Dissertations / Theses: 'Water quality – South Africa – Eastern Cape'

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Luyt, Catherine Diane. "Faecal source tracking and water quality in the Eastern Cape, South Africa." Thesis, Rhodes University, 2013. http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1018242.

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Water quality is concerning as many still lack access to safe drinking water. Alternate sources such as rivers (FC up to 1600 CFUs/100 mL) and rainwater are often polluted. Rainwater tanks require maintenance to improve water quality, but could be used for non-potable purposes or irrigation. Grahamstown infrastructural failures initiate deviations from DWAF 1996 domestic water guidelines for microorganisms within the distribution system. Frequent testing can decrease risks of waterborne diseases. Limitations to this are inaccessibility of rural areas, distances from testing centres and costs. The low cost H2S strip test able to be used onsite by communities, may aid in risk assessment. H2S strip test results are not affected by sulphate (14 to 4240 mg/L) or nitrite (up to 47 mg/L). Transportation of the H2S strip tests between 10 and 32°C does not modify results significantly. Similarly to other studies: Klebsiella spp.; Enterobacter spp. and Serratia spp. were isolated from H2S strip tests. The mH2S strip test corresponds best with HPC in treated water, while in untreated river water it has approximately 90% correspondence with FCs, while survival of FC causes discrepancies with the H2S test after 22 days. A faecal coliform inactivation rate of 0.1 CFUs/ day, may be longer than many pathogens. Faecal source tracking, not currently practised in South Africa, could aid health risk assessments for disaster management, which would improve the NMMP programme. Bacterial survival times could propose the time period for which water is unsafe. Bifidobacteria and Rhodococcus are proposed to help identify the faecal pollution source. But enumeration of Rhodococcus is too lengthy (21 days). The tracking ratio of bifidobacteria (between 0.1 to 6.25) is not source definitive. The bifidobacteria survival rate, could indicator the time since faecal pollution. The bifidobacteria average survival rate is 2.3 CFUs per day for both groups. The culturability and selectivity of agar is still poor, with total bifidobacteria less selectively culturable. Enterococci overgrowth of TB was decreased by Beerens media. SUB is still useful to identify potential human faecal inputs. A single tracking method is thus not suitable alone, but requires a combination of techniques.

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Mpange, Zolisa Bavuyise. "Water service delivery for improved quality of life in the Mbizana Local Municipal." Thesis, Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, 2012. http://hdl.handle.net/10948/d1018891.

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This study deals with water service delivery for improved quality of life in the Mbizana Local Municipality. The study sets out to determine how the inner workings of water service delivery work in the Mbizana Local Municipality, situated in the Eastern Cape, and how this should function in terms of South African legislation. The objectives of the study are to understand the current state of water service delivery in the Mbizana Local Municipality, finding out information about South African legislation regarding the ideal state of water service delivery, and recommending development programmes to improve water service delivery. This study is about understanding trends in the body of scientific knowledge or literature, and studying (as objects) the ideas and writings of other scholars. No empirical study was conducted. The research methodology for this study is descriptive, with data sourced from available literature. The findings in this study indicate that backlogs for water service delivery remain high in the Mbizana Local Municipality. Regrettably, the situation has worsened since 2004; backlogs have shifted from 45 percent to 94 percent of households with no access to tap water. A number of normative criteria to deal with the research problem were extracted from available literature, from which conclusions were drawn and recommendations made.

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Pretorius, Liaan Marié. "Spatial and temporal variability in water quality characteristics of the Swartkops Estuary." Thesis, Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, 2015. http://hdl.handle.net/10948/4176.

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Water quality characteristics of the heavily urbanised and industrialised Swartkops River catchment in the Eastern Cape has been the focus of several studies since the 1970s. Overloaded and poorly maintained wastewater treatment works (WWTW), polluted stormwater runoff and solid waste have had a negative impact on the water quality status of the Swartkops River and estuary. Past studies have revealed that a distinct relationship exists between land use activities and the water quality of the Swartkops Estuary, which in turn has raised concerns pertaining to the ecological, economic, recreational, and cultural value of the estuaryThe Swartkops Estuary has a Present Ecological State (PES) of Category D(1) and a Recommended Ecological Category (REC)(2) of a C (Van Niekerk et al., 2014). It is known that effective management of anthropogenic impacts on coastal systems requires a thorough understanding of the system’s biological responses to wastewater discharges and to hydrologic changes. For this reason, the objective of this study was to determine the current water quality status of the Swartkops Estuary, and to gain greater insight into factors controlling eutrophication. This was important as outdated water quality information was used in the Swartkops Integrated Environmental Management Plan (Enviro-Fish Africa, 2011) due to a lack of current data. To determine the current water quality status of the Swartkops Estuary the present study investigated spatial and temporal variability in physico-chemical parameters, nutrients, phytoplankton biomass and community composition, faecal bacteria, and “where possible” related this to historical water quality data. In general, points of entry into the estuary were investigated for their impact on nutrient enrichment and the bacteriological status of the estuary. Water quality surveys were completed in September 2012, November 2012, February 2013, May 2013 and August 2013The present study found evidence to suggest that water is not flushed as efficiently from the estuary as was previously the case, and that the natural hydrology of the estuary has been modified. These changes appear to be the effect of large volumes of wastewater discharges from the wastewater treatment works (WWTW), which has led to the additional stresses of increased vertical stratification and reduced vertical mixing. A build-up of dissolved inorganic nutrients has given rise to persistent eutrophic conditions and phytoplankton blooms occurring from the middle reaches to the tidal limit of the estuary. These findings were associated with a generally well oxygenated estuary; however, bottom water hypoxic conditions were recorded in the upper reaches of the estuary on two occasions and were generally associated with bloom.forming flagellates. Elevated concentrations of inorganic nutrients stimulated phytoplankton to attain high biomass ranging from 0 to 248 g l-1 (31.8 6.56 g l-1). All nutrients displayed positive linear gradients from the mouth to the tidal limit, showed significant (p < 0.05) temporal and spatial variability, and were significantly (p < 0.05) correlated with phytoplankton biomass. Phytoplankton blooms (> 10 000 cells ml-1) of several different groups were recorded from the middle reaches of the estuary to the tidal limit. Diatoms were the dominant group during increased freshwater inflow (at mean daily flow rate of 2.14 m3 s-1) and low DIP levels, whereas flagellates were generally the dominant group during reduced flow and under higher nutrient levels. Although the different tidal stages had no effect on phytoplankton biomass per se, it did support co-existance between phytoplankton groups. This was noted during the spring ebb tide in September 2012 (i.e. flagellates, diatoms and dinoflagellate) and in February 2013 (i.e. dinoflagellates, diatoms and chlorophytes). Phytoplankton blooms have become persistent in the middle to upper reaches of the estuary where chlorophyll-a was > 20 µg l-1 and cell density exceeded 10 000 cells ml-1; a situation not reported in previous studies. The Motherwell Canal was and still is the main source of nitrogen (generally in the form of ammonium) to the estuary, whereas the Swartkops River is still the primary source of phosphorus to the estuary. Since the stormwater canal services the large residential area of Motherwell where leaks in the sewer system, the dumping of night soil buckets, and faulty pumps are often reported, polluted discharges from the Motherwell Canal can enter the canal at any given point. In contrast to the canal, DIP loading from the Swartkops River to the estuary generally occurred under conditions of low flow, whereas nitrogen showed no apparent relationship. Faecal bacteria originating from the Motherwell Canal had the most profound effect on the bacteriological status in the middle reaches of the estuary, whereas the Swartkops River had an intermediate effect due to bacteria die-offs occurring between the point of release from the WWTW to the riverine reaches and the tidal limit of the estuary. Nevertheless, Escherichia coli and enterococci levels are still high, especially in the summer months rendering the estuary unsafe for recreation during this season. Historical data on trace metals in the water column were limited and thus observations from the present study could not be concluded with much confidence. However, preliminary data suggest that levels of copper, zinc, iron and cadmium have increased by at least 90% in the estuary, at the tidal limit of the estuary and in the Markman and Motherwell canals. High inputs of nutrients, trace metals and faecal bacteria to the estuary from land-use activities indicate the necessity for remedial actions with the main objective being to conserve and protect the estuary’s recreational, ecological and economic functions.

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Igbinosa, Etinosa Ogbomoede. "Surveillance of invasive vibro species in discharged aqueous efflents of wastewater treatment plants in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa." Thesis, University of Fort Hare, 2010. http://hdl.handle.net/10353/245.

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Vibrio infections remain a serious threat to public health. In the last decade, Vibrio disease outbreaks have created a painful awareness of the personal, economic, societal, and public health costs associated with the impact of contaminated water in the aquatic milieu. This study was therefore designed to assess the prevalence of Vibrio pathogens in the final effluents of wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) in the Eastern Cape Province, as well as their abilities to survive the treatment processes of the activated sludge system either as free cells or as plankton-associated entities in relation to the physicochemical qualities of the effluents. Three wastewater treatment facilities were selected to represent typical urban, sub-urban and rural communities, and samples were collected monthly from August 2007 to July 2008 from the final effluent, discharge point, 500 meter upstream and downstream of the discharge points and analysed for physicochemical parameters, Vibrio pathogens prevalence and their antibiogram characteristics using both culture based and molecular techniques. Physicochemical parameters measured include pH, temperature, electrical conductivity, salinity, turbidity, total dissolved solid (TDS), dissolved oxygen (DO), chemical oxygen demand (COD), nitrate, nitrite and orthophosphate levels. Unacceptably high levels of the assayed parameters were observed in many cases for COD (<10 - 1180 mg/l), nitrate (0.08 - 13.14 mg NO3- as N/l), nitrite (0.06 - 6.78 mg NO2- as N/l), orthophosphate (0.07-4.81 mg PO43- as P/l), DO (1.24 - 11.22 mg/l) and turbidity (2.04 -159.06 NTU). Temperature, COD and nitrite varied significantly with season (P < 0.05), while pH, EC, salinity, TDS, COD, and nitrate all varied significantly with sampling site (P < 0.01; P < 0.05). In the rural wastewater treatment facility, free-living Vibrio densities varied from 0 to 3.45 × 101 cfu ml-1, while the plankton-associated Vibrio densities vary with plankton sizes as follows: 180 μm (0 – 4.50 × 103 cfu ml-1); 60 μm (0 – 4.86 × 103 cfu ml-1); 20 μm (0 – 1.9 × 105 cfu ml-1). The seasonal variations in the Vibrio densities in the 180 and 60 μm plankton size samples were significant (P < 0.05), while the 20 μm plankton size and free-living vibrios densities were not. Molecular confirmation of the presumptive vibrios isolates revealed V. fluvialis (36.5 percent), as the predominant species, followed by V. vulnificus (34.6 percent), and V. parahaemolyticus (23.1 percent), and V. metschnikovii (5.8 percent) (detected using only API 20 NE), suggesting high incidence of pathogenic Vibrio species in the final effluent of the wastewater facility. Correlation analysis suggested that the concentration of Vibrio species correlated negatively with salinity and temperature (P < 0.001 and P < 0.002 respectively) as well as with pH and turbidity (P < 0.001), in the final effluent. Population density of total Vibrio ranged from 2.1 × 101 to 4.36 × 104 cfu ml-1 and from 2.80 ×101 to 1.80 × 105 cfu ml-1 for the sub-urban and urban communities treatment facilities respectively. Vibrio species associated with 180 μm, 60 μm, and 20 μm plankton sizes, were observed at densities of 0 - 1.36 × 103 cfu ml-1, 0 - 8.40 × 102 cfu ml-1 and 0 - 6.80 × 102 cfu ml-1 respectively at the sub-urban community‘s WWTP. In the urban community, counts of culturable vibrios ranged from 0 - 2.80 × 102 cfu ml-1 (180 μm); 0 - 6.60 × 102 cfu ml-1 (60 μm) and 0 -1.80 × 103 cfu ml-1 (20 μm). Abundance of free-living Vibrio species varied between 0 and the orders of 102 and 103 cfu ml-1 in the sub-urban and urban communities WWTPs respectively. Molecular confirmation of the presumptive vibrios isolates revealed the presence of V. fluvialis (41.38 percent), V. vulnificus (34.48 percent), and V. parahaemolyticus (24.14 percent) in the sub-urban community effluents. In the urban community V. fluvialis (40 percent), V. vulnificus (36 percent), and V. parahaemolyticus (24 percent) were detected. There was no significant correlation between Vibrio abundance and season, either as free-living or plankton-associated entities, while Vibrio species abundance correlated positively with temperature (r = 0.565; P < 0.01), salinity and dissolved oxygen (P < 0.05). Turbidity and pH showed significant seasonal variation (P < 0.05) in both locations. The Vibrio strains showed the typical multi-antibiotic-resistance of an SXT element. They were resistant to sulfamethoxazole (Sul), trimethoprim (Tmp), cotrimoxazole (Cot), chloramphenicol (Chl) and streptomycin (Str), as well as other antibiotics such as ampicillin (Amp), penicillin (Pen), erythromycin (Ery), tetracycline (Tet), nalidixic acid (Nal), and gentamicin (Gen). The antibiotic resistance genes detected includes dfr18 and dfrA1 for trimethoprim; tetA, strB, floR, sul2 blaP1, for tetracycline, streptomycin, chloramphenicol, sulfamethoxazole and β-lactams respectively. A number of these genes were only recently described from clinical isolates, demonstrating genetic exchange between clinical and environmental Vibrio species. This study revealed that there was an adverse impact on the physicochemical characteristics of the receiving watershed as a result of the discharge of inadequately treated effluents from the wastewater treatment facilities. The occurrence of Vibrio species as plankton-associated entities confirms the role of plankton as potential reservoir for this pathogen. Also the treated final effluents are reservoirs of various antibiotics resistance genes. This could pose significant health and environmental risk to the biotic component of the environment including communities that rely on the receiving water for domestic purposes and may also affect the health status of the aquatic milieu in the receiving water. There is need for consistent monitoring programme by appropriate regulatory agencies to ensure compliance of the wastewater treatment facilities to regulatory effluent quality standards.

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Orr, Kyla Kathleen. "Spatial and temporal variations in metals in the sediment and water of selected Eastern Cape Estuaries, South Africa." Thesis, Rhodes University, 2008. http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1005457.

