Theses and dissertations (Accounting and Informatics)

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Data mining to analyse recurrent crime in South Africa
(2021-11-02) Monyeki, Phirime; Naicker, Nalen; Adeliyi, Timothy Temitope
When South Africa is compared to other countries, it has a notably high rate of crime. The country has seen a concomitantly high occurrence of murder, residential burglary, drug-related crime and carjacking (hijacking) crime. The government is desperately seeking solutions that can be implemented to reduce recurrent crime. Several reasons to explicate high crime trends in different areas include alcohol or drug abuse, low standards of education, poor parenting skills and a lack of social and vocational skills. This study aimed to gain better insight into crime trends in South Africa using data mining techniques. Decision-making linked to the data could help the government implement a coherent crime strategy to mitigate crime. The crime dataset chosen for this study was publicly available at kaggle.com. The dataset was prepared using Python programming code. The research design was utilised as an overall strategy to compile all different components of this study with an intention of answering the research questions and attaining the research objectives. To identify the significant changes, ChangePoint Analysis (CPA) was performed to pinpoint the abrupt change in the South African crime dataset. Two methods called Cumulative Sum (CUSUM) and Bootstrap were implemented in this study of CPA. To analyse the trend of data, CUSUM and Bootstrap were performed to measure the occurrence of change points based on the confidence levels. The CPA outcome depicted multiple significant changes and abrupt shifts in several provinces of South Africa. Linear regression (LR) was utilised to predict the future trends of crime in South Africa from 2016 – 2022 based on the erstwhile 2005 – 2015 crime statistics. The results showed that crime has been on the increase in South Africa with certain provinces such as Western Cape, Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal being identified as crime hotspots. Future studies on crime should focus only on one province to gain insight into the dominating crimes and hotspots within that particular province, with a view to developing highly specific crime-reduction interventions.
An exploration of the differing administrative skills and trading practices of local and foreign micro businesses operating in the informal sector within eThekwini Municipality
(2022-09-13) Ntombela, Mnotho Slam; Skinner, Jane Phyllida; Ngibe, Musawenkosi
The informal sector in South Africa plays a significant role in alleviating current high levels of unemployment and it has become an economic alternative not only in eThekwini but in the whole of South Africa. The motivation for the study was thus to understand the informal trading practices employed by local and foreign informal traders and something of their impact on the community life and economy of eThekwini, focusing specifically on the administrative practices of different groups of traders, local and foreign. In reaching this aim a set of related issues were investigated in order to be in a position of fully understanding the current situation. This enabled the making of informed recommendations concerning the administrative, economic and educational support structures that could enabled better trading practices. There was a need to understand the requirements of informal traders, the nature of their business practices, and the regulatory context of this sector. The research involved a case study using a mixed methods approach. Questionnaires and follow-up interviews with both local and foreign traders and with their customers were used as the data collection instruments. The study explored the administrative skills and practices of both foreign and local informal traders trading in eThekwini; the experiences of foreigners as regards their reception by local traders; and the perceptions of end consumers concerning the goods and services offered by both groups. The administrative strengths and weaknesses in this business sector were identified. The findings indicated that there is a potential for the informal business sector to become a major role player in sustaining the livelihoods of many people – however, there are constraints that prevent informal businesses from prospering. These include: administrative weaknesses amongst the traders themselves, and local policies and bylaws which fail to provide sufficient support for trading, along with continued harassment by law enforcement officials, bribery demands, and confiscation of traders’ goods. The findings reveal that the location of any business is very important for maximizing the number of customers available and that re-locations by the authorities are often damaging in this respect. Despite some good experiences, the findings showed overall that traders do not have adequate shelters to prevent their goods from getting damaged, nor adequate security. The perceived greater success of foreigners was found to be a point of division and tension between the two groups. Differences in their business practices appeared to be a central issue at the heart of the divisions and therefore a factor in the persistence of xenophobia in the country. The findings indicated that foreign traders’ administrative practices are learned informally but that, as indicated in the literature, they are generally more effective than those of local traders. Unlike local traders, foreigners collaborate with each other, for instance buying in bulk from a specific foreign wholesaler, and uplifting each other by lending capital to start other businesses, trusting that the loans will be repaid once the new businesses prosper. The study also shows that informal trading has created a number of employment opportunities for local South Africans as well as foreigners, and that foreign traders provide services which are appreciated by their customers. It also reveals that most traders, both foreign and local, do not use formal accounting systems and that the business training currently offered by the municipality is not ideal. Foreign traders tend to learn from practical experience but often seek formal certification in South Africa that can allow them to operate freely within the law. The study therefore recommends that institutions of higher learning, local business owners, and the private sector partner with informal traders to provide intensive relevant training, directly designed for groups offering common services. Local traders should also be prepared to consider foreign practices where these have proved successful. The study also recommends that all stakeholders need to be part of committees drafting /amending Municipal traders’ bylaws, thus including informal traders themselves. A committee that includes informal traders, municipal officials, legal experts, ordinary citizens, and university representatives could be formed to deal decisively with the issues, policies or bylaws affecting both local and foreign informal traders.
