UWCScholar

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Artificial intelligence in student affairs and services: a global study on adoption, perceptions, and ethical considerations
(Journal of Student Affairs Research and Practice, 2026) Schreiber, Birgit; Luescher, Thierry M.; Perozzi, Brett; Bardill Moscaritolo, Lisa
Rapid advancement of artificial intelligence is transforming higher education, including student affairs and services (SAS). This study presents findings from a global survey of SAS practitioners examining adoption, perceptions, and ethics regarding AI integration in their work. Drawing on a Technology Acceptance Model and AI literacy framework, the study explores perceived usefulness, ease of use, benefits, concerns, and ethical considerations associated with AI tools in SAS practice across the globe.
Access to basic education in Joe Gqabi District Municipality: an assessment of factors hindering children with disabilities from low-income communities
(University of the Western Cape, 2025) Yeki, Namhla; Koskimaki, Leah
Since the end of apartheid, the South African government has aimed to build a more inclusive education system, based on the right to education as guaranteed in the Constitution. Despite this inclusive policy, children with disabilities, particularly those in rural and low-income communities, continue to face challenges and barriers in accessing quality basic education. Research on disabilities has often focused more on providing social protection, and more research is needed on the agency and empowerment on youth with disabilities, incorporate the voices of youth and community organizations on how to overcome these challenges.
A critical analysis of the development of a culture measurement framework within a public organisation in the Western Cape, South Africa
(University of the Western Cape, 2026) Abrahams, Nazreen; Abrahams, Fatima
Organisational culture, understood as the interplay of shared assumptions, espoused values, and observable practices, plays a significant role in shaping behaviour and influencing organisational performance. Although frequently regarded as difficult to quantify, culture can be meaningfully examined through theoretically grounded and methodologically robust approaches. In the public organisation (PO) examined in this study, culture had historically been assessed through a single-index, values-based survey focused primarily on espoused values. While useful for awareness-raising, this approach offered limited insight into behavioural enactment, underlying assumptions, or the implications of cultural misalignment for service delivery. As organisational culture increasingly emerged as a cross-cutting influence on strategic execution, performance, and citizen outcomes, the need for a more integrative and diagnostic measurement approach became evident. The aim of this study was to adapt existing organisational culture measurement approaches, informed by Schein’s three-layer model, to the public-sector context; to integrate these adapted elements into a Culture Measurement Framework (CMF); and subsequently to test the resulting framework using multiple sources of organisational evidence within a Western Cape PO. Drawing on Schein’s three-level model of organisational culture, the framework was operationalised through data triangulation across employee experience (EX), organisational performance indicators (PI), and citizen experience (CX), with the intention of supporting evidence-informed cultural alignment.
Defamation of character: a forensic linguistics and comparative study of Namibia and South Africa
(University of the Western Cape, 2026) Ndatyapo, Ndamononghenda Ndalipo; Ralarala, Monwabisi K.
Many studies have been conducted from a forensic linguistics perspective within the African continent and, more popularly, in Southern Africa, with a focus on linguistic diversity and multilingualism, among others (Kaschula et al., 2025; Ralarala et al., 2025). This study investigates defamation of character within forensic linguistics and legal linguistics contexts and involves a comparative analysis of Namibia and South Africa to explore how language is used to construct and legally interpret defamatory remarks. Although the two countries’ constitutions place limitations on the freedom of the press and speech, some individuals still violate these limitations and inflict harm on the reputation of public figures, violating their dignity and privacy. Hence, the study examines the causes of defamation, impacts on the victims, freedom of the press and speech, legal consequences and possible ways in which the two legal systems can mitigate the increase in online defamation. The study employs a qualitative approach and draws on the four principles of Grice’s maxims (Grice, 1975) and seven principles of the Honeycomb Model (Kietzmann et al., 2011) to analyse and interpret the data. Through analysis and linguistic techniques, data from nine semi-structured interviews and ten judgments in defamation cases derived equally from each country, the findings reveal how language is used as an instrument to defame others. The findings identify the main linguistic and social motives of defamation, along with their manifestations: emotions (like jealousy and boredom); attention-seeking (shows of deliberate, victim-discrediting malice through desiring ‘likes’ on social media platforms); and political motives. The findings reveal the severe, long-lasting impact on victims of defamation due to online users’ presence: reputational damage, moral harm, emotional anguish, financial loss, as well as business injury. Further, the study explores the balance between freedom of the press and expression and protection against defamation, showing how linguistic choices contribute to reputational harm.
Artificial intelligence and the rights of asylum seekers and refugees: considerations for the regulation of AI in Africa
(University of the Western Cape, 2026) Chukwuma, Obinna Victor; Oriakhogba, Desmond
Asylum seekers and refugees in Africa are at a critical juncture, faced with the rapidly increasing move by states to deploy artificial intelligence (AI) technologies for border control and refugee management. Due to the unique ability of AI to perform tasks that are commonly associated with humans, as well as the heavy promotion of its potentials, it has become the focus of many African governments. However, the increasing recourse to these novel technologies by African states in asylum and refugee contexts is a trend being copied from Western countries where these technologies are designed and deployed to curb unwanted migration. This thesis, therefore, critically investigates how the deployment of AI in Africa’s asylum and refugee terrain affects the rights of asylum seekers and refugees. It argues that notwithstanding the benefits of AI, deploying it without adequate regulation will violate the rights of asylum seekers and refugees and exacerbate the continent’s refugee crisis. Considering that Africa’s asylum and refugee settings are already plagued by human rights violations, persistent violent conflicts and socio-economic injustice, placing uncritical faith in AI technologies in such contexts is perilous to the interests of asylum seekers and refugees. Using the theoretical frameworks of decoloniality, critical race, and ubuntu, this thesis critiques the effectiveness of current regulatory frameworks to protect asylum seekers and refugees in Africa from the negative effects of AI. It propounds policy considerations to guide the regulation of AI deployment. Drawing lessons from the European Union and the United States of America, it recommends the adoption of a special binding AI treaty for the protection of asylum seekers and refugees in Africa. Finally, it urges policymakers to adopt a more concerted approach to the use of AI in Africa’s unique refugee and asylum context.