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The spatio-temporal patterns in concentrations of selected metals within the sediment (Cd, Co, Cu, Fe, Pb, Ni and Zn) and water (Cd and Pb) of three permanently open estuaries (Kariega, Kowie, Great Fish) and six temporary open-closed estuaries (Mpekweni, East Kleinemonde, West Kleinemonde, Riet, Kasouga, Boknes) were investigated. The concentrations of metals were influenced by size composition and total organic content of the sediments. Enrichment factors (EFs), using Fe as a reference element, and baseline linear regression models for metals vs. Fe were calculated to assess the extent of metal enrichment in the sediments. The mean concentrations of metals in the sediments(mg·kg⁻¹) showed ranges of 0.28 – 2.31 for Cd, 1.26 – 6.24 Co, 0.69 – 6.93 for Cu, 2119 – 14912 for Fe, 2.29 –14.01 for Ni, 4.81 – 22.20 for Pb and 5.77 – 21.75 for Zn. Mean normalized enrichment factors ranged between 0.75 – 6.19 for Cd, 0.53 – 2.71 for Co, 0.22 – 0.84 for Cu, 0.30 – 1.87 for Ni, 0.99 – 3.17 for Pb and 0.14 – 0.98 for Zn. All nine estuaries had average enrichment factors of greater than 1 for Cd. In general there was no enrichment of Cu and Zn in the sediments of any of the estuaries included in this study (EFs < 1). The Kariega, East Kleinemonde, West Kleinemonde, Riet and Great Fish Estuaries showed some degree of enrichment for Co (1 < EF < 4), Ni (1 < EF < 2) and Pb (1 < EF < 4), while the Mpekweni, Kasouga, Boknes and Kowie Estuaries were unenriched with these metals (EF < 1). Enrichment factors for Cd, Co and Pb typically followed the development gradient along the estuaries, suggesting anthropogenic enrichment. The concentrations of Cd and Pb in the water of the nine estuaries were also determined. The average concentrations of Cd and Pb in the water (μg·ℓ⁻¹) ranged between 0.05 – 3.32 and 0.75 – 34.13 respectively. On average the concentrations of Cd and Pb in the water of all the estuaries were below the South African recommended water quality guidelines for coastal marine waters. Variations in metal concentrations associated with changes in hydrology (wet vs. dry season) were determined in the water and sediment of the Kariega, East Kleinemonde and Riet Estuaries. Cobalt, Pb and Ni enrichment in the Kariega Estuary sediment was significantly higher during the dry season, and the mean concentrations of Pb and Cd in the water column were 19-fold and 66-fold higher in the dry season. The elevated concentration of metals during the dry season could be related to accumulation of diffuse pollution from human activities within the catchment area. Conversely, inflow of fresh water into the estuary had the net effect of reducing the concentration and enrichment of these metals within the Kariega Estuary due to scouring and outflow of estuarine water and sediment into the marine environment. The temporal variations in metal concentrations and enrichment factors were less pronounced in the temporary open-closed estuaries than the permanently open Kariega Estuary. The observed trend can probably be related to the low anthropogenic impact within the catchment areas of these systems, and the relatively smaller size of the catchments. Significant spatial variations existed in metal enrichment in the sediment of both the East Kleinemonde and Riet estuaries, with the highest degrees of enrichment occurring in the sediments from the marine environment and lower reaches.

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Zuma, Bongumusa Msizi. "Microbial ecology of the Buffalo River in response to water quality changes." Thesis, Rhodes University, 2010. http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1006182.

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South Africa’s freshwater quality and quantity is declining and consequently impacting on the ecological health of these ecosystems, due to increased agricultural, urban and industrial developments. The River Health Programme (RHP) was designed for monitoring and assessing the ecological health of freshwater ecosystems in South Africa, in order to effectively manage these aquatic resources. The RHP utilises biological indicators such as in-stream biota as a structured and sensitive tool for assessing ecosystem health. Although the RHP has been widely implemented across South Africa, no attempts have been made to explore microbial ecology as a tool that could be included as one of the RHP indices. This study used selected microbial responses and water physico-chemical parameters to assess the current water quality status of the Buffalo River. This study showed that water quality impairments compounded in the urban regions of King William’s Town and Zwelitsha and also downstream of the Bridle Drift Dam. The results also showed that the lower and the upper catchments of the Buffalo River were not significantly different in terms of water physico-chemistry and microbiology, as indicated by low stress levels of an NMDS plot. Though similarities were recorded between impacted and reference sites, the results strongly showed that known impacted sites recorded the poorest water physico-chemistry, including the Yellowwoods River. However, the Laing Dam provided a buffer effect on contributions of the Yellowwoods River into the Buffalo River. Multivariate analysis showed that microbial cell counts were not influenced by water physico-chemical changes, whilst microbial activity from the water and biofilm habitats showed significant correlation levels to water physico-chemical changes. This study demonstrated that further investigations towards exploitation of microbial activity responses to water physico-chemical quality changes should be channelled towards the development of microbiological assessment index for inclusion in the RHP.

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Odjadjare, Emmanuel Erufuare Onogwuwhenya. "Prevalence of listeria pathogens in effluents of some wastewater treatment facilities in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa." Thesis, University of Fort Hare, 2010. http://hdl.handle.net/10353/246.

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Wastewater discharges may contain health compromising pathogens and carcinogenic and/or chemical substances that could compromise the public health and impact negatively on the environment. The present study was conducted between August 2007 and July 2008 to evaluate the Listeria abundance (as free-living and plankton associated species) and physicochemical qualities of the final effluents of three wastewater treatment facilities in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa selected to represent typical urban, peri-urban and rural communities and the impact of the discharged final effluents on their respective receiving watershed, as well as to elucidated the in vitro antibiotic susceptibilities and resistance genes profile of Listeria species isolated from the final effluents. The suitability of the secondary effluent of the urban treatment facility (as a case study) for use in agriculture and aquaculture with reference to recommended standards was also determined. Wastewater samples were collected from the raw sewage, secondary effluent, final treated effluent, discharge point, 500 m upstream discharge point, and 500 m downstream discharge point from all three locations on a monthly basis throughout the study period. Listeria abundance in the final effluents and the receiving watersheds varied between 2.9× 100 and 3.52 × 105cfu/ml across the sampled locations. Free-living listerial density across the sampled locations ranged between 0 and 3.2 × 103cfu/ml while counts of Listeria species attached to large (180 μm) planktons varied from 0 to 1.58 × 105 cfu/ml and those of the 60 and 20 μm categories were in the range of 0 to 1.32 × 103 cfu/ml and 0 to 2.82 × 105 cfu/ml respectively. Listeria abundance did not vary significantly with location and season; there was however, significant (P < 0.05; P < 0.01) variance in Listeria abundance with plankton sizes across the locations. Free-living Listeria species were more abundant in the rural and urban xii communities than plankton attached Listeria species; whereas the reverse was the case in the peri-urban community. Prevalence of Listeria in terms of total counts was 100 percent across all sampled locations. Free-living Listeria species showed prevalence ranging from 84-96 percent across the sampling locations; while Listeria species attached to large (180 μm) planktons exhibited prevalence ranging from 75 percent to 90 percent. The prevalence of medium-sized (60 μm) plankton associated Listeria species varied between 58 percent and 92.5 percent; whereas those of Listeria species attached to small (20 μm) planktons ranged from 65-100 percent across all three communities. Listeria prevalence was generally a reflection of the turbidity of the water system, with free-living Listeria species being more prevalent than plankton associated cells in the relatively less turbid rural and urban waters compared to the more turbid peri-urban waters where plankton attached cells were more prevalent in comparison with their free living counterparts The final treated effluent quality fell short of recommended standards for turbidity, chemical oxygen demand and phosphate across all three communities. In addition, the final effluent of the rural treatment plant also fell short of recommended standard for NO3, while that of the urban treatment plant did not comply with acceptable limits for dissolved oxygen and nitrite. Other physicochemical parameters were compliant with set standards after treatment. An inverse relationship was observed between chlorine residual and listerial density across the sampled facilities; the effect of chlorine was however not enough to eliminate the pathogen from the water systems. At the urban treatment plant and its receiving watershed, pH, temperature, EC, turbidity, TDS, DO, and nitrate varied significantly with season and sampling point (P < 0.05; P < 0.01). Salinity also varied significantly with sampling point (P < 0.01), while COD and nitrite varied significantly with season (P < 0.05). Although, the treated effluent fell within recommended water quality standard for pH, TDS, nitrate and nitrite, it fell short of stipulated standards for other parameters. Whereas the microbial quality of the secondary treated effluent at this (urban) facility fell short of recommended standard after secondary treatment, its physicochemical quality were generally compliant with recommended standards for reuse wastewater in agriculture and aquaculture. Listeria pathogens isolated from effluents of the rural wastewater facility were sensitive to 11 (55 percent) of the 20 test antibiotics, and showed varying (7-71 percent) levels of resistance to 8 antibiotics; whereas those isolated from the peri-urban community showed sensitivity to 6 (30 percent) of the 20 test antibiotics, and varying (6-94 percent) levels of resistance to 12 antibiotics; while the urban effluent isolates were sensitive to 3 (15 percent) of the 20 test antibiotics, and showed varying (4.5-91 percent) levels of resistance to 17 antibiotics. Multiple antibiotic resistances involving 78.5-100 percent of isolates and antibiotics combination ranging from 2-10 antibiotics was observed across the sampled locations. Penicillin G and ampicillin showed remarkably high (64-91 percent) phenotypic resistance across the three sampled facilities. Other antibiotics, to which isolates showed significant resistance, were linezolid (22-88 percent); erythromycin (43-94 percent) and sulphamethoxazole (7-94 percent). Two of the 14 Listeria strains isolated from the rural effluents were positive for ereA and sul1 antibiotic resistance genes; while sulII genes were detected in five of the 23 Listeria isolates from the urban effluent and none was detected in isolates from the peri-urban community. The presence of antimicrobial resistance genes in the isolates did not correlate with phenotypic antibiotic resistance. The current study demonstrated that Listeria pathogens easily survived the activated sludge treatment process as free-living and plankton attached entities and suggests that municipal wastewater treatment plants are a significant source of multiple resistant Listeria pathogens in the South African aquatic milieu. While the physicochemical quality of the urban final effluent suggests that it is a major source of pollution to the receiving watershed, the secondary effluent quality demonstrated a great potential for use in agriculture and aquaculture.

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Mlangeni, Moses Mbendela. "A contingent valuation of river water inflows into the Swartkops, Kariega, Mngazi and Mngazana Estuaries in the Eastern Cape." Thesis, Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, 2007. http://hdl.handle.net/10948/569.

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Many South African estuaries are currently believed to be generating lower levels of services than they used to in the past due to substantially reduced inflow of river water, among other reasons. The basis by which river water is allocated in South Africa has had to be re-examined. Local authorities are now required to integrate into their development planning sensitivity to the ways estuaries work; the relevant legislation being the Municipal Systems Act No. 32 of 2000. Sound water resource management requires that the benefits and costs of different water allocations be compared and an optimum determined. The Contingent Valuation Method (CVM) is used in this study to estimate the benefits of changing allocations of river water into estuaries. This study builds on a CVM pilot project done at the Keurbooms Estuary in the Southern Cape in year 2000 (Du Preez, 2002). Further CVM studies were conducted at the Knysna, Groot Brak and Klein Brak estuaries (Dimopolous, 2004). The CVM is a valuation technique based on answers given to carefully formulated questions on what people are willing to pay for specified changes of freshwater inflows into estuaries. The CVM depends on there being a close correspondence between expressed answers given to hypothetical questions and voluntary exchanges in competitive markets that would be entered into if money did actually change hands. The fact that it has proved very difficult to establish this correspondence has led to CVM being subject to criticism. However, many aspects of this criticism have been addressed in the form of methods to reduce biases, and the application of the technique has grown steadily in popularity during the past 25 years. Four estuaries, the Swartkops, Kariega, Mngazi and Mngazana, were surveyed as part of this study in order to determine users’ willingness to pay (WTP) for changes in freshwater inflows. Considerable research time was devoted at the estuaries getting to know how things worked around and in the estuaries. The Swartkops estuary is a permanently open system within the Nelson Mandela Bay metropolitan area. The estuary has the third largest salt marsh in South Africa. Its banks are highly developed with residential and industrial property and it is heavily used for both recreation and subsistence fishing by locals. The Kariega estuary is located near the semi-rural town of Kenton-on-sea, between Port Elizabeth and East London. Although it is permanently open, the Kariega estuary has very low inflows of river water. It is mainly used by retired pensioners living in holiday houses at Kenton-on-sea. The Kariega is not heavily used for recreation and subsistence fishing, except during holidays and the festive season because of its proximity to other estuaries such as the Bushmans and the Kleinemond. The Mngazi and the Mngazana estuaries are located in the Wild Coast area of the Eastern Cape, in the Port St Johns Municipal district. The Mngazi is a temporarily open/closed system which does not have high botanical ratings, although it is heavily used by visitors to the well known Mngazi River Bungalows, a highly rated hotel near the mouth of the Mngazi River. The Mngazana estuary is a permanently open system renowned for its Mangrove forests and excellent fishing spots. Both the Mngazi and Mngazana estuaries are located in rural areas and are heavily used by local village residents for subsistence purposes.

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Clifford-Holmes, Jai Kumar. "Fire and water : a transdisciplinary investigation of water governance in the lower Sundays River Valley, South Africa." Thesis, Rhodes University, 2015. http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1017870.

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The implementation of water policy and the integrated management of water face multiple challenges in South Africa (SA), despite the successes of post-apartheid government programmes in which some significant equity, sustainability and efficiency milestones have been met. This study uses a series of intervention processes into municipal water service delivery to explore the context, constraints, and real-world messiness in which local water authorities operate. The equitable provision of drinking water by local government and the collaborative management of untreated water by ‘water user associations’ are two sites of institutional conflict that have been subjected to broad ‘turnaround’ and ‘transformation’ attempts at the national level. This thesis seeks to explore and understand the use of transdisciplinary research in engaging local water authorities in a process of institutional change that increases the likelihood of equitable water supply in the Lower Sundays River Valley (LSRV). Fieldwork was conducted as part of a broader action research process involving the attempted ‘turnaround’ of the Sundays River Valley Municipality (SRVM) between 2011 and 2014. A multi-method research approach was employed, which drew on institutional, ethnographic, and systems analyses within an evolving, transdisciplinary methodology. In the single case study research design, qualitative and quantitative data were collected via participant observation, interviews and documentary sources. Analytical methods included system dynamics modelling and an adapted form of the ethnographic tool of ‘thick description’, which were linked in a governance analysis. Government interventions into the SRVM failed to take account of the systemic complexity of the municipal operating environment, the interactions of which are described in this study as the ‘modes of failure’ of local government. These modes included the perpetual ‘firefighting’ responses of municipal officials to crises, and the simultaneous underinvestment in, and over-extension of, water supply infrastructure, which is a rational approach to addressing current water shortages when funds are unavailable for maintenance, refurbishment, or the construction of new infrastructure. The over-burdening of municipalities with technocratic requirements, the presence of gaps in the institutional arrangements governing water supply in the LSRV, and the lack of coordination in government interventions are analysed in this study, with policy recommendations resulting. The primary contribution of this study is in providing a substantively-contextualised case study that illustrates the value of systemic, engaged, extended, and embedded transdisciplinary research.

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Gcilitshana, Onele. "Quality indices of the final effluents of two sub-urban-based wastewater treatment plants in Amathole District Municipality in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa." Thesis, University of Fort Hare, 2014. http://hdl.handle.net/10353/d1019816.

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Worldwide, water reuse is promoted as an alternative for water scarcity, however, wastewater effluents have been reported as possible contaminants to surface water. The failure of some wastewater treatment processes to completely remove organic matter and some pathogenic microorganisms allows them to initiate infections. This manifests more in communities where surface water is used directly for drinking. To assess water quality, bacteria alone cannot be used as it may be absent in virus-contaminated water. This study was carried out to assess the quality of two wastewater treatment plant effluents from the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa. Physicochemical parameters and microbiological parameters like faecal coliforms, adenovirus, rotavirus, hepatitis A virus, norovirus and enterovirus were evaluated over a projected period of one year. Physicochemical parameters were measured on site using multiparameters, faecal coliforms enumerated using culture-based methods and viruses are detected using both conventional and real-time PCR. Physicochemical parameters like electrical conductivity, turbidity, free chlorine and phosphates were incompliant with the standards set by the Department of Water affairs for effluents to be discharged. Faecal coliform counts were nil for one plant (WWTP-R) where they correlated inversely (P < 0.01) with the high free chlorine. For WWTP-K, faecal coliforms were detected in 27% of samples in the range of 9.9 × 101 to 6.4× 104 CFU/100ml. From the five viruses assessed, three viruses were detected with Rotavirus being the most abundant (0-2034176 genome copies/L) followed by Adenovirus (0–275 genome copies/L) then Hepatitis A virus (0–71 genome copies/L) in the WWTP-K while none of the viruses was detected in WWTP-R. Species B, species C and Adv41 serotypes were detected from the May 2013 and June 2013 samples where almost all parameters were incompliant in the plant. The detection of these viruses in supposedly treated effluents is suggestive of these being the sources of contamination to surface water and therefore renders surface waters unsafe for direct use and to aquatic life. Although real-time PCR is more sensitive and reliable in detection of viruses, use of cell-culture techniques in this study would have been more efficient in confirming the infectivity of the viruses detected, hence the recommendation of these techniques in future projects of this nature.

