ResearchSpace
ResearchSpace is the institutional repository of the University of KwaZulu-Natal, unlocking knowledge, empowering impact, and preserving UKZN's research legacy.
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An auto-ethnographic study of my learning of english as a second language.
(2023) Andile, Jideani.; Bridget, Campbell.
This narrative and reflexive auto-ethnographic study was conducted to explore my learning experiences of English as a second language. The aim was to gain insight into my experiences and extract lessons from them, to understand my experiences and enhance my performance as an English teacher in the future. A reflective autobiographical story, conversations, images to trigger memory, and letter-writing were used to collect data for the study. Myself, two of my peers, my sister, and three critical friends participated in the study. Data was analysed through Critical Discourse and Thematic analysis. The study was underpinned by socio-cultural and motivation theories. Interrogating my learning experiences of English as a second language revealed that acquiring a second language is a social endeavour and requires motivation on the part of the learner. This important insight will help me to be more empathetic to English second language learners who face challenges and to explore ways of supporting them. Additionally, I will be in a better position to motivate them to learn a second language, as it can contribute to their success in the future. My findings also highlight the need for teachers to continuously develop as this will enhance their ability to embrace contemporary teaching methods as well as to integrate technology in language instruction. Armed with the outcomes of this research, I understand my journey and the role that others played in it. This insight should enable me to be an effective English teacher to my learners in the future. My findings indicate that examining and understanding my experiences has provided me the opportunity to gain insight from my experiences which I can use to be a better practitioner in the future. Findings from this study also show that auto-ethnography is one of the best methods teachers can use to reflect on their experiences in their different spaces as it places culture at the centre of learning. The socio-cultural theory helped me to broaden the scope of my study as I looked at my journey of learning English as a second language through all aspects of life such as my religious beliefs, play, and within the family. I also discovered that motivation plays a very important role in achieving success when learning a second language.
Challenges impacting supply chain management performance at the South African Social Security Agency in KwaZulu Natal.
(2025) Hadebe, Bezile Merrica.; Naude, Micheline Juliana Alberta.
Government departments are experiencing several supply chain management challenges that negatively impact on their performance. It is within this context that the aim of this study was to identify the supply chain management challenges that negatively impact on the performance of the South African Social Security Agency in KwaZulu-Natal (KZN SASSA) and suggest how these challenges could be addressed. No research study was found that identifies supply chain challenges that impact on SASSA’s performance in KZN and in other provinces, and thus this research aims to address this gap. This is a descriptive and exploratory study, with qualitative data collected through semi-structured interviews with 12 participants at KZN SASSA. The participants were purposely selected because they were able to provide appropriate answers to the research questions. The data was analysed using thematic analysis. The findings of the research study reveal that supply chain challenges that impact negatively on KZN SASSA’s performance centre on procurement, legislation, supply chain training and completing procurement processes within the stipulated time. These challenges impact negatively on their performance – which affects service delivery. This study mainly recommends that Government departments could meet with National Treasury to revisit the stringent and excessive quantity of legislation in place, that the procurement process be revisited to address the delays of the procurement processes, that training be provided as and where there are any changes and newly introduced regulations, to avoid non-compliance to set laws that result in unauthorised wasteful and irregular expenditure.
‘Beauty is in the eye of the Instagrammer’: a walk-through approach exploring narratives of female beauty on Instagram among Durban higher education students.
(2023) Webster, Kayley Jade.; Gibson, Sarah Elizabeth.
