to be strengthened. Additionally, the South African diaspora bond should ideally be implemented through streamlined systems-based platforms that offer transparency, auditability, and accountability. The investment should also be embedded in collaboration with established investment managers, and partnerships with the private sector should be forged, to strengthen controls relating to the lack of confidence in the public sector. Another consideration is to issue the South African diaspora bond in a universal hard currency, as well as mitigate the foreign exchange risk by means of a currency swap. Further research may be required to support this current research, covering the issuer perspective, and other countries of adoption by diaspora, not otherwise covered within this research.