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Adefisoye, Martins Ajibade. "Evaluation of the incidence of enteric viruses, Vibrio species and Escherichia coli pathotypes in effluents of two wastewater treatment plants located in Keiskammahoek and Stutterheim in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa." Thesis, University of Fort Hare, 2016. http://hdl.handle.net/10353/3165.

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South Africa is currently experiencing water shortage crisis, a challenge that has been attributed not only to the scarcity of freshwater, but also to fast degrading water quality. Factors such as rapid urbanisation, population and economic growth, climate change as well as poor operational and maintenance of many of the exisiting water/wastewater treatment facilities have been acknowledged as important contributors to degrading water quality in the country. Untreated or inadequately treated discharged wastewater effluents constitute point source pollution to many freshwater environments in South Africa. Hence, it becomes imperative to evaluate wastewater discharges in other to protect the scarce freshwater resource, the environment and public health. Over a twelve-month sampling period (September 2012 to August 2013), we assessed the bacteriological, virological and physicochemical qualities of the discharged final effluents of two wastewater treatment facilities in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa. For the physicochemical assessment, a total of 144 final effluent samples were collected from both the final effluent tanks (FE) and the discharge points (DP) of the treatment facilities. Physicochemical parameters including pH, temperature, turbidity, total dissolved solids (TDS), dissolved oxygen (DO), electrical conductivity (EC) and free chlorine concentration were determined on site while biological oxygen demand (BOD), nitrate (NO3-), nitrite (NO2-), phosphate (PO4-) and chemical oxygen demand (COD) were determined in the laboratory. The bacteriological analysis of the samples was done using standard membrane filtration (MF) technique. Bacterial group assessed included: faecal indicator bacteria (faecal coliforms and E. coli) and Vibrio species, while the antibiotic susceptibility profiles of selected E. coli and Vibrio species isolates against some selected antibiotics commonly used in human therapy and veterinary medicine were determind using the standard agar-disc diffusion method. The occurrence and concentrations of human enteric viruses including: human adenovirus (HAdV), hepatitis A virus (HAV) and rotavirus (RoV) in the samples were determined by TaqMan-based real-time polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) following concentration by adsorption-elution method. The physicochemical characteristics of the samples ranged as follows: pH (6.5 – 7.6), TDS (95 – 171 mg/L), EC (134 – 267 μS/cm), temperature (12 – 27 °C), turbidity (1.5 – 65.7 mg/L), free chlorine (0.08 – 0.72 mg/L), DO (2.06 – 9.81 mg/L), BOD (0.13 – 9.81 mg/L), NO3- (0 – 21.5 mg/L), NO2- (0 – 0.72 mg/L), PO4- (0 – 18.3 mg/L) and COD (27 – 680 mg/L). Some of the characteristic such as pH, TDS, EC, temperature, nitrite and DO (on most instances) complied with recommended guidelines. Other characteristics, however, including turbidity, BOD, nitrate, phosphate and COD fell short of the recommended guidelines. All the 48 samples analysed for bacteriological qualities tested positive for the presence of the bacterial groups with significant (P≤0.05) seasonal variation in their densities. Faecal coliforms were detected in counts ranging from 1 CFU/100ml to 2.7 × 104 CFU/100ml. Presumptive E. coli counts ranged generally between 1 CFU/100ml – 1.4 × 105 CFU/100ml while counts of presumptive Vibrio species ranged between 4 CFU/100ml – 1.4 × 104 CFU/100ml. Molecular identification of the presumptive isolates by polymerase chain reactions PCR gave positive reaction rates of 76.2 percent (381/500) and 69.8 percent (279/400) for E.coli and Vibrio species respectively. The antibiotic susceptibility profiling of 205 PCR-confirmed Vibiro isolates against 18 commomly used antibiotics showed resistance frequencies ranging from 0.5 percent (imipenem) to 96.1 percent (penicillin G) at recommended breakpoint concentrations. Eighty-one percent (166/205) of the Vibrio isolates showed multidrug resistance (resistance to 3 or more antibiotics) with the most common multiple antibiotic resistance phenotype (MARP) being AP-T-TM-SMX-PG-NI-PB, occurring in 8 isolates.

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Mwila, Katayi. "Rapid enzymatic detection of organophosphorous and carbamate pesticides in water." Thesis, Rhodes University, 2012. http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1004084.

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The increased use of pesticides has resulted in a corresponding increase in concern for the effect they may have on the health of humans and other non-target organisms. The two main areas of concern are the toxicological effects that mixtures of pesticides may have as well as the endocrine disrupting effects. Although the individual pesticides may be present at concentrations below the levels deemed to be detrimental to health, it has been argued that their combined effect may still result in elevated health risks. Another important aspect of pesticide risk assessment requires a consideration of the breakdown products of pesticides and their effect on human health. There has been very little research into the effects of degradation products and this issue should be addressed as these could potentially pose a higher risk than their parent compounds. One of the most important bio-markers available for use is the ubiquitous enzyme acetylcholinesterase (AChE). This enzyme is responsible for one of the most important functions in the body; namely nerve impulse transmission, upon which all life depends. The inhibition of this enzyme indicates toxicity and as a subsequence, a threat to the organism’s well-being. Bioassays have also recently been developed to test chemicals for endocrine disrupting effects. These tests rely on a dose response equivalent to that of the most potent well known estrogen 17-β estradiol. Any chemical that has a measurable response is deemed to display endocrine disrupting effects. This first aim of this study was to investigate the toxicological and endocrine disrupting effects of three organophosphorus pesticides; aldicarb, parathion and demeton-S-methyl, in addition to two breakdown products; aminophenol and p-nitrophenol. Two carbamate pesticides; carbaryl and carbofuran were also analysed. The toxicological effects of mixtures of the parent pesticide compounds were tested to assess if any antagonistic, additive or synergistic effects were observed. This data was then used in conjunction with an artificial neural network to assess if individual pesticides could be distinguished from mixtures of pesticides. A final objective was to sample various Eastern Cape water sources, utilising the enzymatic assay to determine the presence of any of these pesticides in these samples. There were several conclusions drawn from this study. AChE was successfully used as an assay to test the toxicity of the pesticides under investigation, based on their inhibition of this enzyme. An important factor for consideration throughout the study was the need to establish basal and monitor AChE activity (i.e. the need to monitor AChE activity in the absence of any pesticide). This ensured accurate comparison of the results obtained. It was found that demeton-S-methyl was the most potent of these pesticides followed by carbaryl, parathion, aldicarb and finally carbofuran, and that carbofuran could potentiate AChE. The results indicated that pesticide mixtures generally exhibited an additive inhibitory effect on AChE, although at some concentrations of pesticides, synergistic and antagonistic effects were noted. From the data using mixtures of pesticides, a feed forward neural network was created that was successfully able to distinguish individual pesticides from mixtures within its training parameters. None of the pesticides tested displayed endocrine disrupting properties in the Yeast Estrogen Screen (YES), T47D-KBluc and MDA-kb2 bio-assays. Other studies reported mixed results in this regard and thus no final conclusions could be drawn. The Blaauwkrantz River, Kariega River, Sundays River, Swartkops River and Kowie River were all tested for pesticides and although positive results were recorded, conventional methods indicated that there were no pesticides in the rivers. There were, however, trace metals present which are known to inhibit AChE, thus causing a false positive result. These results indicated that AChE can be used as a high throughput initial pre-screening tool, but that it cannot serve as a substitute for more accurate conventional testing methods.

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Iwu, Chinwe Juliana. "Prevalence and antibiogram of some swine associated Shiga toxin producing Escherichia coli Serogroups and Salmonella species in Nkonkobe Municipality, Eastern Cape Province, South Africa." Thesis, University of Fort Hare, 2015. http://hdl.handle.net/10353/d1021273.

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Gastrointestinal illnesses have continually become a global public health issue. Exposure to zoonotic food borne pathogens such as Salmonella and diarrhoegenic E. coli either by direct or indirect contact through the consumption of food producing animals is likely an important mode of infection to humans. More so, the use of antibiotics in farm animals similar to those used in humans can select for resistance in bacteria frequently harboured by them. These resistant strains can be passed on to humans through contaminated meat products and water leading to resistant infections with consequences such as prolonged illnesses, treatment failures, and increased morbidity and mortality. In animals, these can lead to reduced productivity. Monitoring the level of resistance among bacteria from animal isolates will help in generating data that could be used to create awareness of their presence in the environment and aid in preventing a potential epidemic in the community. In this study, we investigated the prevalence and antimicrobial resistance profile of Escherichia coli serogroups and Salmonella species in faecal samples collected from pigs in Nkonkobe Municipality in the Eastern Cape Province, South Africa between April – July, 2014. A total of 310 presumptive Shiga toxin producing Escherichia coli (STEC) were confirmed as E. coli spp using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) technique by amplification of the uidA gene, out of which 179 (58%) were confirmed positive. Approximately, serogrougs O157:H7, O145 and O26 made up 24% (n=43), 8% (n=14) and 20% (n=35) of the E. coli population respectively. Only E. coli O26 was positive for stx2 gene in 31% of the isolates harbouring the gene, while the other serogroups were non-pathogenic. Susceptibility of the isolates to 18 antibiotics was carried out in vitro by the standardized agar disc-diffusion method. All the isolates were susceptible to imipenem. Similarly, a relatively high susceptibility was observed in norfloxacin (83-100%), ciprofloxacin (63-100%), gentamycin (77-100%), and chloramphenicol (77-100%). However, all the isolates were resistant to tetracycline and its long acting counterpart oxytetracycline. Resistances observed against other antimicrobials are as follows: ampicillin (84-91%), streptomycin (14-100%), erythromycin (91-100%), ceftazidime (35%). Multiple antimicrobial resistance patterns and indices ranged from 3 to 12 and 0.2 to 0.7 to respectively. Genes encoding resistances to ampicillin (ampC), streptomycin (strA) and tetracycline (tetA) were frequently detected in 50-100%, 22-29% and 40-86% of the resistant isolates respectively. In the other arm of the dissertation, two hundred and fifty eight presumptive isolates of Salmonella were recovered from the faecal samples of pigs. Specific primers targeting serogroups A, B, C1, C2, and D were used to delineate the isolates into different serogroups using PCR. Only serogroup A (n=48) was detected. These isolates were examined for antimicrobial susceptibility by disc diffusion method using 18 antibiotics. The results showed that a large proportion of the isolates were resistant to tetracycline (100%), oxytetracycline (100%), ampicillin (75%), sulphamethoxazole/trimethoprim (75%) and streptomycin (75%). Majority of the isolates exhibited multidrug resistances with the predominant multiple antibiotic resistance (MAR) phenotype being against eleven antibiotics. A high multiple antibiotic resistance (MAR) index in a range of 0.3- 0.6 was observed. The incidence of genes encoding resistance against tetracycline (tetA), streptomycin (stra), and ampicillin (ampC) were 54%, 44% and 61% respectively. These findings reveal that pigs within the Nkonkobe Municipality in the Eastern Cape Province could harbour Shiga toxins and multidrug resistant serogroups of E. coli as well as resistant Salmonella which could be transmitted to humans through the food chain. To ensure public health safety, continuous monitoring and sufficient sanitation in swine industries must be ensured.

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Simanga, Siyabulela. "Vegetation and soil characteristics around water points under three land management systems in semi-arid rangelands of the Eastern Cape, South Africa." Thesis, University of Fort Hare, 2013. http://hdl.handle.net/10353/d1015795.

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This study investigated the vegetation and soil characteristics in relation to distance from water points under different land management systems in semi-arid rangelands of South Africa. Six study sites, two each from communal grazing, commercial farming and game reserves were selected. Two watering points were selected in each study site. Two 500 m transects were laid from the selected watering points. Each transect was divided into sub-transects at 25 m, 50m, 100m, 200m, 300m and 500m from water points. A 100 m2 plot was marked in each sub-transect to record grass biomas, species composition, structure and distribution of woody vegetation and physical and chemical soil properties. Data were collected for two seasons 2012/13 (winter and summer). Thirty and 41 grass and woody species respectively were identified in all study areas. The most common and dominating grass species include Cynodon dactylon, Digitaria eriantha, Eragrostis obtusa, Setaria sphacelata and Sporobolus fimbriatus. Cynodon dactylon and S. sphacelata occurred more abundantly (p < 0.05) in the game reserves than in the other land management catergories. All the grass species had similar (p > 0.05) abundance along distance gradient from water points. Grass dry matter (GDM) showed significant differences (p < 0.05) between and within land management systems. However, GDM was not significantly affected by season, location of water point within each farm or reserve and distance along water points. Acacia karoo, Coddia rudis and Ehretia rigida were the most dominant woody species. Tree equivalent (TE) density of all encroaching woody plants combined was significantly (p < 0.05) higher on the communal area (1732 TE ha-1) than the commercial ranches (1136 TE ha-1) and game reserves (857 TE ha-1), but with no marked variations along distance from water points under all the land management systems. The electric conductivity (EC) was significantly (P < 0.01) higher in game reserves than in communal grazing areas and ranches. Soil organic matter percentage showed greatest and lowest values in the game reserves and commercial respectively. Soil pH and bulk density did not vary but soil organic matter (SOM), EC, bulk density and soil compaction were significant different with no increasing or decreasing trends. Soil properties were affected by herbivore pressure and trampling around water points with inconsistence magnitude and direction. In conclusion, grass species composition and GDM did not respond to distance from water points because either grazing gradient was absent or the length of transects was not enough to explain the absence or presence of gradients. High proportion of A. karoo and high densities of seedlings and saplings would seem as very good indicators of the woody vegetation changes in the different land management systems and distance from water points. The soil quality indicators around the water-points showed that livestock and game affected soil parameters.

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Molony, Lara. "Water security amongst impoverished households in the Sundays River Valley Municipality : community experiences and perspectives." Thesis, Rhodes University, 2015. http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1018932.

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Water security is influenced by the complex interplay between ecological, socio-political, governance and water management systems. Achieving water security is essential for ensuring sustainable development, and challenges with water security are closely linked to the overall experience of poverty that many countries throughout the world, including South Africa, confront. These problems can broadly be understood through three main factors: water availability, access and usage; water governance and management underpin these factors. Water insecurity can often be seen in townships within South Africa, where water service delivery and water access is precarious. This study provides a lens into the water security experiences of two poor township communities in the Sundays River Valley Municipality (SRVM) namely Nomathamsanqa in Addo and Aquapark in Kirkwood. The research assessed water security patterns amongst RDP, township and informal settlement households serviced by the SRVM and found that communities face severe water security problems. Specifically, it was found that all township households encounter frequent water shortages, cuts in municipal water supply and water quality concerns. Issues around the payment for water and dissatisfaction with water service delivery also emerged. The purpose of this research was to allow for community experiences and perspectives to be expressed in an academic space that has previously been dominated by water management and policy makers. The study concludes that these communities within the SRVM experience significant challenges in securing safe water and these are largely due to social water scarcity issues and the difficulties the municipality faces concerning water service delivery.

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Zokufa, T. S. "Tolerance of selected riverine indigenous macroinvertebrates from the Sabie River (Mpumalanga), and Buffalo River (Eastern Cape) to complex saline kraft and textile effluents." Thesis, Rhodes University, 2001. http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1005475.