An exploration of the taxability of income derived from illegal activities in South Africa
(2022-09-12) Madubedube, Andisiwe Sibulele; Jali, Lulu Fortunate; Mutanda, Mary
This study aimed to explore the taxability of income derived from illegal activities in South Africa. The issue of whether or not income earned by a taxpayer as a consequence of illegal activity should be deemed income received by the taxpayer has caused controversy in South Africa and elsewhere in the world. According to the definition of "gross income", it has been found in a number of studies that a person can be subject to taxation based on either their receipts or their accruals. Gross income is what is required by South African Revenue Services from every taxpayer to declare all of his income in his tax return, including money from unlawful activities such as proceeds from the fraud. The rationale of this study was to tighten the present law on unlawful income taxation by determining and comprehending the appropriate technique for the courts to use in evaluating whether a taxpayer has ‘received’ illicit money for gross income purposes. This study was a qualitative, non-empirical investigation of the taxability of income earned through unlawful activities. In order to construct a hypothesis, the study used an inductive research approach to produce meaning from the data set acquired by identifying patterns and linkages. The inductive approach, on the other hand, allows the researcher to formulate the problem under review research using an existing theory, as was the case in this study. The study identified tools that allow tax authorities the power to have access to all taxpayers’ financial information that could help in identifying their income for taxation purposes. The findings of the study include that, in all jurisdictions, income is regarded as taxable income if it falls within the definitions of taxable income, regardless of the nature of its legality. The significance of the study suggested enacting a legislative measure to ensure a more united, uniform, and effective strategy to tax unlawful money. And it is also critical in tightening the present legislation on illegal income taxation in identifying and analyzing the suitable methods for assessing whether the taxpayer has ‘received’ illegal income for gross income purposes. . The rules controlling taxation must be viewed in the context of other legal concepts, particularly the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa (the Constitution) is the country’s supreme law.
An investigation of ICT-based malaria intervention framework for rural communities
(2022-11-07) Mbunge, Elliot; Millham, Richard; Sibiya, Maureen Nokuthula; Takavarasha, Sam
Malaria remains a significant public health challenge in many sub-Saharan countries. The United Nations through member states launched Sustainable Development Goal 3.3, to end endemic malaria by 2030. Despite these concerted efforts, malaria continues to decimate people, especially in malaria-endemic countries, including Zimbabwe. Malaria predominantly affects poor rural and resource-constrained areas where it places a very high burden on communities. In addition, the outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) tenaciously challenged the progress made in the previous years to combat malaria in endemic areas by forcing the reallocation of resources devoted to fighting malaria to fight COVID-19. This caused a drastic change in prevention and control measures. Indoor residual spraying, longlasting insecticide-treated nets, and community behaviour change communication are among malaria control and prevention measures. Currently, hospitals and clinics use awareness campaigns, religious institutions, community meetings, community health workers, brochures, posters, billboards, newspapers, television, radio, and community dramas to convey malaria information. These traditional awareness strategies failed to achieve the anticipated results. More so, there is a non-existent technology-based framework for multi-sectoral linkages, collaboration, integration, and deployment of ICT-based malaria intervention in the Zimbabwean health system. This research addresses that gap by investigating a technologybased framework that supports the integration of feasible technologies to disseminate malaria information in rural communities. This study applied convergent parallel mixed methodology, quasi-experimental design, document