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Exploring the perceptions and attitudes of households towards solid waste management in Fisantekraal, Cape Town.
(University of the Western Cape, 2024) Richards, Lauren Tamsyn
Waste conscious attitudes and pro-environmental behaviour must become second nature, to achieve environmental sustainability, indefinitely. Solid waste management is inextricably linked to quality of life and environmental degradation. If responsible and ethical solid waste management practices do not become an inherent aspect of everyday life, then our planet and future generations will suffer greatly. As a result, this study is focused on the perceptions and attitudes of households, towards solid waste management in Fisantekraal, Cape Town. Two research sites were consulted, the RDP households and the informal settlement, to determine how influential perceptions have been, regarding the solid waste management practices of low-income households. A qualitative research design was adopted, as the study seeks to explore perceptions, subjective experiences and socialisation in relation to household solid waste management. Additionally, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 16 research participants. Thematic analysis was applied to the empirical results and identified structural factors like dwelling type and service delivery, economic factors and pro-environmental behaviour, family life and social norms, and education and level of awareness as influential systems that largely affect the way low-income households perceive solid waste management. Socio-economic status, job insecurity, service delivery and a lack of awareness negatively impacts aspirations of sustainable household solid waste management in the informal settlement. Alternatively, research participants from households located in the RDP settlement, indicated that they had incorporated the 5R waste methodology into their solid waste management practices. As these participants actively choose to refuse, reduce, reuse, repurpose and recycle their household waste. In order to ensure that appropriate waste disposal methods are acquired. Lastly, Pierre Bourdieu’s Practice Theory underpins the study as it infers that patterns of social life dictate perceptions, thoughts and behavioural traits.
“Times and seasons”: childhood and the child’s body in selected works of William Wordsworth and Olive Schreiner
(Univeristy of the Western Cape, 2024) Jaftha, Tamzine
Romanticism’s emergence in the late eighteenth century was rooted in a critical conversation and counter with the structured ideals of the Enlightenment preceding it. In literature, the Romantic movement sought to reconnect to and celebrate the beauty of nature, encouraged individualism, the expression of emotion and the inner self. Along with this, Romanticism emphasised the importance of preserving and appreciating the natural environment and that the human’s reconnection to nature will evoke and renew their sense of wonder of self and the self in nature. William Wordsworth became a well-known revered literary voice as a Romantic poet in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries as his works greatly reflected the tenets of the time. Along with other British Romantic canon writers such as Samuel Coleridge, Lord Byron, Percy Shelley, William Blake and John Keats, Wordsworth valorised the Imagination, human beings’ connection with the natural environment, aesthetic sensibility and the landscape. In some of his work he particularly focuses on the child and childhood as symbols of purity and innocence to portray the themes of nostalgia, memory and a sentimental attachment to childhood as a kind of utopia. The portrayal of the child and childhood in his works signified a way of using memory and the Imagination to reconnect to nature as the Divine. During the Victorian period, which succeeds Romanticism, Olive Schreiner emerged as an author in South Africa during the mid-nineteenth century, her works portraying New Woman ideals inherited from Romanticism valorising individual freedom found in the child’s communion with nature in The Story of an African Farm (1883). It is also the argument of this thesis that Schreiner is an heiress of Romanticism, read palpably and subtly in her first published novel that both endorses and departs from both Romanticism and Victorian ideals in interesting ways.