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Whole Effluent Toxicity (WET) testing has been identified as one of the tools in the management of complex effluents in aquatic ecosystems. In South Africa, toxicity testing has not been required for regulatory purposes. Recently, the Department of Water Affairs and Forestry has adopted WET testing as a tool to evaluate the suitability of hazardous effluent for discharge into receiving environments. This has necessitated suitable procedures to be established for use in the South African situation. With the implementation of the new National Water Act (No 36 of 1998), industries have to comply with set standards to protect the aquatic environment. However, the South African Water Quality Guidelines for Aquatic Ecosystems have been set using international toxicity data, and it is not known if they are comparable with South African conditions. The aim of this study was to investigate the tolerances of selected indigenous riverine invertebrates to complex saline effluents. The study investigated the effects of kraft mill effluent to Tricorythus tinctus, a tricorythid mayfly from the Sabie River, Mpumalanga, and the effects of a textile effluent to baetid mayflies of the Buffalo River, Eastern Cape. Indigenous riverine invertebrates were chosen as test organisms, as there is no toxicity data in South Africa which could be used to evaluate the level of protection afforded by the South African Water Quality Guidelines for Aquatic Ecosystems. The use of indigenous riverine invertebrates added the challenge of variability of a wild population, and the use of a complex effluent as toxicant added the variability of effluent composition. In this study, WET testing was used to determine the dilution of whole effluents required for discharge. Hazard-based guidelines were developed for the disposal of kraft and textile effluents. The level of environmental hazard posed by different effluent concentrations was ranked, and was related to the River Health Class. This indicated effluent concentrations that may be allowed to enter the aquatic environment, e.g. 3% effluent concentration guideline for both general kraft effluent and general textile effluent for the protection of a Class A river. This approach could contribute to the use of an Environmental Risk Assessment, approach for the management of complex effluents. A number of acute 96 hour toxicity tests were conducted following an unreplicated regression design, using kraft and textile effluents as toxicants, mayfly nymphs as test organisms, and river water as diluent and control. Test organisms were sampled from unimpacted, flowing-water riffle areas, and were exposed in recirculating artificial streams (or channels) to a range of effluent concentrations. Mortality was selected as end-point and observed twice daily. The experimental results showed the variability and acute toxicity of both kraft and textile mill effluents. Baetids were more sensitive (mean LC50=16% effluent concentration) to General Textile Effluent (GTE), but less sensitive to Post Irrigation Textile Effluent (PITE). Textile effluent (PITE) held in a holding dam were therefore less variable and less toxic; suggesting that stabilization of the effluent could have contributed to reduced toxicity. Effluent composition, e.g. higher calcium levels, may also have contributed to lowering toxicity. T. tinctus was sensitive to kraft effluents, but showed less variable responses to Irrigation Kraft Effluent than General Kraft Effluent. Toxicity test data indicated that GKE, IKE and GTE should not enter the aquatic environment without treatment, as they can cause adverse effects to aquatic biota. Both kraft and textile effluents must therefore be treated before discharge. Different responses to different effluent batches were probably due to effluent variability. The use of indigenous organisms, and not a standard laboratory organism, could also have contributed to variability. A hazard-based approach could be useful, as it will provide a consistent basis for deciding on the acceptability of impacts, while allowing natural site-specific differences to be taken into account.

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Keirungi, Juliana. "The design and assessment of an integrated municipal waste beneficiation facility : towards improved sewage sludge management in developing countries." Thesis, Rhodes University, 2007. http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1007138.

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This research aimed to firstly confirm the hypothesis that the current management of sewage sludge generated during the treatment of wastewater in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa is poor and, as such, this material poses a threat to local environmental and human health. Secondly, through a rational design approach, the current research also aimed to design and assess the suitability of a novel integrated process incorporating appropriate technologies for improved sewage sludge management. The lack of an appropriate tool for the assessment of the integrated process necessitated the development of an appropriate technology assessment (TA) methodology based on environmental, technical, social and economic criteria. A combination of informal participatory methods such as semi-structured interviews and formal research methods including questionnaires, risk assessment exercises and laboratory analyses were used. Based on the above it was estimated that 116 tons dry sludge were generated in the province per day and that the concentration of heavy metals present in the sludge was generally within the limits for reuse on agricultural land. Furthermore the sludge from all sample sewage treatment works (STWs) was found to be free of any detectable pathogens. Despite the above, a preliminary risk assessment and chemical analysis revealed that existing sludge management practices at sample STWs posed a threat to the environment, particularly to water resources and exacerbated the problems associated with the discharge of poorly treated municipal wastewater. The root causes of the poor sludge management were considered to be a lack of non-regulatory incentives and financial resources. Highly integrated ecologically engineered systems were thought to offer a solution to the dual problem of poor sludge management and municipal effluent treatment, while providing necessary economic incentives. To facilitate the design of a system appropriate to local conditions, it was necessary to first develop a rational design methodology, which incorporated a detailed TA step. The result of the design process was an Integrated Waste Beneficiation Facility (IWBF) that incorporated a number of process units comprised of appropriate technologies including composting, vermicomposting, algal ponding technology and aquaculture. A detailed TA indicated that the benefits of the proposed IWBF would, at the majority of sample sites, outweigh the potential negative impacts and it was thus recommended that investigations should continue on pilot-scale facilities. Furthermore, although the proposed TA based on four sustainability criteria categories was thought to provide a more accurate assessment of the true sustainability of a technology, the acquisition of information was problematic highlighting the need to re-think current TA methodologies and to address associated constraints allowing the tool to be used and fully comprehensive.

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Gusha, Siyabulela Stability. "Productions of high quality wastewater final effluents remain a challenge in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa." Thesis, University of Fort Hare, 2012. http://hdl.handle.net/10353/489.

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Water is an indispensible and yet a difficult resource to be renewed, thus water scarcity has become one of the major challenges faced worldwide, with the Southern regions of Africa being the most impacted and affected, especially the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa where rural communities depend on receiving waterbodies that are often negatively impacted by wastewater final effluents. This present study was conducted between August and December 2010 to assess the physicochemical and microbial qualities of the final effluents of peri-urban and rural communities based wastewater treatment plants in the Eastern Cape Province. The physicochemical parameters were determined on site and in the laboratory, while bacteriological qualities were determined using culture based techniques. The virological qualities were determined by molecular methods using reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction for the target RNA virus and the conventional polymerase chain reaction for the target DNA virus. For both wastewater treatment plants, the physicochemical parameters ranged as follows: chemical oxygen demand (5.95-45 mg/L); total dissolved solids (114.5-187.0 mg/L); salinity (0.12-0.20 psu); temperature (14.2-25.7oC); pH (6.0-7.6); nitrate and nitrites (1.55-6.7 mg/L and 0.023-1.15 mg/L respectively); biological oxygen demand (3.5-7.8 mg/L); turbidity (1.49-6.98 NTU); and chlorine residual (0-2.97 mg/L). Feacal indicator bacteria counts ranged as follows: feacal coliforms (0-1.25×104 cfu/100 ml); total coliforms (0-3.95×104 cfu/100 ml); and enterococci (0-5.0×103 cfu/100 ml). xviii Seventy five percent of the rural community based plant and 80 percent of the peri-urban community based plant were positive for coxsackie A virus, while hepatitis A virus was detected in all the rural community based plant 80 percent of the peri-urban community based plant. This study suggests the need for intervention by appropriate regulatory agencies to ensure regular monitoring of the qualities of final effluents of wastewater treatment facilities in the Eastern Cape Province and ensure compliance to established guidelines.

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Soviti, Malixole Knottien. "An assessment of the impact of the black village communities, their associated land-use and related practices on water quality of the Kat River in the Eastern Cape, South Africa." Thesis, Rhodes University, 2002. http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1004638.

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Amongst others, the South African National Water Act No. 36 of 1998 acknowledges that access to sufficient safe and clean water is a basic right to all South Africans. However, it is well known that millions of inhabitants of rural communities in South Africa are still deprived of this right. Many rural communities in South Africa are thus consuming unsafe, untreated water everyday, thereby exposing themselves to waterborne diseases. The main reason of concern however is the fact that, nevertheless, little is known about rural water quality in South Africa as most water quality work is being undertaken in urban areas. The study's aim is twofold: first, the study examines the impact of Black rural communities' land-use and related activities on water quality and second is specifically, to study the washing practices of the rural communities in the upper Kat River area. To understand the potential impacts of the upper Kat River Black village communities and their associated land-use practices on the quality of upper Kat River catchment, prominent land-use and related activities in the area were investigated. Study area maps were studied and field surveys undertaken to observe major land-use and related activities in the area. The results of the study show that most used land in the area is being utilised for agricultural activities. Settlements and commercial forestry also occupy considerable areas of land. The literature survey suggests that such land-use could have a considerable degrading impact on the quality of both surface and groundwater. The study also investigated the impact of the in-stream use of detergents on water quality in the upper Kat River valley, Eastern Cape - South Africa. In-stream washing practices of certain communities in the upper Kat River valley were investigated and the impact of detergents on water quality was assessed. Recovery of the flow from the input of detergents was also measured. During the study, it has been ascertained that doing laundry by the stream is the common practice in the study area. Water quality analysis results show a remarkable increase on the levels of chloride, turbidity, and electrical conductivity in water as a consequence of direct input of detergents practice into the river during the washing. The recovery of the water quality at a distance of 1km from site of input was almost complete. Water quality monitoring programme was undertaken to establish a link between land-use and the quality of water. In a water quality study routine carried out for a period of 40 weeks on a twice monthly frequency, the state of the flows of the river was determined; water samples were collected at pre-determined points; and the in situ analysis of selected water quality variables (with the exception of the faecal coliforms whose analysis was carried out in the biotechnology laboratory) was carried out. Results of the study showed that the concentration of the studied water quality variables in the area varied widely with time. A clear distinction in concentration of variables such as electrical conductivity, turbidity, pH, total hardness, chloride, and nitrate was evident at the high compared to the low flow period of the study. The concentration of the studied water quality variables in the upper Kat River catchment area also seemed to vary over space. The concentration of variables such as electrical conductivity, pH, total hardness, chloride, nitrate, potassium, number of faecal coliform bacteria per 100ml was observed to be higher in most of the tributary streams than the main river. Turbidity however was orders of magnitude higher in the Kat River than the rest of the tributaries. Most importantly however, results of the study showed that there is a strong link between the quality of water and land-use and related activities in the area. The spatial results of the study showed a strong connection between some land-use and the concentrations of water quality variables. For example, areas of intense grazing were noted with high concentrations of nutrients like nitrate and a higher number of faecal coliform bacteria per 100 ml of water. It was established during the study that land-use and related activities in the upper Kat River valley are negatively impacting on the quality of water thereby rendering it less fit for use for domestic purposes. The continued use of the polluted water by the communities is thus accompanied by a danger of the outbreak of waterborne diseases like cholera. When the concerned communities met in a workshop to discuss the issue of quality of their water, they committed themselves to: • shunning water polluting activities, • at least boiling their drinking water before consuming it. The communities also requested a meeting with the Department of Water and Forestry officials to request a treated, piped supply of water.
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Magobiane, Siyathemba Emmanuel. "Willingness to pay for water quality changes in the Swartkops Estuary." Thesis, Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, 2011. http://hdl.handle.net/10948/d1011505.

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South Africa, like the rest of the world, is vulnerable to the impact of climate change and loss of biodiversity. Water pollution is one of the six global threats to freshwater biodiversity. The future health status and productivity of South Africa’s estuaries is dependent on two main factors: management and quality and quantity of freshwater inputs. South Africa has around 250 functioning estuaries along its 3000 km coastline (Hosking 2004). They play an invaluable role in ecosystem functioning and biodiversity conservation. Estuaries are amongst the richest and most productive parts of the marine environment and as such call for careful management. Some of these ecosystems are focus areas for urban an industrial development. Urbanization and industrialization pose a serious threat to these sensitive systems. Increased water pollution from domestic use, industry and agriculture affect the ecology of these estuarine, river and lake systems. A large number of South African estuaries are still in excellent or good condition, but these are mainly the very small systems. The larger systems, like the Swartkops estuary, often very important in terms of conservation value, are also often compromised in some way or other. The reasons why they are compromised include habitat destruction, artificial breaching and pollution, especially those close to urban areas. This situation is aggravated by outdated and inadequate sewage treatment plant infrastructure and unskilled operators that dispose untreated waste into these systems. Pollution into estuaries can result in the partial loss of the environmental service flows supplied by them. The result of lost environmental service flows has adverse consequences, such as diminished residential and holiday recreational appeal, as well as reduced capacity to support subsistence livelihoods. Poor water quality not only limits its utilisation value, but is also places added economic burden on society, through both the primary treatment costs and the secondary impacts on the economy. Healthy estuarine ecosystems are essential for the maintenance of biodiversity and a wide range of environmental goods and services. Without a drastic improvement in water quality management approaches and treatment technologies, the continuous deterioration in water quality will decrease benefits and increase costs affiliated with use of these water resources.The market-based system of the South African economy has to a large extent failed to account for the value of the “free” goods and services provided by the natural environment. When the true value of the natural resources is unknown, there is a risk that less financial resources and capacity are made available to manage and protect these natural resources than is efficient. To ensure that these goods are properly taken into account, they must be valued and these values incorporated in social decision making. This study uses the contingent valuation method (CVM) to establish the value of the Swartkops estuary for changes to water quality. The CVM is a non-market valuation method that is widely used in cost-benefit analysis and environmental impact assessment. The CVM establishes the economic value of the good by asking the users of an environmental good to state their willingness to pay for a hypothetical scenario to prevent, or bring about, certain changes in the current condition of the environmental good. This method is subjected to some criticism. This criticism revolves around the validity and the reliability of estimated results and the effects of various biases and errors on them. The North Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Blue-Ribbon panel investigating the validity of the CVM resolved that the CVM can be used to guide social decision making, if a series of guidelines are followed. The Swartkops contingent valuation (CV) was conducted with these guidelines in mind. The results of the Swartkops CV indicate that the user population has a total willingness to pay (TWTP) of R68848 (median bid) and R203632 (mean bid) annually for the implementation of a project to improve the water quality in the Swartkops estuary. User population is an important determinant of the TWTP value. As a result, using a more broadly defined user population, TWTP per annum was calculated to be R3481987 (median bid) and R10298688 (mean bid). Management of natural resources should be informed by values that reflect efficient balances, so as to obtain the most efficient use of them (Trupie 2008). Polluted water inflows into South Africa’s estuaries are a threat to their biodiversity. Healthy estuarine ecosystems are essential for the maintenance of biodiversity and human well-being (Water Assessment Programme Report 2006: 15). As a result, this study recommends that a project be implemented by the Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality to improve water quality in the Swartkops estuary.

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Naidoo, Merle. "A situational analysis on the public participation processes in integrated water resources management in the Kat River Valley, Eastern Cape, South Africa." Thesis, Rhodes University, 2009. http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1005530.