analysis and design science research (DSR) methodology. The DSR was utilised to guide the development, refinement, and deployment of the proposed prototype. The document analysis was used to determine the most feasible technology. Also, previous malaria cases from the District of Health Information System (DHIS) were used for mapping hotspot areas and predicting malaria in hotspot wards using Quantum Geographic Information System (QGIS) and machine learning techniques, respectively. The quasi-experimental design was utilised to gather information in two phases (pre-test and post-test). The pre-test stage focused on gathering prototype user requirements before developing the artefact. The post-test phase concentrated on testing and assessing the adoption and acceptance of the proposed prototype. The acceptance and adoption of the proposed prototype was done through the modified unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT) model. The study revealed that mobile phones, radio, television, and social media platforms were the most common ICTs used to disseminate information. Among ICTs, mobile phones are the most prominent mobile technology used for bidirectional communication and mobile money transaction in rural communities. However, the absence of policies on mobile health, technological and infrastructure barriers, poor power supply, digital illiteracy, inadequate funding, language barriers, and religious barriers were factors hindering the adoption and utilisation of ICTs in resource-constrained rural areas. The findings of this research also revealed that machine learning techniques play an imperative role in predicting malaria in hotspot wards. The study applied logistic regression (LR), decision trees (DT) and support vector machines (SVM) to predict malaria in hotspot wards. LR performed better, with an accuracy of 83%, a precision of 82%, and an F1-score of 90% using environmental data and malaria incidences. These machine learning models can assist policymakers in developing and deploying malaria early warning digital tools and optimising the distribution of resources in sporadic areas. The study modelled predictors for adopting mobile health interventions by healthcare professionals in Buhera rural community. The study utilised a modified UTAUT model and Smart-PLS to test several hypotheses. The study revealed that social influence, facilitating conditions, and effort expectancy facilitate the adoption of mobile phone-based interventions to create malaria awareness, reporting, and surveillance as well as sharing and receiving malaria data between satellite health centres. Among these predictors, facilitating conditions and effort expectancy influence health workers’ attitudes to using mobile phone-based malaria interventions. Furthermore, the study developed a mobile health framework for disseminating malaria information in resource-constrained rural communities. The proposed framework consists of surveillance activities, mobile health interventions and health facilities. This is an additional uniqueness of this study as it incorporates feasible digital technologies to disseminate health information in rural communities within Zimbabwe’s existing health system structure. This includes the Ministry of Health of Child Care (National Malaria Control Programme), Provincial Medical Office, District referral hospital, and satellite health centres. However, the study also revealed that the adoption of ICTs in rural health systems faces several impediments such as network connection barriers, inconsistent power supply, unavailability and inaccessibility of ICT infrastructure, lack of technical support and training, digital literacy, language barriers, absence of active e-health policies, insufficient funding, bureaucracy and religious barriers. There is a need to develop a mobile health framework and policy to guide the development and deployment of mobile health applications, improve ICT infrastructure and network coverage in rural communities, develop community networks to improve internet access and connectivity, promote public-private partnerships and develop robust strategies for sustainable funding of m-Health projects and applications deployed to improve access to care, especially in resource-constrained rural communities.
Knowledge-based word sense disambiguation for Setswana-English machine translation
(2024) Moape, Tebatso Gorgina; Ojo, Sunday O.; Olugbara, Oludayo O.
