Investment Risk Tolerance amongst South African University Students in the Vaal Triangle Area

Analysing students risk tolerance during the investor life cycle is imperative to students and financial planners alike, to facilitate the implementation of suitable investments and investment strategies. Students in universities do not have the required knowledge to invest and this is why an investment framework was created to assist, guide and inform students of what stage of the individual investor life cycle that they are in and suggest suitable investment strategies. The article implemented a quantitative approach, using secondary data analysis. The data used for the analysis is from a self-administered questionnaire in 2017 that was distributed to a sample of 396 students from two higher education institutions in the Vaal Triangle region. Two validated risk tolerance scales were used to analyse students risk tolerance levels. The objective of this paper was to determine the risk tolerance levels of students in the Vaal Triangle region. The two results from the 13-item scale and the single-item scale for measuring risk tolerance indicated that the students have a medium risk tolerance level.

The quality of the first and second Vaal Triangle Airshed Priority Area (VTAPA) Air Quality Management Plans

In response to deteriorating air quality, South Africa implemented national programmes that aim to manage and regulate ambient air quality and air pollution. Air Quality Management Plans (AQMPs) are clear outlines of measures and resources needed to achieve air quality objectives in a given geographical area and require support from government, business, industry, non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and the public. The success of the AQMPs depends primarily on the support of all stakeholders and the quality of the management plan. The Vaal Triangle Airshed Priority Area (VTAPA) was declared in 2006 as an area where ambient air quality standards are exceeded or may cause adverse air quality impacts. This research study focused on the VTAPA to evaluate the quality of the first and second-generation AQMPs for the VTAPA. Quality evaluation includes an analysis of procedures, processes, methods and documents. Effectiveness refers to the results of individual activities; therefore, the extent to which the AQMP met the expected outcomes of the review package defined the quality of the AQMP report. Both the first and draft second-generation AQMPs were considered to be of good quality. The first-generation AQMP was found to be of better quality than that of the draft second-generation AQMP. Funding mechanisms need to be investigated to assist in implementing intervention strategies in the AQMP as both the first and draft second-generation AQMPs were found to lack the potential to secure funds. Though the draft second-generation AQMP was found to be of lesser quality, the source apportionment study for identification of all sources as well as a better-outlined air quality management system was found to be good improvements to the AQMP.

Translating the Test of Academic Literacy Levels into Sesotho

This article reports on an initiative at the Vaal Triangle Campus (VTC) of North-West University (NWU) towards the active encouragement of functional multilingualism in tertiary education. More specifically, in an effort to support the potential use of Sesotho (Southern Sotho) and isiZulu in the teaching-learning environment at this campus, it was decided that an important first step should be an accurate and reliable determination of students’ levels of academic literacy (AL) in these two languages. Such a measurement would provide an indication of student readiness to make productive use of any extra learning support offered in these languages. Since there are no measuring instruments available to assess students’ academic literacy levels in Sesotho and isiZulu at tertiary level, it was decided thattranslating an existing test may be the most productive option in this case. The test selected for translation into Sesotho and isiZulu was the Test of Academic Literacy Levels (TALL), a test that has consistently shown high reliability measures in the assessment of students’academic literacy levels in English. Because Sesotho is the home language used by the majority of students (other than English and Afrikaans) at the VTC, it was decided that Sesotho would be treated as priority in terms of the completion of the project. The article therefore documents the translation process for Sesotho, and discusses primarily positive findings regarding the creation of a conceptually and functionally adequate Sesotho version of the TALL through a process of translation.

Source apportionment of ambient PM10−2.5 and PM2.5 for the Vaal Triangle, South Africa

The Vaal Triangle Airshed Priority Area (VTAPA), like other priority areas in South Africa, has an air pollution problem. Understanding the sources contributing to air pollution in this priority area will assist in the selection and implementation of appropriate control strategies. For this study, aerosol samples in the coarse (PM10-2.5) and fine (PM2.5) fraction were collected at four sites in the VTAPA during summer/autumn, winter, and spring. The contributing sources were identified and characterised based on the elemental and ionic compositions obtained through X-ray fluorescence and ion chromatography analysis. The highest seasonal median concentrations of PM10-2.5 (116 μg/m3) and PM2.5 (88 μg/m3) were observed in Sharpeville during the winter. The lowest median concentrations of PM10-2.5 (25 μg/m3) and PM2.5 (18 μg/m3) were detected in Zamdela during the summer/autumn period. At all sites, there was a high abundance of crustal elements in PM10-2.5 and a dominance of coal and biomass combustion-related elements in PM2.5. The Positive Matrix Factorisation receptor model identified dust-related and secondary aerosols as the major contributing sources of PM10-2.5. PM2.5 contributions were predominantly from coal burning for Sebokeng and Sharpeville and from industry, wood and biomass burning, and secondary aerosols for Kliprivier and Zamdela. The results of this study identify the main sources contributing to particulate air pollution in the VTAPA and provide local authorities with valuable information for decision-making.