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Public participation in water management processes is one of the internationally recognised and adopted principles of Integrated Water Resource Management. The South African Department of Water Affairs and Forestry aims to facilitate the decentralisation of water management powers to the local community level via the establishment of regional and local water management institutions, namely Catchment Management Agencies, Water User Associations and Catchment Forums. The National Water Act (No. 36 of 1998) acknowledges that the discriminatory laws and practices of the past have prevented equal access to water and the use of water resources. The contribution of water management institutions to social and economic development, in particular poverty eradication and food security, is mentioned in the water act. The participation of poor rural communities living in the Kat valley, an area where an elite minority reap the benefits of water use for agriculture, is the focus of this research. Their participation, perceptions and experiences are documented and explored to determine how the promulgation of post-apartheid water policy and legislation has affected their access to water. The results of this research are based on data collected from several methods including surveys, workshops and observation. Analysis of these data revealed the complicated and stagnant nature of participation from Kat valley rural communities in local water management initiatives and organisations. Existing water management organisations were not successful in stimulating poor people’s participation as they were unable to address their primary concerns, namely a secure source of potable water, employment and access to water for agricultural purposes. This thesis asserts that the Department of Water Affairs and Forestry, as the custodian of South Africa’s water resources, has not taken on a supportive, accountable role in assisting marginalised communities with improving their access to water for domestic purposes and securing access to water rights for productive use. This, in turn, has led to dissatisfaction among these communities and a wariness of participatory activities that focus mainly on raising environmental awareness. The establishment of effective accountability relationships among all stakeholders, pro-poor water management structures and initiatives, as well as integrated and co-operative management of natural resources, are needed to revitalise the present participation of poor communities living in rural areas.

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Osode, Augustina Nwabuje. "Assessment of the prevalence of virulent Eschericia coli strains in the final effluents of wastewater treatment plants in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa." Thesis, University of Fort Hare, 2010. http://hdl.handle.net/10353/d1001062.

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Escherichia coli (E. coli) is a common inhabitant of surface waters in the developed and developing worlds. The majority of E. coli cells present in water are not particularly pathogenic to humans; however, there are some present in small proportion that possess virulence genes that allow them to colonize the digestive tract. Pathogenic E. coli causes acute and chronic diarrheal diseases, especially among children in developing countries and in travelers in these locales. The present study, conducted between August 2007 and July 2008, investigated the prevalence and distribution of virulent E. coli strains as either free or attached cells in the final effluents of three wastewater treatment plants located in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa and its impact on the physico-chemical quality of the receiving water body. The wastewater treatment plants are located in urban (East Bank Reclamation Works, East London), peri-urban (Dimbaza Sewage Treatment Works) and in rural area (Alice Sewage Treatment Works). The effluent quality of the treatment plants were acceptable with respect to pH (6.9-7.8), temperature (13.8-22.0 °C), dissolved oxygen (DO) (4.9-7.8 mg/L), salinity (0.12-0.17 psu), total dissolved solids (TDS) (119-162 mg/ L) and nitrite concentration (0.1-0.4 mg/l). The other xii physicochemical parameters that did not comply with regulated standards include the following: phosphate (0.1-4.0 mg/L); chemical oxygen demand (COD) (5-211 mg/L); electrical conductivity (EC) (237-325 μS/cm) and Turbidity (7.7-62.7 NTU). Results suggest that eutrophication is intensified in the vicinity of the effluent discharge points, where phosphate and nitrate were found in high concentrations. Presumptive E. coli was isolated from the effluent samples by culture-based methods and confirmed using Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) techniques. Antibiogram assay was also carried out using standard in vitro methods on Mueller Hinton agar. The viable counts of presumptive E. coli for the effluent samples associated with 180 μm plankton size ranged between 0 – 4.30 × 101 cfu/ml in Dimbaza, 0 – 3.88 × 101 cfu/ml in Alice and 0 – 8.00 × 101 cfu/ml in East London. In the 60 μm plankton size category E. coli densities ranged between 0 and 4.2 × 101 cfu/ml in Dimbaza, 0 and 2.13 × 101 cfu/ml in Alice and 0 and 8.75 × 101 cfu/ml in East London. Whereas in the 20 μm plankton size category presumptive E. coli density varied from 0 to 5.0 × 101 cfu/ml in Dimbaza, 0 to 3.75 × 101 cfu/ml in Alice and 0 to 9.0 × 101 cfu/ml in East London. The free-living presumptive E. coli density ranged between 0 and 3.13 × 101 cfu/ml in Dimbaza, between 0 and 8.0 × 101 cfu/ml in Alice and between 0 and 9.5 × 101 cfu/ml in East London. Molecular analysis successfully amplified target genes (fliCH7, rfbEO157, ial and aap) which are characteristic of pathogenic E. coli strains. The PCR assays using uidA-specific primer confirmed that a genetic region homologous in size to the E. coli uidA structural gene, including the regulatory region, was present in 3 of the E. coli isolates from Alice, 10 from Dimbaza and 8 from East London. Of the 3 E. coli isolates from Alice, 1 (33.3%) was positive for the fliCH7 genes and 3 was positive for rfbEO157 genes. Out of the 10 isolates from Dimbaza, 4 were xiii positive for fliCH7 genes, 6 were positive for the rfbEO157 genes and 1 was positive for the aap genes; and of the 8 isolates from East London, 1 was positive for fliCH7 genes, 2 were for the rfbEO157 genes, 6 were positive for the ial genes. Antimicrobial susceptibility profile revealed that all of the E. coli strains isolated from the effluent water samples were resistant (R) to linezolid, polymyxin B, penicillin G and sulfamethoxazole. The E. coli isolates from Dimbaza (9/10) and East London (8/8) respectively were resistant to erythromycin. All the isolates were found to be susceptible (S) to amikacin, ceftazidime, ciprofloxacin, colistin sulphate, ceftriaxone, cefotaxime, cefuroxime, ertapenem, gatifloxacin, gentamycin, imidazole, kanamycin, meropenem, moxifloxacin, neomycin, netilmicin, norfloxacin and tobramycin. The findings of this study revealed that the Alice wastewater treatment plant was the most efficient as it produced the final effluent with the least pathogenic E. coli followed by the Dimbaza wastewater treatment plant. In addition, the findings showed that the wastewater treatment plant effluents are a veritable source of pathogenic E. coli in the Eastern Cape Province watershed. We suggest that to maximize public health protection, treated wastewater effluent quality should be diligently monitored pursuant to ensuring high quality of final effluents.

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Ajibade, Adefisoye Martins. "Assessment of the prevalence of faecal coliforms and Escherichia coli o157:h7 in the final effluents of two wastewater treatment plants in Amahlathi Local Municipality of Eastern Cape Province, South Africa." Thesis, University of Fort Hare, 2014. http://hdl.handle.net/10353/d1016166.

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The production of final effluents that meet discharged requirements and guidelines remain a major challenge particularly in the developing world with the resultant problem of surface water pollution. This study assessed the physicochemical and microbiological qualities of two wastewater treatment works in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa in terms of the prevalence of faecal coliforms and Escherichia coli O157:H7 over a five month period. All physicochemical and microbiological analyses were carried out using standard methods. Data were collected in triplicates and analysed statistically using IBM SPSS version 20.0. The ranges of some of the physicochemical parameters that complied with set guidelines include pH (6.7 – 7.6), TDS (107 – 171 mg/L), EC (168 – 266 μS/cm), Temperature (15 – 24oC), NO3- (0 – 8.2 mg/L), NO2- (0.14 – 0.71 mg/L) and PO4 (1.05 – 4.50 mg/L). Others including Turbidity (2.64 – 58.00 NTU), Free Cl (0.13 – 0.65 mg/L), DO (2.20 – 8.48 mg/L), BOD (0.13 – 6.85 mg/L) and COD (40 – 482 mg/L) did not comply with set guidelines. The microbiological parameters ranged 0 – 2.7 × 104 CFU/100 ml for FC and 0 – 9.3 × 103 for EHEC CFU/100 ml, an indication of non-compliance with set guidelines. Preliminary identification of 40 randomly selected presumptive enterohemorrhagic E. coli isolates by Gram’s staining and oxidase test shows 100% (all 40 selected isolates) to be Gram positive while 90% (36 randomly selected isolates) were oxidase negative. Statistical correlation between the physicochemical and the microbiological parameters were generally weak except in the case of free chlorine and DO where they showed inverse correlation with the microbiological parameters. The recovery of EHEC showed the inefficiency of the treatment processes to effectively inactivate the bacteria, and possibly other pathogenic bacteria that may be present in the treated wastewater. The assessment suggested the need for proper monitoring and a review of the treatment procedures used at these treatment works.

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Gwele, Xolani. "Explorative study on the efficacy of the Total Quality Management System as a performance enhancement instrument: the case of Walter Sisulu University (Eastern Cape Province, Republic of South Africa)." Thesis, University of Fort Hare, 2013. http://hdl.handle.net/10353/d1013544.

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With the advent of a democratic South Africa in 1994, national public administration has effected reforms to improve government performance and service delivery. The importance of education for the development of excellence, expertise and knowledge leading to overall development in economy cannot be undermined. This has necessitated a sound strategy for the development of higher education in South Africa. Establishing leadership in this country is possible only when there is a developed system of higher education in which efficiency remains the sole criteria to evaluate performance. Higher education institutions are faced with an increasing number of complex challenges including implementing and maintaining a quality management system. This study seeks to explore the efficacy of total quality management as the performance enhancement instrument at Walter Sisulu University, in the Eastern Cape Province – South Africa. Relevant literature regarding quality, quality assurance, total quality management and performance management has been reviewed in order to establish and test if this study is researchable. Interviews with students have been conducted in order understand a sense of student perception towards quality assurance in the university. Observations and Staff questionnaires have been used to collect more data on total quality management and performance management system. The data collected is analysed and interpreted in chapter four and chapter five provides for findings and recommendations in concluding this study.

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Mbande, Sekiwe. "Fishes in the Mngazi and Mngazana estuaries, with particular emphasis on the community structure and primary carbon sources." Thesis, Rhodes University, 2004. http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1005386.

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The fish community structure of two contrasting estuaries, one with a well developed mangrove forest (Mngazana) and the other without mangroves (Mngazi) was compared. Both the Mngazi and Mngazana estuary fish communities were dominated by marine species, reflecting the importance of these systems as nursery areas for marine fishes. The Mngazi Estuary contained 18% more estuarine fishes in terms of catch per unit effort (CPUE) than the Mngazana Estuary. The reduced tidal influence due to the narrow mouth opening is a possible reason for the heightened CPUE of estuarine species in the Mngazi estuary. The recorded higher diversity of fish species in the Mngazana Estuary when compared with the Mngazi Estuary was attributed to the greater influence of the marine environment due to the wide permanently open mouth, as well as the presence of a variety of habitats in this system. In both estuaries tropical and temperate species were captured, confirming the transitional nature of their biogeographic location which is situated close to the boundary between the subtropical and warm temperate regions of the Southern African coastline. Contrary to previous studies, which recorded seasonal changes in the proportions of tropical and temperate species, the proportions of tropical species remained unchanged at approximately 70% during the January and June sampling occasions. Global warming as a possible reason for the increased dominance of tropical species is discussed. Although several studies in southern Africa have investigated estuarine food web structure, none have compared mangrove and non-mangrove estuaries. In this study, the primary sources of carbon utilised by the fish fauna in the Mngazi and Mngazana estuaries was investigated. The carbon isotopic values of fishes in both estuaries displayed a continuum rather than a tight clustering around particular energy sources. Most detritus feeders of the family Mugilidae (mullets) from both estuaries were relatively more enriched than other fish taxa. The isotopic values of the mullet species suggest a diet derived from relatively enriched carbon sources such as benthic microalgae, the eelgrass Zostera capensis and associated epiphytes. Based on the isotopic values, piscivorous fishes from both estuaries could not be linked to specific prey fish taxa, but clearly the mullet species were not their main food source. The invertebrate feeders that were found in both estuaries showed greater isotopic variations in the Mngazana Estuary than in the Mngazi Estuary, probably reflecting the higher diversity of habitats (carbon sources) and invertebrate prey species in the Mngazana system. Generally the isotopic signatures of fishes from the Mngazi Estuary were more enriched than those from the Mngazana Estuary, thus indicating the possible effect of δ¹³C depleted mangrove derived carbon in the latter system.

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Mqolo, Abner Zamindawo. "Evaluation of water service rendering in the Amathole District Municipality." Thesis, University of Fort Hare, 2010. http://hdl.handle.net/10353/d1001248.

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The rural areas of Amathole district municipality continue to experience difficulty in accessing water services. The people experience problems despite the fact that the Amathole district municipality, since 2003 has been made a water service authority in its municipal area, which consists of eight local municipalities, namely; Mnquma, Mbashe, Nkonkobe, Amahlathi, Great Kei, Ngqushwa, Nxuba, and Buffalo City. With the water service authority powers devolved from national government to the district municipalities the intention was to speed service delivery. This study investigates the causes of the delays in water service delivery experienced in rural areas of this district municipality. The Buffalo City local municipality is excluded in the study because Buffalo City has as well been given the responsibility of being the water service authority in its municipal area. This study used the questionnaires as data collection tool, and it was distributed to these respondents; chief officials, councilors, and citizens. Due to vastness of the target population sampling was used to reduce the bulkiness of the data. The questionnaire content is based on the phases of the systems theory to see if the policy making processes of the Amathole district municipality are carried out in accordance with the systems theory. The study has found that the citizens are not adequately involved in all the policy processes including the policy analysis and evaluation. This has been found to be a contributory factor in the ineffectiveness of the municipality water service delivery.The spheres of government that operate in silos compromised policy analysis and evaluation of the municipality, and disjuncture of the delivery programs of the spheres and state enterprises caused a huge service delivery challenges for this municipality. The study has confirmed that the Amathole district municipality is experiencing problems, delays, and challenges that make it to be ineffective as a water service authority.

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Itoba, Tombo Elie Fereche. "Land-use on water quality of the Bottelary River in Cape Town, Western Cape." Thesis, Cape Peninsula University of Technology, 2010. http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11838/812.

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Thesis (MTech (Environmental Management))--Cape Peninsula University of Technology, 2010
Freshwater scarcity and river pollution has become a serious challenge for governments and scientists. Worldwide, governments have a responsibility to provide their populations with enough clean water for their domestic needs. Scientists will have an enormous task to find a way to purify polluted water, because of its vital role in human lives and an increasing demand for water consumption due to population growth. Although the water from the Bottelary River is used on a daily basis for farming activities, its pollution level as well as spatial distribution of effluents in the catchment is unknown. In the present study, I took monthly water samples from six sampling points for laboratory analysis. The laboratory determined concentration levels of phosphorous, chloride, nitrate, and nitrate nitrogen (N03N), as well as the chemical oxygen demand (COD) and suspended solids from the samples. On the same occasion's pH, dissolved oxygen, electrical conductivity and temperature were measured in-situ using a multi-parameter reader. The results were then compared with the South African Water Quality Guidelines for Aquatic Ecosystems and for irrigation (DWAF, 1996a, 1996c). The non-point pollution source (NPS) model was used to generate predictions of the pollution level from the land-uses and use the data obtained from the field to validate the model predictions. Finally, I performed a two-factorial A One-way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) without replication to assess the spatial and temporal variation of the measured variables along the river. The findings of the study have shown that the concentration levels of some compounds are below the Target Water Quality Range (TWQR) set by the Department of Water Affairs and Forestry (DWAF, 1996a, 1996b, 1996c) while, the concentrations of chloride, total nitrogen and water quality variables such as electrical conductivity, suspended solids, are higher than the TWQR (DWAF, 1996a, 1996b, 1996c). Based on the above findings water of the Bottelary River can have negative effects on the environment and human lives because of the concentration level of these compounds. It was therefore recommended that, environmentally friendly measures and practices must be undertaken in order to decrease the pollution and avoid further pollution of the river.

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Rantlo, Montoeli. "The role of property rights to land and water resources in smallholder development: the case of Kat River Valley." Thesis, University of Fort Hare, 2009. http://hdl.handle.net/10353/386.

