College of Law and Management Studies hosts Three-Minute-Thesis Competition

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What can you do in three minutes? Well, some PhD students from the College of Law and Management Studies (CLMS) presented their theses in that time!

The recent CLMS Post Graduate Research Competition, based on a concept founded by the University of Queensland in Australia, required participants to deliver their thesis in a concise presentation using only one slide and in no more than three minutes.

The presenters were divided according to their Schools with winners awarded a cash prize of R2 500 each.

The School of Law got the ball rolling with judges Dr Shannon Bosch and Dr Paul Swanepoel deciding on Mr Vishal Surbun as the winner following his outstanding presentation on Redefining Maritime Piracy. The presentation focused on illegal acts of violence, detention or depredation committed for private ends by a crew or passengers of a private ship and directed against another ship on the high seas or any place outside the jurisdiction of the state.

Maritime Law expert, Professor Trevor Jones, said Surbun’s research had ‘sound principles that not only examine any geographical area but focus on maritime on a global scale’.

Ms Juanita Easthorpe presented on Religious Discrimination Based on Homosexuality and Homoeroticisim; Ms Suhayfa Bhamjee on Democracy and Death; Ms Munira Osman-Hyder on Regulating Muslim Divorces in the South African Legal Context; Mr Maropeng Mpya on the Enforcement of Human Rights Standards against Multinational Corporations; Mr Eben van der Merwe on Towards an Emancipatory Framework for Justice Education: a Social Justice and Community Engagement for Clinical Law LLB, and Mr Christopher Gevers on African States’ Use of International Law: a Theoretical Exposition.

Participants from the School of Accounting, Economics and Finance were up next with Professor Trevor Jones and Dr Tammy Rautenberg handling the judging.

Ms Tamlyn Mckenzie won with her presentation titled: “Measuring Disability and its Associated Opportunity Costs using South African Household Survey Data”. Her thesis investigated the various ways in which disability can be measured using the existing national household surveys through providing an analysis of the long term economic costs of disability in terms of educational attainment, employment and earnings.

Mr Adebayo Kutu presented on MP Shocks, Industrial Production and BRICS, which examined how monetary policy shocks and industrial sector performance were related.

Participants from the School of Management, Information Technology and Governance (MIG) and the Graduate School of Business and Leadership (GSB&L) were judged by Professor Yogi Penceliah and Dr Shaun Ruggunan.

The GSB&L winner was Ms Joy Ndlovu whose presentation was titled: “The Impact of HR Governance on the Success of Microfinance in SA”. The thesis explored entrepreneurship as a solution for unemployment and issues in microfinance in this field.

Mr Bheki Chili was the MIG winner for his presentation titled: “The Assessment of the Adoption and the Usage of e-Banking at Ithala Bank in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa”.

Other presenters from the School included Ms Khalida Akbar who spoke on: “Brain Injuries Do Not Discriminate” and Mr Irshad Abdulla whose topic was: “Challenges of Government-to-Government e-Government: A Case Study of the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Transport”.

College Dean of Research, Professor Marita Carnelley, said the aim of the competition was to encourage post graduate students to present their research and get valuable feedback on how they can improve. She added that the College looked forward to making the contest an annual event.

 Thandiwe Jumo