Upscaling effect in the preparation of metal hydride materials
(University of the Western Cape, 2024) Martin Tayla Chirie
The preparation of Ti-Zr based AB2 alloys where A=Ti, Zr ; B= Mn,Cr, Ni, Fe, V, Cu for use in hydrogen storage was investigated. In Ti-Zr based AB2 metal hydrides, the effects of composition, microstructure, and hydrogen sorption properties were examined using Scanning electron microscope (SEM), Energy dispersive x-ray spectroscopy (EDS), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and Sievert’s type Pressure composition temperature (PCT) measurements. Alloys were prepared by arc melting and induction melting. Ti0.85Zr0.15Cr0.2Mn1.22Ni0.22V0.3Fe0.06 alloy prepared by arc melting served as the base alloy. The EDS and XRD revealed that the alloy contained no impurities with a single C14 Laves phase
and had a maximum storage capacity of 1.8 wt.% H2 at 20C . The base alloy additionally doped with Lanthanum (Ti0.85Zr0.15Cr0.2Mn1.22Ni0.22V0.3Fe0.06La0.02) was prepared by induction melting with an alumo-silica crucible and graphite crucible, respectively. The alumo-silica crucible was coated with a Y2O3 slurry, whereas the graphite crucible was coated with Mo slurry + (Y2O3 + Mo) + Y2O3 slurry. However, even though coated with Y2O3, the XRD revealed an impurity phase in both alloys (La2TiO5) with an additional impurity phase in the alloy prepared by alumo-silica crucible (Ti,Zr)O2. The transmission electron microscope (TEM) results showed that the alloy prepared with alumo
silica crucible had the poorest crystallinity due to the additional impurity phase, whereas the alloy prepared with graphite crucible had the highest degree of crystallinity. In addition, the atomic emission spectroscopy (AES) results showed that alloy prepared by alumo silica crucible had the maximum amount of oxygen whereas the oxygen content decreased by 3% for the alloy prepared with graphite crucible. Finally, the hydrogen storage capacity decreased from the initial 1.8 wt.% to 1.36 wt.% and 1.5 wt.%, for alloy prepared with the alumo silica crucible and graphite crucible, respectively. Oxygen was introduced to the base alloy (Ti0.85Zr0.15Cr0.2Mn1.22Ni0.22V0.3Fe0.06O0.05) to investigate its influence on the alloy’s performance. The SEM/EDS results of the alloy modified by oxygen showed that the surface contained more cracks than the unmodified alloy (base alloy). In addition, the total oxygen impurity was 0.78% from EDS data. The XRD revealed that both the unmodified and modified oxygen alloy consisted of the main C14 Laves phase and also an impurity phase of η-phase (Ti4Fe2O1-x). The reason for the impurity phase in the unmodified alloy was due to the commercial use of ferrovanadium (FeV). The hydrogen absorption kinetics revealed that the hydrogen intake for the oxygen-modified alloy was slower after activation by vacuum heating. However, in the non-activated state, the hydrogen intake was immediate due to the impurity phase acting as a catalyst, but this ultimately caused a decrease in hydrogen storage capacity. The effect of changing the Ti/Zr ratio on hydrogen sorption performance of TixZryCr0.2Mn1.22Ni0.22V0.3Fe0.06 (x=0.9,0.8; y=0.1, 0.2) was also studied. The EDS data revealed that despite having Cr and Fe in the composition, it was absent in the EDS data. This may be due to the increase in Ti content since the atomic radii is larger than Cr and Fe and may occupy the B-sites of Cr and Fe. By increasing the Zr content, the lattice parameter and unit cell volume increased due to the larger Zr atomic radius than the Ti one. However, this led to
a decrease in hydrogen storage capacity. A substitution of a cheaper alternative material such as FeV was also investigated. The Ti0.85Zr0.15Cr0.2Mn1.2Ni0.22Cu0.02FeV0.42 showed to exhibit a single C14 phase in the XRD, however in the EDS data a minor silicon impurity was found. The hydrogen storage capacity compared to the base alloy, decreased to 1.5 wt.%. Finally, the effect of changing Mn/Cr ratio by Ti0.85Zr0.15CrxMnyNi0.22V0.3Fe0.06 (x=0,0.3,0.6;
y=1.4, 1.1, 0.8) showed to have a decrease in hydrogen storage capacity with increasing Cr content. However, the hydrogen capacity with the alloy containing no Cr, showed to have a higher maximum hydrogen storage capacity than the base alloy.
Designing a virtual geological field trip based on geo-cognition principles
(University of the Western Cape, 2024) Maart Rudy B.