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Property rights are social institutions that define and delimit the range of privileges granted to individuals of specific resources, such as land and water. They are the authority to determine different forms of control over resources thus determining the use, benefits and costs resulting from resource use. That is, they clearly specify who can use the resources, who can capture the benefits from the resources, and who should incur costs of any socially harmful impact resulting from the use of a resource. In order to be efficient property rights must be clearly defined by the administering institution whether formal or informal and must be accepted, understood and respected by all the involved individuals and should be enforceable. These institutions influence the behaviour of individuals hence the impact on economic performance and development. The thesis has attempted to determine how the situation of property rights to land and water affects the development of smallholders in the Kat River Valley. Data was collected from 96 households who were selected using random sampling. To capture data, a questionnaire was administered through face-to-face interviews. Institutional analysis and ANOVA were used for descriptive analysis to describe the property rights situation, security of property rights and the impact of property rights on the development of smallholder farming. The results show that individual land rights holders have secure rights to land and water resources while communal smallholders and farmers on the invaded state land have insecure rights to land and water resources. The results from institutional analysis show that the situation of property rights negatively affects development of all smallholder farmers in the Kat River Valley. There are various institutional factors that negatively affect development of smallholder farmers in the Kat River Valley. Based on the research findings, some policy recommendations are made. These include consideration of the local context and strengthening of the protection of property rights.

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Arowolo, Steven Alaba. "Implications of food value chain support structures for water resource management by smallholder farmers in the Eastern Cape Province." Thesis, University of Fort Hare, 2012. http://hdl.handle.net/10353/d1001027.

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Smallholder agriculture is faced with so many challenges despite all the policies and programmes that have been channelled towards ensuring improvement in this sector. Improving smallholder agricultural productivity requires that smallholder farmers gain access to reliable and adequate farmer support services such as physical infrastructures like good road network, functional irrigation facilities, extension services, finance and efficient marketing system. However, these support services are lacking in a vast majority of the rural communities in which the smallholder farmers live and work. This study is centred on governance within the food value chains, with specific focus on butternuts and chicken value chains;with a view to identifying those factors preventing smallholder farmers from accessing the mainstream market. Ciko and Mbozi villages in Mbashe local municipality were used as the research sites for the study. Data were collected across the two villages through sampling of 100 individual farming households based on random selection; questionnaires and checklist of questions were used as tools to access information from farmers through focus group discussions, personal interviews and key informants. In addition,Ciko Santrini project and foundation community project, which are the two agricultural community projects located within the study area were also investigated. Conceptual and analytical frameworks were employed in the research analysis. Williamson’s 4-level of social analysis and the sustainable livelihood frameworks were used to conceptualize the analysis. Inferential analysis was carried out using binary logistic regression and discriminant analysis with focus on butternuts and cSmallholder agriculture is faced with so many challenges despite all the policies and programmes that have been channelled towards ensuring improvement in this sector. Improving smallholder agricultural productivity requires that smallholder farmers gain access to reliable and adequate farmer support services such as physical infrastructures like good road network, functional irrigation facilities, extension services, finance and efficient marketing system. However, these support services are lacking in a vast majority of the rural communities in which the smallholder farmers live and work. This study is centred on governance within the food value chains, with specific focus on butternuts and chicken value chains;with a view to identifying those factors preventing smallholder farmers from accessing the mainstream market. Ciko and Mbozi villages in Mbashe local municipality were used as the research sites for the study. Data were collected across the two villages through sampling of 100 individual farming households based on random selection; questionnaires and checklist of questions were used as tools to access information from farmers through focus group discussions, personal interviews and key informants. In addition,Ciko Santrini project and foundation community project, which are the two agricultural community projects located within the study area were also investigated. Conceptual and analytical frameworks were employed in the research analysis. Williamson’s 4-level of social analysis and the sustainable livelihood frameworks were used to conceptualize the analysis. Inferential analysis was carried out using binary logistic regression and discriminant analysis with focus on butternuts and chicken production among the smallholder farmers in the study area to determine factors that could encourage farmers ‘access markets. The results showed that factors such as; assistance from government agency, partnerships with private and public institutions and farmers’ decision due to access to information were significant at 1% level for both butternuts and chicken production. On the other hand, factors such as provision of input subsidy and farmers’ membership of agricultural development projects are significant at 5% level. The findings suggest that adoption of any or combination of the significant factors could serve as good support structures for farmers and they could directly help them market their produce efficiently.

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Mabhera, Sunungukai. "Consumer perceptions and values on beef quality: implications on beef markets." Thesis, University of Fort Hare, 2015. http://hdl.handle.net/10353/d1020173.

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Beef constitutes an important part of many consumers’ diets. Beef is the most consumed red meat in South Africa. Consumer perceptions can affect the whole supply or value chain of beef. Recently there has been increased interest in food safety; greater concern for environmental and animal welfare issues, increased importance of eating quality and healthy food as well as the greater role of food services. The demand for beef is no longer limited to economic factors alone but to non-economic factors as well. Consumers of beef in Alice have become more concerned about meat-borne risks and personal health. This research prioritized the exploration of the beef consumers’ (i) self-perception (ii) price perception (iii) benefit perception [in the form of – (a) value perception and (b) quality perception]. The study was conducted in the Eastern Cape Province specifically in Alice town and the surrounding rural areas (Ntselamanzi, Gaga, Hillcrest, Gqumashe, and Dyamala) of the Nkonkobe municipality. Anyone who admitted to eating beef and at the point of data collection bought beef for their own consumption or family consumption was deemed as a unit of analysis. Non – probabilistic sampling techniques which included accidental and random sampling were used to collect data from 100 interviewees. A semi structured questionnaire was used to analyse the perceptions and attitudes of beef consumers. The respondents were asked to indicate their agreement or disagreement with 47 statements or items presented on either five alternatives in a Likert scale scored from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree) or a six Likert scale ranging from 1 (very low) through 5 (very high) to 6 (I do not know).The data was analysed using SPSS. It was discovered that beef consumers did not consider either intrinsic or extrinsic cues in isolation when purchasing beef but rather all characteristics contribute to the final perception. The Alice consumer market is heterogeneous and consists of different races with different cultures and market segments with varying needs and preferences. The results showed that five factors were extracted from forty seven items Factor 1: Information reliance and quality indication; Factor 2: convenience; Factor 3: Traceability and animal Welfare; Factor 4: Health and safety Conscious and Factor 5: Price and Branding. Furthermore, four main consumer segments emerged as - Segment 1: Informed buyers; Segment 2: Elite buyers; Segment 3: Health & safety conscious buyers and Segment 4: Apathetic buyers. The cluster analysis shows that quality is a subjective concept that is informed by a consumer’s personal taste and preferences. Taste and preferences inform the consumer’s effective demand which in retrospect is informed by the consumer’s socioeconomic status.

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McConnachie, Matthew Morgan. "On the implementation effectiveness and efficiency of ecological interventions in operational contexts : the case of Working for Water." Thesis, Rhodes University, 2013. http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1001956.

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There is little understanding of the implementation efficiency and effectiveness of restoring plant invaded landscapes within operational contexts. South Africa's Working for Water (WfW) programme is arguably the most ambitious alien plant control programme in the world, yet little is known about its cost-effectiveness and the challenges it faces in linking poverty and environmental objectives. My first aim was to assess the cost-effectiveness of invasive plant removal, and the factors that underpin its effectiveness over large spatial and temporal scales. The second aim was to compare the accuracy of evidence-based findings with managers' experience-based beliefs, and to assess whether managers are willing to change their beliefs after being exposed to it. The third aim was to assess the costs and benefits of removal versus removal followed by active native re-vegetation. My final aim is to assess the challenges and lessons learnt by managers linking ecological restoration with poverty alleviation objectives, specifically within the public works model. My study area was focused primarily on two WfW river catchment projects in the western region of the Eastern Cape province. I adopted an interdisciplinary approach drawing from a range of methods such as observational studies, statistical modelling and interviews with managers. The key findings were that control efforts in the two catchment projects are largely inadequate owing to many sites being re-invaded and not enough resources being allocated to the catchments. It would take between 54 and 695 years to clear the respective catchments. In terms of cost-effectiveness, my results exceeded previous estimates by 1.5 to 8.6 times for each catchment project. After being exposed to the evidence-based findings, the managers did not change their beliefs when it came to forecasting the future effectiveness. I found that active native re-vegetation after removal of invasive plants is very costly and that priority should be given to understanding the effectiveness of the removal treatments on native species recovery. The managers cited significant challenges in effectively and efficiently meeting the programmes dual objectives. Based on a broader review of the public works literature I recommend WfW re-examine the type of public works they currently use.

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Hlanganise, Yoliswa Happiness. "Impact of in-field rainwater harvesting technology on household food security: a case of Guquka and Khayalethu villages in Central Eastern Cape Province." Thesis, University of Fort Hare, 2010. http://hdl.handle.net/10353/352.

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The aim of this investigation was to assess the impact of the In-Field Rainwater Harvesting technology on household food security in the study area. The study was conducted in Nkonkobe Local Municipality of the Amathole District Municipality in central Eastern Cape Province. The areas under investigation are Guquka and Khayaletu villages of the Thyume Valley, which is located about 30 kilometres north of Alice. The method used to assess the impact of the IRWH on household food security was a pair wise comparison method. During September 2009, there were 60 (34 in Guquka and 26 in Khayaletu) households who adopted the technology in home gardens. In order to get a clear picture of the impact of the technology on food security, a decision was taken to assess both the project members and non-project members, hence the pairwise comparison method. The non-project members (also 60 households) were selected randomly from those who were interviewed during the situation analysis in 2004. Five indicators were used to assess household food security. These were household income, expenditure on food, diet diversity, energy-protein intakes, and micro-nutrient intakes (Vitamin A, C and Iron). The income and expenditure data were collected from the 120 households. However, the detailed food data were collected from selected cases from both groups at different times (seasons) of the year. A case study approach was employed in data collection. A total of 12 cases (six households per village) were selected for this investigation. These were selected mainly according to the degree of poverty. The total of six households from each village comprised three project members and three non-members i.e. one from each poverty class (non- poor, poor and ultra-poor) in both categories. The data on the kinds of food products consumed by households was gathered using the food account method (FAM). The food consumed was then analysed for nutrient adequacy. The main findings of this investigation show the IRWH technology to have a positive impact on food security and nutrition of the project members. The technology made significant contributions to the amount of energy and vitamins A and C consumed by households especially during wet seasons. Substantial contributions of garden produce were noted among the project members. However, these contributions were not enough to ensure household food security. The results indicate that there are nutritional problems in the study area. Firstly, there is protein- v energy malnutrition mainly affecting the poor and the ultra-poor households. Secondly, there is hidden hunger affecting all poverty categories, even the non-poor households. This is mainly demonstrated by poor diet quality i.e. diet that lacks essential nutrients identified

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Cuthbert, Carol. "Schooling and institution quality linked to earnings in the Eastern Cape." Thesis, Rhodes University, 2018. http://hdl.handle.net/10962/62166.

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Return to investment for tertiary education is not equal for all. Human Capital Theory imposes a linear pathway between education and earnings, that fails to recognise other sources of capital, ignores social returns and does not explain why socio-economic variables influence employability and earnings. Those returns, rather than simply incrementally delivering returns for additional years of education, are however heterogeneous across students, with field of study, gender and population group influencing earnings; and schooling type and university attended filtering whether one finds a job. This study utilises data from Rhodes University and the University of Fort Hare, illustrating the extreme positions within the South African education landscape, employing a Heckman selection to predict the returns on education. The regression is found to be partially successful in predicting a graduate’s ability to find a job, in the first instance, and thereafter their returns. It is crucial to analyse the heterogeneity of socio-economic parameters to understand aspects of the economy, and develop education policies to take advantage of this understanding, especially against the backdrop of the student protests being experienced in the country and the funding models proposed. Access to tertiary education, through policy inducement, such as the recent increase of the grant limit from R122 000 to R350 000, requires disaggregated returns to education to be investigated.

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De, Klerk Christelle. "Detecting changes in elephant body condition in relation to resource quality." Thesis, Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, 2009. http://hdl.handle.net/10948/939.

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Elephants, as megaherbivores, are known to have extensive impacts on vegetation, especially in enclosed areas. This raises the issue that elephants in enclosed areas may become limited by resource availability. Resource limitation is generally expressed via density dependence, but elephants, due to their slow demography, may not be affected by initial changes in resource availability. This highlights the need for a more sensitive measure of resource limitation to allow for the detection of energy stress within a population before changes in vital rates occur. This study investigated visual changes in elephant body condition in relation to resource availability in a number of Eastern Cape reserves to assess whether body condition could be used to detect life stages, as well as seasons and sites which may be resource limited. Elephant life stages were divided into energy stressed (newly weaned calves, lactating females, and old females) and non-energy stressed classes (sub-adults and non-lactating females) to determine whether energy stressed life stages were more vulnerable to resource limitation. In the AENP it was found that lactating and old females exhibited significantly poorer body condition than non-energy stressed individuals, but that weaned calves had body conditions similar to non-energy stressed individuals. Comparisons between seasons revealed that all life stages exhibited better condition in winter than summer or spring, with lactating females showing little recovery of condition over time. Seasonal body conditions were correlated with rainfall recorded in the Addo Elephant National Park. Comparisons of elephant body condition between sites (n = 6) revealed that body condition varied across sites, with poorer body condition associated with areas of higher elephant density and low rainfall during the study period. Comparisons with faecal dietary quality data both between sites and seasons indicated that body condition also responded to changes in the availability of protein and neutral detergent fibre (NDF) of plant resources, with higher protein and lower values associated with better condition. Based on condition estimates of elephants occurring in the Addo Main Camp, it was established that this population is experiencing nutritional stress, with energy stressed individuals exhibiting the lowest body conditions. This was supported by dietary quality measures. Our findings suggest that elephant body condition is a good measure for detecting resource limitation, both within populations and between seasons, and that elephant body condition respond to relatively small changes in resource conditions, thus making it an effective measure for the detection of nutritional stress. Additionally, our findings show that energy stressed individuals, particularly lactating and old females are more vulnerable to resource limitation. This demonstrates the importance of monitoring these life stages for the detection of density dependence within populations. Finally, our data suggest that threshold values of faecal dietary quality may exist at which body condition within a population begins to deteriorate, making it possible to determine the condition of a population through values obtained in faecal samples.

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Erlank, Wayne Michael. "An evaluation of the feasibility of obtaining payment for ecosystem services for the Baviaanskloof Nature Reserve." Thesis, Rhodes University, 2011. http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1003862.

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Cities must go further and further away to find new, more costly sources of water for human consumption while industries and agriculture continue to compete for increasingly scarce water resources. This may already be seen occurring within the Nelson Mandela Bay Metro where the severe drought being experienced during the past 18 months has severely depleted water supply dams. One of the main supply dams to the Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality is situated within the Baviaanskloof Nature Reserve and World Heritage Site. The potential of funding the Baviaanskloof Nature Reserve and World Heritage Site with payments for ecosystem services (water) obtained for water services supplied to the Nelson Mandela Bay Municipalities and agriculture in the Gamtoos River Valley will ensure financial sustainable for the Baviaanskloof Nature Reserve and World Heritage Site in the long term. This ability to become financially independent and generate its own income will place the Baviaanskloof Nature Reserve and World Heritage Site in a unique position within the conservation community in South Africa as only a very few protected areas are self sustaining through payment for an ecosystem service.

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Ngwenya, Faith. "Water quality trends in the Eerste River, Western Cape, 1990 - 2005." Thesis, University of the Western Cape, 2006. http://etd.uwc.ac.za/index.php?module=etd&action=viewtitle&id=gen8Srv25Nme4_2843_1189582559.

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The Eerste River is a river system which has, over the years, been subjected to human interference. The purpose of this study was to investigatge temporal and spatial trends in the water quality of the Eerste River between 1990 and 2005. The study results revealed that the major trends in the water quality of the Eerste River are more spatial than temporal.