In the twenty-first century female beauty is increasingly perceived as a social construct that intersects identity and femininity. Social media platforms have evolved into participatory spaces
for women to negotiate and perform their identities, share information about their daily lives, engage with user-generated content, and explore modes of self-expression. South Africa's media
landscape has witnessed a shift towards social media platforms, with millions of active users in the country. The literature revealed the need for research on African perspectives in the context of media, and revealed gaps in the intricate connection between feminism, femininity, and social media's influence on women's self-presentation and identity. This study aimed to address the gap in research in focusing on the unique narratives of young female higher education students in actively engaging in the construction of feminine beauty on Instagram. It sought to explore how this construction of feminine beauty on Instagram shaped the articulation of a feminine gendered identity through gender performances. This study also explored how young female students negotiated concepts of feminism and femininity through their engagement in the construction and negotiation of female beauty on Instagram. To ensure that the goals of this study would be achieved, a qualitative phenomenological approach was adopted. The main data collection method employed in this study was a form of walk-through known as the media go-along method that were conducted with 13 young female higher education students. The participants were selected by means of purposive sampling and a reflexive thematic data analysis was performed. The themes ‘Digital Craftsmanship’, ‘Instagram Performativity’, and ‘Dialectics of Empowerment’ ultimately generated insightful findings pertaining to young South African women's contributions to constructing female beauty on Instagram, the platform's role in shaping gender performativity, and the intricate interplay of feminism and femininity in this digital space. This study's findings revealed that young female students on Instagram engage in diverse modes of active curation to shape their beauty ideals in alignment with personal preferences and values. Instagram played a role in constructing future career aspirations by interplaying beauty, professionalism, and identity. Instagram’s unique features further encouraged participants to become content co-creators, fostering creative expression and digital discourse. An insightful finding was that young women’s self-representation balanced beauty norms with playfulness and authenticity. Cultural and social influences were evident in beauty practices, and these young women navigated a complex negotiation between conforming to and challenging beauty norms while engaging in feminist discussions on Instagram.
Impact of degree of sulphonation of lignosulphonic acid on molecular weight distribution of spent liquours.
(2024) Mokoena, Bonisile Ignacia.; Sithole, Bishop Bruce.; Potthast, Antje.
Lignosulphonates are produced during the chemical pulping of wood species through acid sulphite or neutral sulphite semi-chemical processes. Lignosulphonates are applied in several
commercial products, including but not limited to dispersants, resins, binders, concrete admixtures, water treatment aids (coagulants), etc. These complex macromolecular structures exhibit different chemical properties, depending on the pulping process and tree species used. How lignosulphonates are valorised will, therefore, depend on their inherent chemical properties. The molecular weight and the sulphonic acid content in particular are two properties that will affect how lignosulphonates are used. In this study, the molecular weight and sulphonic acid of magnesium lignosulphonate (MgLS) and sodium lignosulphonate (NaLS) were studied. Due to the processing contaminants that interfere with molecular weight and sulphonic acid measurements of spent liquors purification of the MgLS and NaLS streams was carried out using a combination of Dowex 50wx8 and XAD-7 resins. The Dowex resin was used for de-ashing, and the XAD-7 resin to adsorb the lignosulphonate molecule. Ultrafiltration was also included as a comparison for the Dowex-XAD-7 purification. Approximately; 5 % ash was retained on samples purified by ultrafiltration and less than 3% ash was retained by samples purified by Dowex-XAD-7. The sample yield after Dowex-XAD-7 and ultrafiltration was similar for MgLS samples, between 32 and 36% sample was extracted . There was, however, a difference in sample yield when NaLS liquor was purified. A 24 and 32 % sample recovery was achieved using Dowex-XAD-7 and ultrafiltration, respectively. The yield was higher for the ultrafiltrated product than for the XAD-7 product. Samples purified by ultrafiltration generally showed high molecular weight and sulphonic acid content. The molecular weight for NaLS and MgLS samples purified by ultrafiltration measured approximately 6 and 20 kDa, respectively. Where as NaLS and MgLS samples purified by Dowex-XAD-7 reported a molecular weight of 3 and 12 kDa, respectively. The sulphonic acid content ranged between 3 and 5% for ultrafiltrated samples where as the Dowex-XAD-7 extracted samples ranged between 2 and 3%. The samples purified by XAD-7 resins were then sequentially fractionated using ultrafiltration with molecular weight cut-off (MWCO) sizes between 100 kDa to 1kDa. The molecular weight of the fractionated products decreased with a decrease in MWCO size ranging between 100 and 1kDa. This decrease was from 17.6 to 0.6 kDa and 14.8 to 0.8 for MgLS and NaLS samples, respectively. For the MgLS, the sulphonic acid content increased from 0.93 to 1.25 mmol/g with a decrease in molecular weight, whereas the fractions from the NaLS feed seemed to decrease with a decrease in molecular weight.