There are several challenges that hinder the development of Setswana-to-English machine translation systems. A key obstacle is the absence of machine-readable knowledge resources. This has prompted the use of the only accessible data, which originates from the government domain. While training machine-translation systems using government-domain data can offer specialized language knowledge, such training introduces obstacles such as limited vocabulary, style variation, bias, and domain specificity. Furthermore, it is noted in the literature that the ongoing problem of polysemy in a machine-translation system reduces the overall accuracy. Polysemy is a linguistic phenomenon in which a single word or phrase has multiple senses, resulting in ambiguity. The task of resolving ambiguity in natural language processing (NLP) is known as word sense disambiguation (WSD). The concept of WSD serves as an intermediate task for enhancing text understanding in NLP applications, including machine translation, information retrieval, and text summarization. Its cardinal role is to enhance the effectiveness and efficiency of these applications by ensuring the accurate selection of the appropriate sense for polysemous words in diverse contexts. This study addresses these challenges by proposing three essential components: a diversity-aware machine-readable knowledge resource for SetswanaEnglish, or the Setswana universal knowledge core (SUKC), a WSD approach to resolving lexical ambiguity; and a corresponding machine-translation model embedded with a WSD capability. Setswana-English data was collected from the existing paper-based bilingual dictionaries to achieve this purpose. Secondly, the study employed professional translators to translate space domain concepts from English to Setswana. The collected lexicon was integrated into the universal knowledge core (UKC). The Lesk algorithm which has seen various adaptations by researchers for different languages over the years was employed to address the inherent polysemy challenges. This study used a simplified, Lesk-based algorithm to resolve polysemy for Setswana; and used the bidirectional encoder representations from transformers (BERT) model for Setswana, and cosine similarity measure to embed Setswana glosses and measure semantic similarity, thus determining the accurate sense. The study employed a rule-based method embedded with the WSD algorithm for machine translation. The translation accuracy of the machine-readable dictionary was assessed by employing the developed machine-translation model; and evaluated using the BLEU score. The proposed model was tested on a combination of sentences containing both ambiguous words and those without ambiguity; and a higher BLEU score of 34.89 was achieved.
A modelling approach to elephant and tree population dynamics for a small game farm
(2005) Stretch, Anne-Marie
Throughout Africa, growing human populations and resulting loss of wildlife habitat is a critical issue for most animal species. It is more and more common for privately owned small or medium sized farms to reintroduce wildlife on their land and such protected areas are fast becoming the only refuges available to wild animals. However a comprehensive understanding of the complex ecological processes taking place is vital for the effective management of restricted areas and the conservation of biodiversity. Due to the enormous complexity of an ecological system and the long periods of the related dynamics, it is very difficult to analyse the interaction between animals and plant populations without suitable computer models. In this thesis, the dynamics between elephant and trees (a major food source) are considered using computer simulations.
A modelling approach to elephant and tree population dynamics for a small game farm
(2005) Stretch, Anne-Marie
Throughout Africa, growing human populations and resulting loss of wildlife habitat is a critical issue for most animal species. It is more and more common for privately owned small or medium sized farms to reintroduce wildlife on their land and such protected areas are fast becoming the only refuges available to wild animals. However a comprehensive understanding of the complex ecological processes taking place is vital for the effective management of restricted areas and the conservation of biodiversity. Due to the enormous complexity of an ecological system and the long periods of the related dynamics, it is very difficult to analyse the interaction between animals and plant populations without suitable computer models. In this thesis, the dynamics between elephant and trees (a major food source) are considered using computer simulations.
Network analysis of Dark Web traffic through the Geo-Location of South African Internet protocol address space
(2019-04-16) Gokhale, Craig; Olugbara, Oludayo O.