This thesis investigates the design of Virtual Field Trips (VFT) using geocognition principles for geology education. As traditional in-person field trips face logistical, financial and accessibility challenges, this study explores Virtual Field Trip as a complementary tool. The VFT were created using high-resolution photography and geocognitive frameworks to create overlays and info text to highlight important features the students should be aware of when exploring an outcrop. The effectiveness of the VFT's design was tested on two first-year cohorts at the University of the Western Cape. Through a pre- & post-assessment approach, the learning gained from the VFTs was analysized. The results showed that the concepts that the VFTs explicitly showed, showed significant learning gained and the concepts that were merely implied showed little learning gained. Reflective feedback from the students emphasize the visual detail and interactive elements enhanced their understanding, though they recognized the importance of multimedia enhancements and instructor-led engagement. While VFTs are not meant to replace in-person field trips, they do offer a valuable and versatile educational tool. This study recommends the continued use and development of VFTs within the geosciences
Housing implementation in Joe Slovo residential area: its challenges and possible solutions
(University of the Western Cape, 2024) Mottie Mercia
After apartheid ended in 1994, South Africa anticipated better living conditions and an even better quality of life for all. However, 30 years have passed, yet many still live in informal settlements with poor conditions, waiting for the government to address inequality. The housing backlog continues to grow, prompting the re-evaluation of previous housing development plans and the launch of new strategies. This study (desktop) focuses on the housing crisis in South Africa, a major and escalating problem. The democratic government in 1996 introduced a Reconstruction and Development Programme to address, in part, the housing problems. The housing programme faced challenges like lack of local government capacity, corruption, and insufficient consultation with beneficiaries. Urbanisation exacerbated the issue as rural migrants moved to cities for employment. Nothing much has changed. The research centres on Joe Slovo, an informal settlement located on the N2 highway as part of the N2 Gateway Project. The latter was intended to be a model for housing development. This study investigates low-cost housing delivery in post-apartheid South Africa, focusing on the N2 Gateway Project. The research explores the intersection of historical socio-economic disparities, rapid urbanisation, and government efforts to address housing backlogs through developmental policies. South Africa’s housing initiatives, the Reconstruction and Development Programme (RDP) and Breaking New Ground (BNG), aimed to correct apartheid-era spatial injustices; however, these policies often encountered limitations in practical application, notably due to bureaucratic constraints, limited local government resources, and inconsistent community engagement. The N2 Gateway Project exemplifies these challenges and serves as a case study for evaluating the effectiveness of low-cost housing
initiatives. Key findings indicate that despite significant progress in subsidised housing provision, systemic issues hamper sustainable housing development. The N2 Gateway project challenges include inadequate community involvement, high construction costs, bureaucratic delays, and poor-quality infrastructure in some housing units. Nonetheless, successes have been noted, such as the creation of local employment opportunities, environmentally sustainable elements
like solar water heaters, and partial alleviation of housing shortages. These outcomes underscore the importance of fostering a transparent, community-driven approach in housing projects to improve acceptance and reduce social resistance. The study's recommendations highlight the need for stronger policy frameworks, which include enforceable guidelines for community participation and enhanced local government accountability in housing projects. Strengthening local government through better resource allocation and training in project management, community engagement, and transparent governance could reduce corruption, accelerate project timelines, and improve housing quality. Additionally, an incremental, flexible approach to informal settlement upgrading is
recommended to address immediate needs without the social upheaval associated with large- scale relocations. Implications for practice suggest that municipalities adopt dynamic, iterative planning tools like the Integrated Development Plan (IDP) to coordinate housing and service delivery in high- htps://uwcscholar.uwc.ac.za/home iv growth urban areas efficiently. Future research should focus on the long-term socio-economic impacts of housing projects on residents, assess the effectiveness of decentralised governance, and examine the sustainability of housing initiatives concerning social and environmental
outcomes. In conclusion, this study emphasises that overcoming South Africa’s housing challenges requires an inclusive, community-centred approach that addresses both housing needs and broader socio-economic goals. Enhanced intergovernmental cooperation, a refined focus on incremental upgrades, and an increased emphasis on community engagement are essential for creating equitable urban environments.