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Ntshewula, Nombulelo. "Teacher's and principal's perceptions of the integrated quality management system (IQMS) in three Butterworth District schools." Thesis, University of Fort Hare, 2012. http://hdl.handle.net/10353/d1007301.

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The researcher’s interest in this study is in teachers’ perceptions and principals of the Integrated Quality Management System (IQMS). This study examines teachers’ understandings of this quality management and performance appraisal system, how teachers perceive the instrument used to manage and monitor their performance and the performance of their schools, and what lessons may be learnt regarding the implementation process of the IQMS. The investigation was carried out in three Butterworth District schools in the Eastern Cape. The researcher made use of qualitative methodology to obtain data from a sample of 3 principals, 9 teachers and 1 district official. Data were collected from these respondents by means of in-depth, semi-structured interviews and through document analysis. The study found that some of the teachers and principals felt that they did not understand the IQMS, and they complained that the system is fraught with many obstacles that need to be addressed in order to promote the effectiveness of teaching and learning. The participants also spoke of multiple factors that contribute negatively to this phenomenon, which include the fact that the teachers’ workload is increased by the IQMS, time constraints, inadequate training, vague and unfamiliar language, the financial incentive that is attached to the instrument, and the many structures in the implementation process. In addition, the system seems to encourage a bureaucratic style of management. Teachers and principals also suggested ways in which the IQMS could be structured by the Department of Education for greater efficiency in education.

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Kalazani-Mtya, Lindeka. "The empowerment of women in agriculture: does it contribute to poverty alleviation and improvement of quality of lives in rural areas?" Thesis, University of Fort Hare, 2011. http://hdl.handle.net/10353/318.

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This study examines the extent to which the Siyazondla food programme, which is a woman based project, empowers women with agricultural skills and knowledge to alleviate poverty and improve their quality of lives in Ducats North area in East London. The investigation is based on the argument that when a woman is empowered, poverty will be reduced and the quality of life will improve. Through the use of qualitative research methodology, all women who are the main beneficiaries of the Siyazondla programme in Ducats North village were interviewed. Findings seem to indicate that although women in the project manage to produce good crops to feed their families, they are still not sufficiently empowered with skills and education to improve their quality of lives. This was found to be exacerbated by the fact that the officials assigned for the programme are to a greater extent inefficient and lack relevant knowledge to support beneficiaries. Most importantly, it was revealed that there is lack of monitoring and evaluation of the programme by government and this was considered to be the major constraint to successful implementation of the programme and in ensuring that poverty is alleviated in the area. It is on the basis of these findings that the study recommends that in order to yield positive results and ensure that women in the programme are empowered, there is a need to change the deeply embedded patriarchal perceptions and discriminatory practices and attitudes that seem to undervalue women‟s work. This will require greater awareness of women‟s contribution to agriculture, and the recognition of the role played by women in food security and poverty alleviation, coupled with a strong commitment from the government to empower rural women in agriculture.

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Sambumbu, Antony Matemba. "The implementation of an integrated quality management system in Queenstown District schools: experiences from the Isibane Circuit." Thesis, University of Fort Hare, 2010. http://hdl.handle.net/10353/355.

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This study examines the experiences of the school management teams and educators of the Isibane Circuit in the Queenstown District, regarding the implementation of an Integrated Quality Management System (IQMS) policy at school level. Following an agreement reached in 2003 between the South African Education Department and the major teacher organisations in this country, the IQMS was scheduled to be implemented in public schools from 2004. Two major challenges are identified and explained: accountability and development of human resources, as well as contradictions between internal and external evaluations. The study also elaborates on the changes in the educational history from the apartheid system to the democratic system of education. Nine schools participated in the study (two secondary schools and seven primary schools). These schools were purposely selected due to the fact that they had started implementing the IQMS policy, which was the main criterion for selection. Semi-structured interviews were used to gather data from principals, Heads of Departments as well as post-level one educators concerning their experiences of the IQMS implementation. The findings indicated that while the IQMS policy was good on paper, it was extremely difficult to implement. Issues of honesty and trust were at the root of difficulties that made the IQMS implementation challenging. The participants‟ understanding of IQMS was that it was intended for the provision of quality education and development.

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Shange, Nomfundo Sinethemba Queen. "Socio-economic factors influencing the adoption of in-field rainwater harvesting technololgy for enhancing household food security by small holder farmers in the Nkonkobe Municipality, Eastern Cape Province." Thesis, University of Fort Hare, 2015. http://hdl.handle.net/10353/734.

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Infield rainwater harvesting (IRWH) technology has been used in arid and semi-arid parts of the world and promising results have been achieved in terms of increasing yield. The main aim of this study was to identify socio-economic factors determining the adoption of IRWH technology for enhancing household food security by smallholder farmers. The specific objectives were to assess the level of adoption of IRWH technology using descriptive statistics (mean, frequency and percentages). To determine socio-economic factors influencing adoption of IRWH technology, the binary logistic regression mode l was used. To determine whether adopters of IRWH technology are more food secure than non-adopters, the Household Dietary Diversity Score (HDDS) was used as a measure for household food security. For the same objective, to determine socio-economic factors that influence household food security, the binary logistic regression model was also used and adoption of IRWH technology became an independent variable. The study was conducted in Khayalethu, Guquka and Krwakrwa villages in Nkonkobe Municipality in the Eastern Cape Province (EC). The unit of analysis was the individual smallholder farmers practicing agriculture. The availability (accidental) and snowball sampling techniques were used to select 34, 23, 63 respondents from Khayalethu, Guquka and Krwakrwa villages respectively. Since they are non-random, these sampling methods are problematic because of sampling errors. Overall, a sample size of 120 smallholder farmers was targeted for the interviews. Primary and secondary data collected was coded and analysed using statistical package for social sciences (SPSS) version 21. Results were presented using graphs, pie charts and tables (including cross-tables). The descriptive results showed that adoption status of IRWH technology was low in these areas, with 79% not adopting the technology. Food insecurity was high amongst the non-adopters with 86%. On the basis of descriptive analysis it can be concluded that any change in each one of the significant variables can significantly influence the probability of adopting IRWH technology and household food security. The results from the logistic regression model for the incidence of adoption revealed that 6 out of 16 variables were significant, three at 1% (access to extension services, access to information and farmers’ perception towards the IRWH technology); one at 5% (access to market) and two at 10% (access to hired labour and farm income). For the incidence of household food security, out of 17 variables, 6 were significant, three at 1% (adoption of the IRWH technology, access to extension services and farmers’ perception towards the IRWH technology); two at 5% (access to hired labour and household income) and one at 10% (household size). The empirical findings of this study indicate that there are socio-economic factors influencing adoption of IRWH technology and household food security amongst smallholder farmers. This study recommends that the government should provide extension officers and research stations with the capacity, support and physical means to expose smallholder farmers to the IRWH technology through demonstrations and trainings. The government can also introduce agricultural finance institutions in rural areas to assist the rural smallholder farmers to increase their access to credit. Further, it is recommended that smallholder farmers can expand to the communal croplands in order to gain more land size and work as a co-operative or as an association to ease labour constraints.

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Naidoo, Pravine. "Isomorphism, institutional entrepreneurship and total quality management (TQM) : a case study in the implementation of quality management standards and excellence models in South African developmental local government." Thesis, Rhodes University, 2010. http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1007141.

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Within the new constitutional order, South African local government has been afforded specific status and is protected as a distinctive sphere of government in terms of the Constitution Act 108 of 1996. Municipalities are no longer a mere function of national or provincial governments. In addition to this entrenched status, the Constitution and other developmental local government legislation vests local government with specific functions and responsibilities as part of the process of building a new democracy and promoting socio-economic development and upliftment. Consequently, local government managers are under constant pressure to improve the performance and quality of service delivery. They are expected to satisfy a number of stakeholders, achieve increases in efficiency, as well as attain developmental service delivery goals as contained in their Integrated Development Plan (IDP). Quality management standards and excellence models in support of the total quality management (TQM) philosophy are relatively new public management approaches that changes traditional organisational decision-making practices to deliver services to its customers in more effective and efficient ways. In essence, quality management standards and excellence models are performance management methodological practices, techniques and tools designed to meet and exceed public requirements. It accomplishes this through determining what constitutes excellence in customer service, and then empowering employees to a never-ending search for quality improvement in the delivery of services, in terms of the continuous improvement and continuous process improvement philosophies, of which total quality management (TQM) is premised on. Consequently, quality management standards and excellence models (such as the ISO 9001: 2008 QMS, ISO 14001: 2004 EMS, EFQM and SAEF Excellence Models) as methodological practices, techniques or tools in support of the critical factors (CFs) of the total quality management (TQM) philosophy, namely: (1) customer-based approach, (2) senior management commitment and leadership, (3) quality planning, (4) management based on facts, (5) continuous improvement, (6) involvement of all members of the organisation, (7) education and training, (8) teamwork, (9) communication systems, (10) learning, (11) process management, (12) co-operation with suppliers, and (13) organisational awareness and concern for the social and environmental context, can provide a framework by which to achieve the goals of effective and efficient service delivery in developmental local government, as they foster a culture of performance and accountability. Local government managers could use these quality and excellence methodological practices, techniques and tools, as a starting point to improve efficiencies in their municipalities, as the programmes afford them an opportunity to systematically evaluate the municipality and determine what leads to organisational success and deliverables. Institutional theory suggests that organisations are both influenced by and can influence the society in which they operate. Institutional theorists believe that the motivation for a change in internal practices might not only be performance related, but may primarily be to enhance or maintain the legitimacy of the respective institution. Institutional theory also focuses on the social contract that exists between the institution and society. This social contract is believed to represent the expectations of society. From an institutional point of view, it has been suggested that institutions may change and adopt the norms of society to appear legitimate to that society. This infers that when societal norms and values change, institutions will be expected to change. These societal pressures combined with legislative changes, require institutional entrepreneurs to respond to these isomorphic pressures, and will work to preserve the institution's legitimacy by incorporating, or at least appearing to incorporate, new practices, norms and values. The aim of this research study was to analyse within an institutional theory framework, the implementation of quality management standards and excellence models in support of the total quality management (TQM) philosophy and developmental local government within two South African municipalities. The research investigation has been undertaken within the social constructionist paradigm and using the case study method. Interviews and documents were the data sources and thematic analysis was used as a tool to analyse the data by applying a theory-driven coding procedure. The findings from the two research sites, namely Makana Municipality in Grahamstown and Drakenstein Municipality in Paarl reveal that the implementation of quality management standards and excellence models in support of the total quality management (TQM) philosophy in both municipalities was not a smooth process and there were many challenges such as political instability, lack of commitment on the part of the senior leadership and management, staff and skills shortages, resistance by staff to implementation and resource constraints. Institutional theory has proved to be useful in understanding why the Makana and Drakenstein Municipalities implemented quality management standards and excellence models. Because of coercive, mimetic and normative isomorphic pressures affecting the Makana and Drakenstein municipalities, change was imperative if these institutions were to remain relevant and legitimate in order to address its service delivery mandate of effectiveness and efficiency. Institutional theory provided a theoretical lens to understand and appreciate the pressures that affected the municipalities because of its new developmental mandate as encapsulated in new municipal legislation. It also assisted in understanding how institutional entrepreneurs responded to these pressures to conform. The implementation of quality management standards and excellence models in the Makana and Drakenstein municipalities was adversely affected by volatility amongst the political leadership of both municipalities. The successful implementation of these standards and models would require collective action from the political, bureaucratic and procedural entrepreneurs in order to enhance effective, efficient and accountable service delivery. However, in both the Makana and Drakenstein municipalities, institutional entrepreneurs, namely councillors and officials were not working together as a collective to implement quality management standards and excellence models. Evidence has shown that the absence of stable political leadership and noncooperation and collaboration amongst institutional entrepreneurs contributed significantly to the non-institutionalisation of quality management standards and excellence models in these Municipalities. This implies that legitimacy has not been achieved, due to institutional entrepreneurs not collaborating and collectively working with each other to implement the quality management standards and excellence models. Thus, this research study suggests that the strategic and collective role of the political and administrative leadership as institutional entrepreneurs is critical if the municipality is to achieve its aims and objectives, namely effective, efficient, and accountable service delivery in developmental local government. Recommendations in respect of future research and to practitioners have also been offered.

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Murray, Andrew Thomas. "The application of quality models and techniques in selected SMMEs in the Eastern Cape." Thesis, Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, 2007. http://hdl.handle.net/10948/832.

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With the increase of imports from China and more pressure being put on the Small, Medium and Micro enterprises (SMME’s) from their larger customers, survival has become more and more difficult, quality is no longer being a choise but a prerequisite if the companies want to survive. This research evaluates the use of quality and productivity or the lack thereof in selected SMMEs in the Eastern Cape environment from both the SMME and Larger companies’ point of view. The research has focused on the effectiveness and understanding of what has been put in place by the SMMEs, what is available for the SMMEs to use, governmental support, and the requirements of the customers. Certain shortcomings have been highlighted as to the use and benefits of the processes that have been implemented. The researcher made use of both quantitative and qualitative data to determine the outcome of the research. The thesis concludes that the SMME sector knows the importance of the use of quality; it is the effectiveness and management thereof that is the concern.

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Hosking, Phillipa. "A conjoint choice experiment analysing water service delivery in three Eastern Cape Municipalities." Thesis, Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, 2011. http://hdl.handle.net/10948/1378.

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This study considers the nature of South African municipal water service delivery, and how marketing strategies can provide a framework for better management of this service. It reflects on the elements that guide municipal decision making and evaluates user preferences for levels of the municipal “water service mix” by employing conjoint analysis. Particular attention is paid to consumer willingness to pay for improvements in the “water service mix”. The study argues that the values municipal consumers attach to the variables of the water service mix need to be better incorporated into decision making regarding water service delivery, and that conjoint analysis is an informative method to assist in generating this information. The study outlines a water service marketing challenge and methods of research followed to deal with it (Chapter One) and the nature of the laws and institutions governing water service provision in South Africa (Chapter Two). The task of providing water services is delegated to Water Service Providers (municipalities). The key variables of the water service mix from the consumers perspective include; quality of the water, rate of flow from tap, interruption of water flow, sewerage disposal, assurance of supply, and water service tariffs (Chapter Three). The study covers the areas of Amathole, Kouga and Nelson Mandela Bay Municipalities' (Chapter Five). The method of marketing analysis applied is conjoint analysis, alternatively known as choice experiment analysis. An overview of the method is provided and its application to three samples of one hundred residents at each of the study sites is described in Chapter Four. The responses of the three hundred residents provide the basis for the results. Respondents were requested to make a series of choices between alternative water service mixes consisting of six variables differentiated by three levels (Chapter Three). In making these choices they implicitly compared and weighed up the relative worth of the selected variables against each other. The findings of the analysis were diverse (Chapter Six); two of the three estimated models did not yield significant results. An interpretation of these results showed that the respondents of the Kouga municipality were willing to pay R65.05 more (per 10 xii Kilolitres of water) than their current monthly tariff for a marginal improvement in water quality, R57.29 more (per 10 Kilolitres of water) per month for a marginal improvement in sewerage disposal and R21.90 (per 10 Kilolitres) per month for marginal improvements in assurance of water supply. Findings showed that willingness to pay for reduced interruptions and improved flow rates was lower and not as highly valued as the abovementioned variables. Most of these findings were consistent with similar international and national studies showing their reliability. Although there has been significant improvement in extending the reach of the network since 1994, the standards of water service provision in South African municipalities do not appear to have improved. The results of this study mirror a number of concerns that have been expressed about the standards of service, particularly sanitation (in publications like the Green Drop Report). Municipal service delivery in these areas would appear to be constrained by a number of issues including a lack of public involvement, legislation, limited financial resources and institutional capabilities. However, it is a service that is too vitally important to be allowed to deteriorate. Marketing analyses can make a valuable contribution to allocating and managing the scarce resources to best satisfy the consumers of water services (Chapter Seven). When consumer orientation is formally introduced as the main objective into the thinking of the service provider, it becomes untenable to offer poor service delivery. But that is exactly what many municipalities appear to be doing. There is a need to get back to the basics – where the consumer is king. This analysis concludes that consumers want, above all else, assurance of water supply, a high quality of water, and safe environmentally sensitive disposal of waste water. It is recommended that municipalities not lose sight of the fact that price is an important part of the marketing mix. From the paying consumers perspective, when the government incorporate too many other considerations into pricing of water services they are, in effect, disengaging price from the marketing mix by not being sensitive to consumer needs. This approach shows a weak marketing strategy, and may result in dissatisfied consumers who may become unwilling to pay for their water services – an outcome that the researcher would discourage.