This research was supported financially by the BankSeta, the Council on Scientific and Industrial Research and the National Research Foundation with the aim to log The Onion Router (TOR) traffic usage in South Africa. The recent public disclosure of mass surveillance of electronic communications, involving senior government authorities, has drawn the public attention to issues regarding Internet security privacy. For almost a decade, there has been several research efforts towards designing and deploying open source, trustworthy and reliable electronic systems that ensure anonymity and privacy of users. These systems operate by concealing the true network identity of the communicating parties against eavesdropping adversaries of which TOR is an example of such a system. Clients that use the TOR network construct circuits (paths) which are utilised to route multiple network streams. A circuit is considered secure if there is one non-malicious router in the circuit. Such systems have served as anti-censorship and anti-surveillance tools. The implementation of TOR allows an individual to access the Dark Web, an area of the Internet that is said to be of a much larger magnitude than the Surface Web. The Dark Web which has earned a reputation as a sort of immense black market, associated with terrorist groups, child pornography, human trafficking, sale of drugs, conspiracies and hacking research, has received significant national and international press coverage. However, to date little or no research has been conducted on the illicit usage of the Dark Web and no research has been conducted in the use or misuse of the Dark Web in South Africa. There has not been any study which characterises the usage of a real deployed anonymity service. Observations obtained are presented by participating in the TOR network and the primary goal of this study is to elicit Dark Web traffic by South Africans. Past researchers undertook Dark Web crawling focusing only on specific web content such as explicitly focusing on child exploitation and terrorist activity. The experiment design of this study further builds on experiments conducted in previous studies. The deanonymisation methodology utilised in this study will allow for the detection of exit routing traffic and the logging of all Dark Web traffics areas omitted from the previous studies. This study does not confine the declassification of onion addresses to specific content types and aims to log all exit routing traffics, undertake a comprehensive declassification of websites visited by clients and obtain the Internet Protocol Addresses (IP) of these clients. The analysis of the sample results reveals that in the South African context, Dark Web traffic is mainly directed to social media websites. There are however causes for concerns as there are illicit activities occurring that include the sale of drugs, visiting of child pornographic websites, and the sale of weapons. Finally, the study presents evidence that exit routing traffic by the TOR node is limited to a large number of different countries some of which have serious Internet censorship laws.
Perceptions on transparency, accountability, and public access to information in teacher recruitment processes of a selected circuit in Pinetown District, KwaZulu-Natal
(2023-06-15) Phokoye, Samkelisiwe; Moyane, Smangele Pretty; Nkomo, N
Globally, transparency, accountability and public access to information are dominant operational principles for good governance. They have been recognized to be of significance for addressing developmental failures and democratic deficits. Within the South African government, the Department of Basis Education has been experiencing a continuous challenge regarding transparency, accountability, and public access to information. The hiring procedures for educators are seemingly being manipulated. This study set out to examine perceptions on transparency, accountability, and public access to information in teacher recruitment processes of a selected circuit in Pinetown District, KwaZulu-Natal. The objectives to achieve the above aim were to establish perceptions on the factors that influence the availability or lack of transparency, accountability, and public access to information in teacher recruitment processes of a selected circuit in Pinetown District, ascertain measures that are in place for transparency, accountability, and public access to information in teacher recruitment processes of a selected circuit in Pinetown District, and determine strategies that need to be established to build transparency, accountability, and public access to information in teacher recruitment processes of a selected circuit in Pinetown District. The study was guided by Batho Pele principles of 1997 as a conceptual framework that institutionalizes transparency in the provision of information. According to Pietersen (2014) this principle was implemented with a focus to improving service delivery in the educational system of South Africa which has shifted to the local administrative level and more especially to educational districts An interpretivism was adopted allowing qualitative approach within a survey research design. The populations targeted were school principals, members of unions, members of school governing bodies and circuit managers. A census was employed in targeting school principals. Members of school governing bodies and unions were targeted within the schools. Qualitative data was analyzed through thematic analysis. The study findings outlined the importance of transparency, accountability and public access to information in teacher recruitment processes. It was however, shown that there is no satisfaction on how transparency, accountability and public access to information in teacher recruitment processes is conducted within the Department of Basic Education. The study findings revealed that the factors that influence the availability or lack of transparency, accountability, and public access to information in teacher recruitment processes in the Pinetown District were the failure of stakeholders to adhere to the procedures, stakeholders to departure from their initial roles, and excessive intervention. The research also revealed that there are procedures in place, such as Personnel Administrative Measures, to ensure openness, responsibility, and public to information in the Department of Education. As a strategy, stakeholders should adhere to the Batho Pele principles, there should also be an improvement from the government initiatives to promote transparency, accountability, and public access to information in teacher recruitment processes.
