i DEDICATION

I dedicate this work to God for saving my life and His Blessings bestowed upon me to complete this project. I also dedicate this work to my parents (Mbazima and Zondeka), my brothers, my sisters and my best friend, Maropeng Ngobeni. ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I express my sincere appreciation and gratitude to the following people and institutions, for their contribution to this project: • To TUT for offering me an opportunity to further my studies. Most importantly I would like to thank Prof Ben van Wyk (in the Dean’s office) and the financial bureau for their financial support. • To FSATIE for their support academically and financially and my supervisors Damien CHATELAIN, James OYEDAPO and Anish KURIEN. • To the National Research Foundation (NRF) for financial support. • To Prof Zeghlache DJAMAL and Dr Marc GIROT-GENET from the Institute National des Télécommunications, for their hospitality and support during my researc