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Mama, Mandisa Wongiwe. "An investigation of the provision of the water and sanitation services after the devolution of powers and functions in 2003 to selected municipalities in the Eastern Cape Province." Thesis, University of Fort Hare, 2008. http://hdl.handle.net/10353/215.

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The Republic of South Africa embarked on devolution of specific powers to municipal authorities due to the fact that municipalities are a sphere of government which is at the door step of the citizens. Among the powers that were devolved was the authority to regulate on the rendering of water and services to communities. From now henceforth in this study, water and sanitation services will be referred to as water services. The rural villages that had no access to water services during the previous dispensation were rapidly rendered with these services when the transformed Department of Water Affairs and Forestry took a decision to provide the services on its own in order to give space for the transformation of the local sphere of government such that these municipal X authorities are able to manage the load of the allocation of such functions mainly and to close the vacuum so that there is no gap as to who should be responsible for water provision in rural villages whilst the restructuring of municipalities to include the rural villages as part of the transformation process takes place. A decline in the pace rendering water services to the previously disadvantaged rural communities was noticed after the devolution of water services to municipal authorities and by implication once hands were changed. This left those rural communities that had no access to water services still without the desired water services and those that had water services provided left midway with dry water schemes and dysfunctional infrastructure. This study therefore seeks to uproot the cause for the deceleration of water services once it was devolved to municipal authorities. This decline was noticed by the researcher hence the study seeks to attempt providing alternatives and lasting solutions primarily because water services are essential services and water is life. The main objective of the study is to investigate factors that cause the deceleration of water supply and the slow movement in the acceleration of sanitation services in order to provide alternatives that may yield results. Given the above broad objective this study further aims at examining the following factors: The correlation in funding made available by the central government and the financial resources available to municipalities to perform the function in order to render this service properly. Technical support available to municipalities. Relevant legislation, its policies and its impact on the implementation of the service XI. The correlation between accountability, democratization and community participation on standards and quality of the service to actual outputs. Improvement of service delivery and its relationship with transparency and efficiency. Relatedness of poverty to non provision of water services. The relatedness of poverty, lack of basic services to influx in the cities. Relatedness of the quality of the water services to the outbreak of diseases

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Marufu, Tandiwe Joy. "The impact of learning advancement and quality of work-life on turnover intentions among nurses in Amathole District, South Africa." Thesis, University of Fort Hare, 2014. http://hdl.handle.net/10353/2182.

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Ongoing instability in the nursing workforce is raising questions globally about the issue of nurse turnover. It is against this background that this research examines the impact of learning, advancement and quality of work-life on turnover intentions among nurses in selected hospitals from Eastern Cape. Little research has been conducted to investigate the impact of the above mentioned subjects on turnover intentions among nurses in the South African health sector. Research questions as well as hypotheses were formulated as the means to gain data on the subject. The research employed a quantitative design with a sample size of 160 nurses and 159 were returned. The data analysis consisted of both descriptive and inferential statistics. The main findings of the study showed a positive relationship among job satisfaction, work-life rewards, learning and advancement opportunities and job satisfaction. However, there were negative relationships between job satisfaction and turnover intentions; work-life rewards and turnover intentions; and also among learning, career advancement and turnover intentions. Finally, suggestions were made to the top management in the Health sector to come up with strategies and mechanisms that improve nurses’ quality of work-life and offering them training and advancement opportunities through organisational change programs.

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Munro, Samantha Alanna. "A water footprint assessment of primary citrus production in the Lower Sundays River Valley Citrus Farms, Eastern Cape, South Africa." Thesis, Rhodes University, 2015. http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1017558.

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With the current implementation of the South African National Water Act (NWA) underway, comprehensive tools to assist in the efficient, fair and sustainable management of water resources are needed. Water footprints (WFs) are increasingly being recognised as a meaningful way to represent human appropriation of water resources and provide a framework for assessing the sustainability of water use. The study calculated blue, green and grey WFs for the lower Sundays River Valley (LSRV) citrus sector across dry, humid and long-term average climates for a number of cultivars. The sustainability of both the LSRV and the production process of citrus were examined through the adoption of a number of environmental, social and economic indicators. The study revealed that there was no water scarcity in the area because of an inter-basin transfer and that water pollution levels attributed to citrus production required a more comprehensive indicator than the grey WF. Results showed that navels, despite being the dominant cultivar, had the highest WF and the lowest water productivity and technical efficiency. It also provided lower benefits of income and employment in terms of water use in comparison to other cultivars. Conversely, cultivars such as lemons, which required a greater amount of water and fertiliser, were the most productive cultivar with the lowest blue, green and grey WF. The study demonstrated the complexity of decisions regarding water management and the need to assess accurately the environmental, social and economic implications of strategies to increase efficiency of water. The importance of incorporating local data and verifying WFs was also illustrated. The analysis highlighted that WF assessments could be useful for the South African government and agricultural sectors to assist in future water management decisions and promote increased collaboration between stakeholders. The study found that the adoption of local benchmarks could be useful in aiding the promotion of more efficient water use and could factor in sensitive economic and social attributes. WFs in conjunction with other economic and social indicators could also be used to evaluate the sustainability of current and future allocations pertaining to the implementation of the NWA. It was however noted that this requires vast amounts of accurate data.

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Hanyani, Charles Tawanda. "Effect of full and semi-scavenging rearing systems on crop contents and the quality of meat from village chickens during spring season of Eastern Cape, South Africa." Thesis, University of Fort Hare, 2012. http://hdl.handle.net/10353/440.

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The objective of this study was to compare the nutrient status of full scavenging and semi-scavenging village chicken production systems. The semi-scavenging chickens were given broiler finisher mash between 14-24 weeks of age, whilst the full scavenging relied on natural foraging. The study also sought to compare the quality of meat from chickens from the two systems. After slaughtering the chickens, the crop contents were physically separated and analysed for chemical composition. Meat pH and colour were measured on the breast muscle of individual carcasses and a consumer sensory evaluation was also done on the breast muscle. The mean crop content weights per day were significantly higher in full scavenging chickens (±16.7g/day biomass) than in semi-scavenging chickens (±9.14g/day). Dry matter, calcium, and phosphorus levels were higher in the crop contents of the full than in the semi-scavenging chickens but crude protein, crude fibre and metabolisable energy were higher in the latter system. Semi-scavenging (1.3 ± 0.05kg) carcasses were heavier (P<0.05) than full scavenging ones (1.0 ± 0.06kg). The ultimate pH (24h) (pHu) of meat from full scavenging chickens (6.0 ± 0.03) was higher (P<0.05) than that of meat from the semi-scavenging chickens (5.7 ± 0.04). Meat from the full scavenging chickens had higher L* values (60 ± 1.2) than meat from the semi-scavenging chickens (47 ± 0.8). The a* value of meat of full scavenging chickens was significantly (P<0.05) less (4 ± 0.4) than that of meat from semi-scavenging chickens (15 ± 1.3). There was a significant positive (0.60) correlation between pHu and L* of meat from village chickens across rearing systems. The semi-scavenging system meat had better sensory attributes than the meat from the full scavenging system. Female consumers scored the typical flavour of village chicken meat across rearing systems higher (P< 0.05) than male consumers. The Shona consumers scored the meat higher (P< 0.05) than the Xhosa, Zulu, Ndebele and other tribes for initial juiciness, first bite impression and muscle fibre and tenderness of the chicken across rearing systems. Consumers scored of the meat from the semi-scavenging system higher (P<0.05) on initial juiciness (4.3 ± 0.20), first bite impression (4.2 ± 0.197), muscle fibre tenderness (4.5 ± 0.217) than meat from the full scavenging chickens. There were positive correlations (0.46) between aroma intensity and overall flavour intensity across both rearing systems. The semi-scavenging system produced better carcass characteristics, lighter (L*) meat and more consumer acceptable meat than full scavenging chickens. Therefore the full scavenging rearing system had better nutrient composition in its scavenging feed resource base, although the semi-scavenging systems produced chickens with better carcass, meat pH, colour and sensory characteristics than the full scavenging chickens.

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48

Chulayo, Amanda Yucca. "The effects of distance travelled, lairage duration and animal-related factors on pre-slaughter stress indicators, carcass characteristics, nanostructure and technological properties of beef." Thesis, University of Fort Hare, 2015. http://hdl.handle.net/10353/d1021275.

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The main objective of the current study was to determine the effect of distance travelled (DT), lairage duration (LDhr) and animal-related factors (animal class, breed, sex) on pre-slaughter stress indicators, carcass characteristics, nanostructure and technological properties of beef. The study was conducted in an Eastern Cape abattoir under the Buffalo City District Municipality. Six genotypes of cattle (Beefmaster, Bonsmara, Brahman, Holstein-Friesian, Non-descript and Nguni) brought for slaughter at the abattoir on different days were used in the study. Slaughter weight (SWT), warm and cold carcass weight (WCW and CCW), fatness and conformation of each animal were measured and recorded. Representative samples of blood plasma and meat quality from the Muscularis thoracis et lumborum (LTL) were collected at slaughter and 24 hours after slaughter, respectively. Heat shock proteins 70kDa (HSPA1A), glucose (GLU), cortisol (CORT), creatine kinase (CK) and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) were determined from the blood plasma. The representative LTL muscle was used to determine ultimate pH (pHu), lightness (L*), redness (a*), yellowness (b*), meat temperature (Tm), Warner Bratzler Shear Force (WBSF) and histological structure of beef. There were significant effects of distance on pHu, Tm, a*, b*, TL%, CK and LDH. Pearson correlations were observed between distance travelled (DT), creatine kinase (CK), lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), ultimate pH (pHu), colour coordinates (L*, a* and b*) and Warner Bratzler Shear Force (WBSF). Principal component analysis (PCA) revealed that the 1st (pHu), 2nd (Tm) and 3rd (L*) principal components were the critical meat quality attributes. Positive relationships between carcass weights and beef quality characteristics for bovine cattle where the cumulative percentage of the first six principal component`s (PC`s) (SWT, WCW, CCW, DP, pHu and Tm contributed to 93.4 % of the total variance. Significant correlation coefficients between DT (r = 0.15), LDhr (r = 0.29), Ta (r = -0.52), Tm (r = 0.26), L* (r = 0.33), a* (r = 0.32) and WBSF (r = -0.49) were observed. Meat from Brahman (BR), Non-descript (ND) and Nguni (NG) cows had visible skeletal muscle fibres which were thin and long indicating improved tenderness of beef. Exposing animals to longer hours of transportation did not only reduce glucose levels but also increased the expression of HSPA1A and levels of cortisol. The CK and LDH were not related to beef quality. Therefore, CK and LDH can be used as indicators of animal welfare in slaughter cattle but cannot be used to predict the quality of meat. Bulls were the heaviest, although heifers had the highest dressing percentage than cows. Furthermore, the nanostructure of beef indicated that heifers had the best muscle fibres, sarcomere length and visible intercalated discs. The observed nanostructures of Nguni genotype are an indication of tender meat. Beef from heifers of Nguni had visible and tender meat with traces of intramuscular fat while males had shorter sarcomere length and tougher meat.

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Gwate, Onalenna. "Modelling plant water use of the grassland and thicket biomes in the eastern cape, South Africa: towards an improved understanding of the impact of invasive alien plants on soil chemistry, biomass production and evapotranspiration." Thesis, Rhodes University, 2018. http://hdl.handle.net/10962/54800.

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It is imperative to understand the strong coupling between the carbon capture process and water use to sustainably manage rangelands. Woody encroachment is undermining rangelands grass production. Evapotranspiration (ET) highlights the links between ecosystem carbon capture process and water use. It forms the biggest flux of the hydrological cycle after precipitation yet it is not well understood. The Grassland and the Albany Thicket (AT) biomes in the Eastern Cape, South Africa, provide an interesting space to study the dynamics in rangelands biomass production and the associated water use. Therefore, the main purpose of this study was to contribute towards management of rangelands by understanding the dynamics in rangeland grass production and water use. To achieve this aim, the impact of Acacia mearnsii, an invasive alien plant, on soil chemical properties and rangelands grass production was investigated. This was achieved by analysing the biophysical attributes of A. mearnsii as they related to grass production. Secondly, selected soil variables that could be used as a prognosis for landscape recovery or deterioration were evaluated. In addition, aboveground grass biomass was measured in areas cleared of A. mearnsii and regression equations were prepared to help model aboveground grass biomass in areas cleared of A. mearnsi. The thesis also explored dynamics in water vapour and energy fluxes in these two biomes using an eddy covariance system. Consequently, water vapour and energy fluxes were evaluated in order to understand landscape water use and energy partitioning in the landscape. The study also tested the application of Penman-Monteith equation based algorithms for estimating ET with micrometeorological techniques used for validation. Pursuant to this, the Penman- Monteith-Leuning (PML) and Penman-Monteith-Palmer (PMP) equations were applied. In addition, some effort was devoted to improving the estimates of ET from the PMP by incorporating a direct soil evaporation component. Finally, the influence of local changes in catchment characteristics on ET was explored through the application of a variant of the Budyko framework and investigating dynamics in the evaporative index as well as applying tests for trends and shifts on ET and rainfall data to detect changes in mean quaternary catchment rainfall and ET. Results revealed that A. mearnsii affected soil chemical properties and impaired grass production in rangelands. Hence, thinning of canopies provided an optimal solution for enhanced landscape water use to sequestrate carbon, provide shade, grazing, and also wood fuel. It was also shown that across sites, ET was water limited since differences between reference ET and actual ET were large. ET was largely sensitive to vapour pressure deficit and surface conductance than to net radiation, indicating that the canopies were strongly coupled with the boundary layer. Rangeland ET was successfully simulated and evaporation from the soil was the dominant flux, hence there is scope for reducing the so-called ‘unproductive’ water use. Further, it was shown that the PML was better able to simulate ET compared to the PMP model as revealed by different model evaluation metrics such as the root mean square error, absolute mean square error and the root mean square observations standard deviation ratio. The incorporation of a soil evaporation component in the PMP model improved estimates of ET as revealed by the root mean square error. The results also indicated that both the catchment parameter (w) and the evaporative index were important in highlighting the impacts of land cover change on ET. It was also shown that, despite changes in the local environment such as catchment characteristics, global forces also affected ET at a local scale. Overall, the study demonstrated that combining remote sensing and ground based observations was important to better understand rangeland grass production and water use dynamics.

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Mfaca, Malibongwe. "Investigation of local institutions for the application of the in-field rain water harvesting technology in rural areas: the case of Guquka and Khayaletu in Nkonkobe Municipality in central Eastern Cape." Thesis, University of Fort Hare, 2011. http://hdl.handle.net/10353/d1001031.

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Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Water quality – South Africa – Eastern Cape'

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