Predicting serious crime trends in South Africa using data analytic techniques
(2024) Falope, Olayemi Success; Thakur, Surendra Colin
This dissertation aims to investigate the application of data analytics in forecasting serious crime trends in South Africa. The escalating rates of serious crimes, including homicide, robbery, and sexual assault, present significant challenges to the country's economic growth and the safety of its citizens. Recent South African crime statistics indicate a notable increase of over 9.6% in serious crimes, rising from 444,452 incidents in December 2021 to 486,960 in December 2022. This upward trajectory underscores the urgency to predict future serious crimes preemptively, facilitating the development of proactive strategies by law enforcement agencies, policymakers, and community organizations to prevent and mitigate criminal activities. To achieve this objective, this study employs a comprehensive dataset comprising historical crime records and spatial data to analyse serious crime trends across South Africa's nine provinces from 2005 to 2020. Data pre-processing techniques are applied to clean and normalize the data, ensuring its suitability for subsequent analysis. Exploratory data analysis is conducted using Python (Anaconda) and the Flourish studio environment to identify patterns, relationships, and potentially influential factors associated with serious crimes in South Africa. Various data analytics techniques, including machine learning algorithms, time series analysis, and spatial analysis, are utilized to construct models for predicting serious crime trends. These predictive models are trained using historical crime data and relevant contextual features, facilitating the identification of patterns and correlations that could inform future crime trends. The evaluation of these predictive models involves rigorous performance metrics and validation techniques to assess their predictive power, stability, and generalizability. The results reveal an increase in serious crime across South Africa, with certain provinces emerging as hotspots for specific serious crimes, such as Gauteng with a 21% increase in sexual crimes, KwaZulu-Natal with a 23.1% increase in murders, and the Western Cape with a 38% increase in drug-related crimes. This dissertation contributes to the field of crime analysis by presenting a comprehensive approach to predicting serious crime trends in South Africa. The insights gained from this research can inform the development of proactive strategies and resource allocation by law enforcement agencies, policymakers, and community organizations to address serious crimes effectively. Furthermore, this study lays the groundwork for future research in crime prediction and prevention, highlighting the potential of data analytics techniques in tackling complex societal issues. Future research may explore advanced techniques such as ensemble learning and deep learning to enhance the accuracy and robustness of predictive models.
Radio and satellite tracking and detecting systems for maritime applications
(2015-01-15) Skoryk, Ivan; Olugbara, Oludayo O.; Ilčev, Dimov Stojče
The work described in this thesis summarizes the author’s contributions to the design, development and testing of embedded solutions for maritime Radio and Satellite tracking and detecting systems. In order to provide reliable tracking and detecting facilities of ships have to be integrated Convectional Maritime Radio Communications (CMRC) and Maritime Mobile Satellite Communications (MMSC) systems. On the other hand, Global Mobile Satellite Communications (GMSC) as a part of Global Communication Satellite Systems (GCSS) has to be integrated with Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) of the US GPS or Russian GLONASS systems. The proposed local maritime Radio VHF Communication, Navigation and Surveillance (CNS) systems and devices, such as Radio Automatic Identification System (R-AIS) or VHF Data Link (VDL), Radio Automatic Dependent Surveillance - Broadcast (RADS-B) and GNSS Augmentation VDL-Broadcast (GAVDL-B) are introduced. The new technology deigns of global Satellite CNS maritime equipment and systems, such as Global Ship Tracking (GST) as enhanced Long Range Identification and Tracking (LRIT), Satellite AIS (S-AIS), Satellite Data Link (SDL), Satellite Automatic Dependent Surveillance - Broadcast (SADS-B) and GNSS Augmentation SDL (GASDL) are discussed and benefits of these new technologies and solution for improved Ship Traffic Control (STC) and Management (STM) are explored. The regional maritime CNS solutions via Stratospheric Communication Platforms (SCP), tracking of ships at sea via Space Synthetic Aperture Radar (SSAR) or Inverse Synthetic Aperture Radar (ISAR)and Ground Synthetic Aperture Radar (GSAR) are described. The special tracking systems for collision avoidance with enhanced safety and security at sea including solutions of captured ships by pirates through aids of the MMSC, SCP and Radars are introduced and the testing methodologies employed to qualify embedded hardware for this environment are presented. During the voyage of the ship in good weather conditions and when navigation devices on the bridge are in order, then can be used very well AIS, LRIT, anti-collision Radar and other on-board equipment. However, at very bad weather conditions sometimes surveillance Radar and Radio HF Transceiver cannot work, but may work only GPS Receiver and L/C-band Satellite Transceiver, while Radio VHF Transceiver will have extremely reduced coverage, what is not enough for safe navigation and collision avoidance. Therefore, during those critical circumstances, when the safety of navigations very important, it will be not necessary to ask "Where am I", but "Where are nearby ships around me"? At this point, it should be needed the newest techniques and equipment for enhanced STC and STM, such as GST, S-AIS, SDL, SADS-B and GASDL. Terrorists exploit surprise in successful pirate actions worldwide and security forces are generally unaware of the source of these attacks at sea. In today’s information age, terror threats may originate with transnational organizations or exploit the territory of failed, weak or neutral states. Thus, countering piracy by eliminating the terrorists on land is the best solution, however, it might not be feasible and even though it’s successful could require many years. In the thesis, the general overview of Radio and Mobile Satellite Systems (MSS) for ship communication and tracking systems is conducted as well, including the space platform and orbital mechanics, horizon and geographic satellite coordinates and classification of spacecraft by Geostationary Earth Orbits (GEO) and Non-GEO orbits.