Evaluating the potential of remote sensing imagery in mapping ground-level fine particulate matter (PM2.5) for the Vaal Triangle Priority Area

The quality of air breathed in South Africa is of great concern, especially in industrialised regions where PM2.5 concentrations are high. Long term exposure to PM2.5 is associated with serious adverse health impacts. Traditionally, PM2.5 is monitored by a network of ground-based instruments. However, the coverage of monitoring networks in South Africa is not dense enough to fully capture the spatial variability of PM2.5 concentrations. This study explored whether satellite remote sensing could offer a viable alternative to ground-based monitoring. Using an eight-year record (2009 to 2016) of satellite retrievals (MODIS, MISR and SeaWIFS) for PM2.5 concentrations, spatial variations and temporal trends for PM2.5 are evaluated for the Vaal Triangle Airshed Priority Area (VTAPA). Results are compared to corresponding measurements from the VTAPA surface monitoring stations. High PM2.5 concentrations were clustered around the centre and towards the south-west of the VTAPA over the highly industrialised cities of Vanderbijlpark and Sasolburg. Satellite retrievals tended to overestimate PM2.5 concentrations. Overall, there was a poor spatial agreement between satellite-retrieved PM2.5 estimates and ground-level PM2.5 measurements. Root mean square error values ranged from 6 to 11 µg/m3 and from -0.89 to 0.32 for the correlation coefficient. For satellite remote sensing to be effectively exploited for air quality assessments in the VTAPA and elsewhere, further research to improve the precision and accuracy of satellite-retrieved PM2.5 is required.

A decadal analysis of particulate matter (PM2.5) and surface ozone (O3) over Vaal Priority Area, South Africa

Atmospheric pollutants that affect human health most significantly are particulate matter (PM2.5) and surface ozone (O3). This paper analysed the long-term temporal trends for PM2.5 and ground level O3 for six air quality monitoring stations in the Vaal Triangle Area of South Africa from 2007 to 2017. Research has been conducted on the short-term temporal trends for PM2.5 concentration and surface O3 concentrations. There are no studies that have focussed on the long-term temporal trends for PM2.5 and O3 in the Vaal Triangle Area of South Africa, because these air quality monitoring stations have only existed for a period of approximately 11 years. The data used in this study is derived from ground-based instruments from the South African Weather Service. Temporal patterns for time of day, days of the week, and seasons were observed for all air quality stations. PM2.5 concentration increased during early mornings and late afternoons, with higher concentration during weekdays than weekends and an increase from late winter through to spring and summer. Surface O3 concentrations peaked during the spring and summer months and during midday when there was maximum sunlight acting as a catalyst for photochemical reactions. The long term trends illustrated that there has been no significant decrease in annual average concentration for PM2.5 in four of the six stations and surface O3 for the six stations in the past 10 years in the Vaal Triangle Area of South Africa.

Aerosol characterisation including oxidative potential as a proxy of health impact

This study aimed to characterise aerosols sampled in the vicinity of a major industrialised area, i.e. the Vaal Triangle. It included thedetermination of oxidative potential as a predictive indicator of particle toxicity. Aerosol samples were collated through the cascadefiltering during an eight-month period (12 h over three days in one week). Three size fractions were analysed for organic carbon(OC), black carbon (BC) and oxidative potential (OP), while ionic content was presented as monthly and seasonal concentrations. Thecontinuous measurement of black carbon by an optical attenuation instrument was collated concurrently with cascade filtering. Thecarbonaceous content was low compared to the ionic one. Within the carbonaceous concentrations, the organic carbon was higherthan concentrations of black carbon in both seasons in the ultra-fine fraction; the opposite was the case for the fine fraction, whilethe coarse fraction concentrations of organic carbon in the dry season had higher concentrations than black carbon in the wet seasonand organic carbon in the wet season. The OP tended to increase as the size was decreasing for wet season aerosols, whereas, forthe dry season, the highest OP was exerted by the fine fraction. The ultrafine fraction was the one showing the most contrasting OPbetween the two seasons. Continuous monitoring indicated that the higher BC concentrations were recorded in the dry/winter partof the year, with the daily pattern of concentrations being typically bimodal, having both the morning and evening peaks in bothseasons. Within the ionic content, the dominance of sulphate, nitrate and ammonium was evident. Multiple linear correlations wereperformed between all determined compounds. Strong correlations of carboxylic acids with other organic compounds were revealed.These acids point to emissions of VOC, both anthropogenic and biogenic. Since they were equally present in both seasons, a mixtureof sources was responsible, both present in the wider area and throughout the year.