The effect of microwave treatment on the physicochemical characteristics of faecal sludge and implications for sludge treatment.
(2023) Mdolo, Principal.; Pocock, Jonathan.; Velkushanova, Konstantina Veselinova.
Faecal sludge (FS) is generated from non-sewered sanitation technologies such as pit latrines and septic tanks. Over time, FS needs to be emptied from the pit latrine and processed. Resource recovery from FS is growing because it contains organic matter and other materials that can be valorized to plant nutrients and biofuels. Drying, hydrothermal carbonization (HTC) and anaerobic digestion (AD) are some technologies used to treat FS and recover resources from it. Drying is achieved through solar, thermal, infrared or microwave heating. Microwave (MW) treatment is a technology of interest because of its efficient heating mechanism and versatility. It can efficiently meet several treatment objectives, such as volume reduction, nutrient recovery, or pathogen inactivation in a single operation. It can be incorporated into other treatment processes like pyrolysis, hydrothermal carbonization, and biological degradation to improve process efficiency. This study evaluated the effect of MW treatment on FS characteristics and the subsequent anaerobic digestion. A response surface modelling was used to study the MW operating parameters that influenced FS solubilization. The FS was collected from active ventilated improved pit (VIP) latrines and was treated in a domestic MW oven at 630W, 720W and 810W for 1 to 10 minutes. Changes in the properties of the treated FS were analyzed using ultraviolet-visible (UV/VIS) spectrophotometry, carbon, nitrogen and sulfur (CNS) elemental analyzer, Fourier transform infrared (FTIR), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) imaging, flow cytometry (FCM) and Automatic Methane Potential Test System (AMPTS II). The change in chemical oxygen demand (COD) provided a means of evaluating the effect of MW treatment on FS solubilization. The untreated FS had a high soluble COD (sCOD) to total COD (TCOD) ratio (10%), which indicated that the FS underwent stabilization in the pit latrine and during storage. A high sCOD/TCOD ratio was expected because the average age of VIP latrine FS in eThekwini is approximately five years. Although the FS showed properties of stabilization, MW treatment increased the sCOD, showing an initial sCOD release phase (phase 1), degradation of sCOD (phase 2) and a second slight sCOD release (phase 3). The sCOD release profiles were similar to the temperature profiles. In all the treatments (630W, 720W and 810W), the maximum sCOD release was recorded when the FS reached the boiling temperature (~96°C). The highest sCOD/TCOD achieved was 27% when a microwave power (MP) of 630W was applied for 4 minutes. The highest sCOD release was achieved in all treatments during the first phase. Although there was a second sCOD release (phase 3), it did not result in additional sCOD. Therefore, the microwave operation could be stopped after the first phase if the treatment aims to solubilize organic matter. Soluble proteins (sProt) and soluble carbohydrates (sCarbs) also increased after MWtreatment and followed a similar trend to the sCOD release. A correlation heat map revealed at the centre configuration had the least amplitude at high flowrates. This can be used online to check for particle breakage and the resulting maldistribution in flow in packed bed reactors. A model was developed to analyse pressure fluctuations in packed bed reactors. The model was developed using equations, found from literature, for non-ideal flow in packed beds. MATLAB software was used to solve and analyse the model. The pressure fluctuations obtained from experimental work agreed with the simulated data. The uniform packing had the highest amplitude while the nonuniform (large and small at the centre) had the least amplitude. The model was in agreement with experimental data, as it was seen that the amplitude of pressure fluctuations can be used for diagnosing flow maldistribution in packed bed reactors.