Strategies employed for the sustainability of township tourism small medium and micro enterprises
(2022-09-23) Mokoena, Sinenhlanhla Lerato; Moyane, Smangele Pretty; Nkomo, N.
The Small, Micro, and Medium Enterprises (SMMEs) sector is perceived as an economic engine for many countries. SMMEs are viewed as the primary creators and drivers of new businesses in the South African economy. The township tourism SMMEs are critical to the upliftment of the rural and township economies, however, they remain marginalized, continue to struggle to be sustainable, and face a variety of challenges that have a negative impact on their contribution to economic growth. This study aimed to examine the strategies employed for the sustainability of township tourism SMMEs. The objectives were to identify SMMEs involved in tourism in the townships, establish factors influencing the sustainability of SMMEs in the township, and determine the competitive strategy for the sustainability of tourism SMMEs in the townships. To guide the present inquiry, Porter’s Five Force’s for Industry Analysis (1980) was employed. A positivist research paradigm was adopted, through a quantitative approach and a survey research design. The population targeted for this study were township tourism SMMEs operating in UMlazi Township in KwaZulu Natal. There being no reliab le available sampling frame, a non-probability sampling strategy was adopted. Within non-probability, snowball sampling was used. Through the sampling strategy, owners and/ or managers of township tourism SMMEs were purposively approached and they suggested other SMMEs to consider for inclusion. A questionnaire was used for gathering data. Data was analyzed using descriptive statistics, presented in tables, graphs, and percentages. The leading township tourism attractions in Umlazi were found to be in the lifestyle and entertainment category in particular food, beverage, and accommodation. In this regard, restaurants and BnBs dominated. Most SMMEs have been operating between 1-3 years and the majority were Micro enterprises. The number of registered and non-registered SMMEs was nearly equal, a larger number of SMMEs were located in fixed physical structures, with a smaller number offering mobile service/non-fixed services and/or operating online. A high number of businesses were located in residential areas, next to the taxi rank, and operated as sole proprietors and informal businesses.The most influential factors affecting the sustainability of township tourism SMMEs were the lack of funding, strong business competition, poor business location, lack of business skills, and high crime rate. It was revealed that only a few entrepreneurs applied a competitive strategy. Some of the used competitive strategies included registration of the businesses with the Department of Small Business Development, social media marketing, and bulk buying. The study recommends township tourism SMME diversification instead of the current focus which is food, beverage, and accommodation. SMMEs should consider operating their business remotely and/ or mobile non-fixed physical structures, as well as having a web presence and optimizing location to improve sustainability given that some of their sustainability are curtailed by their non-optimal location.
