Central University of Technology

About: Central University of Technology is a education organization based out in Bloemfontein, South Africa. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Higher education & Population. The organization has 852 authors who have published 1478 publications receiving 13171 citations. The organization is also known as: Technikon Free State & Central University of Technology Free State.

A Survey of Network and Intelligent air pollution monitoring in South Africa

Abstract: Air pollution is one of the largest environmental and public health challenges in the world today. It leads to adverse effects on human health, climate and the ecosystem. Many techniques for monitoring air pollution have been applied over the years. This paper discusses a survey of air pollution monitoring and what has been done to alleviate its effects. Various air polluting methods are discussed based on recent literature. A further discussion is included to expose the ills of air pollution and how various studies have sought to solve the problem. A special emphasis on South Africa is considered whereby rising levels of pollution is prevalent due to industrial and traffic radiation. The studies show that South Africa is still faced with a crisis in infrastructure. Furthermore, this research focuses on intelligent air pollution monitoring and deliberates on its applications and benefits.

Effective use of Budgeting as a Tool Towards Financial Management in Schools in Lejweleputswa District

Abstract: In South Africa, public schools are expected to do their utmost to improve the quality of education. However, a notion exists that for a school to improve the quality of education, enough resources should be available. Although this notion is critical, it is the argument of this article that school financial management capacity is also a challenge in most of the public schools in South Africa. In this regard, the study, attempted to establish the effectiveness of budgeting in the public schools to ensure that quality education is promoted; and whether parents in the SGBs are knowledgeable enough to prepare the school budgets. In order to realise these objectives, an empirical study was undertaken, following the literature study which formed its basis. The findings confirmed that knowledge of budgeting as an aspect of financial management is lacking or inadequate in some schools. This is demonstrated by the level of contradictions of schools in meeting their basic needs, such as procurement of books and other materials. Consequently, it was recommended that capacity building endeavours should focus on financial planning, communication, decision-making, organising, delegating, coordinating, leading, and controlling in order to bring about effective financial management in public schools.

Ethical perceptions of employees in small retailing firms: A case of indigenous-owned fast-food outlets in Zimbabwe

Abstract: Background: Although the subject of ethical business practices has a well-established tradition in large corporations where shareholder value maximisation is largely dependent on such entities’ conduct of good business ethics, its investigation in small businesses in agile, economically depressed economies such as that of Zimbabwe has targeted business owners and managers but excluded their employees. Given the middleman role that employees of emerging indigenous-owned retail firms play in the distribution chain from manufacturers to the consumers, the ethical perceptions of these employees are critical to the leveraging of businesses’ strategic orientations. Employees are the coal face of the firm, withering intense competition from these firms’ rivals and achieving the firms’ strategic orientations (profitability, market share, business growth and survival). In order to meet stakeholder expectations simultaneously largely depends on the ethical conduct of such employees. Aim: The overall aim of this study is to contribute to ethical theory and literature by demonstrating how employees’ ethical perceptions and behaviour shape the strategic orientations of the business. To achieve this aim, the study sought to: (1) establish the typical ethical dilemmas that employees of these retail firms faced in their daily tasks, (2) assess how they responded to these ethical challenges, (3) ascertain whether demographic factors such as age, level of education, gender and their position in the organisational hierarchy influence their reaction to ethical dilemmas; and (4) determine these employees’ overall perceptions of ethical issues within their organisations. Setting: The study was conducted on employees of an indigenous-owned fast-food firm operating in two cities in Zimbabwe. Methods: A survey was conducted on 108 employees working in two cities. A structured questionnaire was developed and administered to the employees. Results: The results suggested that a majority of the respondents were ethically conscious and could make ethical choices. In addition, most respondents deemed the ethical scenarios presented to them as morally wrong, suggesting that the surveyed employees wished to engage in ethical behaviour. However, while the respondents were deemed to be ethically astute in their individual capacities, they seemed to lack an in-depth knowledge of the ethical policies of their organisation. Conclusion: The study concludes that owners and managers of small firms should provide interventions to cascade ethical policy to the lower ranks of the organisation to enhance the ethical perception amongst employees of these firms. The study implication is that an institutional top-down approach is critical to embedding ethical sensitivity into employees without which employees may continue to speculate about the business ethics of their organisation.

Exploring policy compliance of the South African informal milk-producing segment

Abstract: Our study assessed whether municipal health services were informed about and exerted adequate control over the informal milk-producing sector in South Africa. The results indicated that municipal health services had limited control. Only one municipality was authorised to allow the sale of raw milk in its area. In most metropolitan and district municipalities, the distribution of raw milk continues, even where no statutory investigations assessed the ability to control the practice. The national and provincial government should recognise and support capacity building to enable municipalities to exercise power and perform their functions regarding informal milk distribution, part of the informal sector that has provided opportunities for employment and additional income. This constitutes a challenge particularly in monitoring and control of high-risk foods.

Surface morphology characterisation for parts produced by the high speed selective laser melting

Abstract: Additive Manufacturing (AM) systems are unique in terms of fast production and lead time to market. South Africa has built the AM Laser Powder Bed Fusion (LPBF) machine called Aeroswift with the world’s largest build volume and highest speed. Surface roughness of LPBF parts depends on process-parameters. High surface roughness and deformations during processing limit the application of this technology for certain industrial applications that require high precision. This study characterises the surface roughness for self-supported parallelepipeds samples produced using the Aeroswift platform. Test artefact parallelepipeds were built with 090 degrees sloping angles with respect to the building direction. Surface roughness for the asbuilt samples was analysed using Mitutoyo SURFTEST SJ-210 system and Zeiss Smartzoom 5 digital microscope. It was found that roughness values were higher for the bottom surfaces (overhang part) compared to upward surfaces, as expected. This was attributed to the higher amount of attached partially melted powder particles that were observed on the downward surface. Absolute values of Ra and Rz versus scanning direction and slope angle were found and analysed.