Towards real-time tracking of persons in distress phase situations using emotional physiological signals
(2019) Abayomi, Abdultaofeek; Olugbara, Oludayo O.; Heukelman, Delene
This research work investigates physiological signals based human emotion and its incorporation in an affective system architecture for real-time tracking of persons in distress phase situations to prevent the occurrence of casualties. In a casualty situation, a mishap has already occurred leading to life, limb and valuables being in a state of peril. However, in a distress phase situation, there is a high likelihood that a tragedy is about to occur unless an immediate assistance is rendered. The distress phase situations include the spate of kidnapping, human trafficking and terrorism related crimes that could lead to casualty such as loss of lives, properties, finances and destruction of infrastructure. These situations are of global concern and worldwide phenomenon that necessitate a system that could mitigate the alarming trend of social crimes. The novel idea of deploying a combination of data and knowledge driven approaches using wearable sensor devices supported by machine learning methods could prove useful as a preventive mechanism in a distress phase situation. Such a system could be achieved through modelling human emotion recognition, including the harvesting and recognising human emotion physiological signals. Different methods have been applied in emotion recognition domain because the extraction of relevant discriminating features has been identified as an unresolved and one of the most daunting aspects of physiological signals based human emotion recognition system. In this thesis, emotion physiological signals, image processing technique and shallow learning based on radial basis function neural network were used to construct a system for real-time tracking of persons in distress phase situations. The system was tested using the Database for Emotion Analysis using Physiological Signal (DEAP) to ascertain the recognition performance that could be achieved. Emotion representations such as Arousal, Valence, Dominance and Liking have been creatively mapped to different conditions of human safety and survival state like happy phase, distress phase and casualty phase in a real-time system for tracking of persons. The constructed system can practically benefit security agencies, emergency services, rescue teams and restore confidence to both the potential victims and their family by proactively providing assistance in an emergency event of a distress phase situation. Moreover, the system would prove beneficial in stemming the tide of the identified societal crimes and tragedies by thwarting the successful progress of a distress phase situation through an application of information communication technology to address critical societal challenges. The performance of the recognition algorithmic component of the constructed system gives accuracy that outperforms the state of the art results based on deep learning techniques.
Transformation of the commercial property sector for the realisation of its economic benefits : an exploratory study of key stakeholders' perspectives in South Africa
(2021-10-29) Mpungose, Buyisiwe Poletty; Moyane, Smangele Pretty; Nkomo, Ntando
Diverse sectors of the economy in democratic South Africa have transformed, however, the commercial property sector is still characterised as a domain of inequality. It is recognised that for generations, significant numbers of South Africans never experienced formal property ownership and its wealth creation benefits. This racially based inequality of the commercial property sector requires transformation. It is claimed that the South African commercial property sector is slow on transformation. The widely alluded justification for lack of transformation is that laws enacted before the democratic government were not transformative. Undoing the legacies of apartheid and colonialism requires profound societal transformation. It was thus critical to conduct a research with an aim to explore a study of key stakeholders’ perspectives in transformation of the commercial property sector for the realisation of its economic benefits in South Africa. The objectives of this study was to determine from stakeholders’ perspectives in the commercial property sector on whether there is transformation and identify factors that are affecting transformation of the commercial property sector from stakeholders’ perspectives and subsequently the realisation of commercial property sector’s economic benefits. The study adopted the transformation theory propagated by Jack Mezirow in 1978 as a conceptual framework underpinning the study. The transformation theory views democratic societal changes as being agentic, inclusive, open, seeking social justice and equity. A post-positivist research paradigm was adopted. The research adopted a qualitative approach and an exploratory research design. The population for the study was identified through purposive sampling and comprised of the Senior Executives from eight stakeholders in the commercial property sector: Property Sector Chartered Council, five South African commercial banks (Standard Bank, ABSA Bank, First National Bank, Nedbank and Capitec Bank), Department of National Public Works and Provincial Public Works. Snowball sampling was also adopted to obtain the perspectives of other stakeholders of the sector. A semi-structured telephonically interview schedule was used to collect data. Data was analysed through descriptive statistics and thematic content analysis. The study findings emanating from the literature and respondents suggested that policy frameworks need to be reviewed and enforced as the first point of departure. Secondly, lack of information must be resolved by introducing technology that has features of transparency, traceability, accessibility, and enhanced security. The third factor is the ownership of commercial property sector, its value chain and economic spin offs through an inclusive approach to ensure economic and societal balances. This takes a political slant and may be hard to debate. However, this research is timely, topical and addressed an important issue, which has both policy and practical implications for the future economic growth and development of the commercial property sector transformation.