Search

In this paper we provide an overview of the current status as well as broad functions of Englishes in South Africa. We also provide a discussion of some of the contemporary concerns related to the complex and multivaried nature of English in the country. This paper further serves to introduce the major themes that are of concern to those researchers that are interested in the study of South African Englishes, through an introduction of the papers that form part of this Special Issue. Finally, we discuss the current state of the art with regards to researching English in the country where we suggest potential future areas of investigation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Southern African Magnetotelluric Experiment (SAMTEX) involved the collection of data at over 700 sites in Archean to Proterozoic southern Africa, spanning features including the Kalahari Craton, Bushveld Complex, and voluminous kimberlites. Here, we present the first 3D inversions of the full SAMTEX data set. In this paper, we focus on assessing the robustness of the 3D models by comparing two different inversion codes, jif3D and ModEM, and two different subsets of the data, one containing all acceptable data and the other containing a smaller selection of undistorted, high‐quality data. Results show that the main conductive and resistive features are imaged by all inversions, including deep resistive features in the central Kaapvaal Craton and southern Congo Craton and a lithospheric‐scale conductor beneath the Bushveld Complex. Despite this, differences exist between the jif3D and ModEM inverse models that derive mainly from the differences in regularization between the models, with jif3D producing models that are very smooth laterally and with depth, while ModEM produces models with more discrete conductive and resistive features. Analysis of the differences between these two inversions can provide a good indication of the model resolution. More minor differences are apparent between models run with different subsets of data, with the models containing all acceptable data featuring higher wavelength conductivity variations than those run with fewer stations but also demonstrating poorer data fit. Plain Language Summary: We investigate the structure of the upper 200 km of the Earth beneath southern Africa. To achieve this, we utilize an electromagnetic geophysical technique called magnetotellurics (MT) which is sensitive to variations in electrical resistivity within the Earth. To reconstruct electrical resistivity from MT measurements, we use so‐called inversion algorithms. However, the results are nonunique and a variety of different parameters have to be chosen by the user during the inversion process. In order to better understand the possible variability in our Earth models, we use different inversion algorithms and compare different strategies. This allows us to assess the reliability of our results. Based on our models and their comparison, we infer that the lithosphere, the solid outer shell of the Earth, varies in thickness below our study area and is thickest below central South Africa. In addition, we can detect remnants of past continental collisions that have been preserved for hundreds of millions of years since this part of the world was assembled from the collision of various microcontinents. Key Points: We create the first large‐scale conductivity models of southern AfricaWe compare different strategies to construct continental scale models and investigate the impact on the resultsThe main inversion features are common to all models, with most differences being due to regularization [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Effective knowledge sharing and community engagement can be major enablers in the pursuit of socially relevant benefits from ecological restoration and rehabilitation. Focusing on two ecological restoration and rehabilitation practitioner organizations and their workers, this paper evaluates perceptions of the extent to which short‐term knowledge exchange contributes to social goals in ecological restoration and rehabilitation in South Africa through (1) stakeholder engagement and awareness of community well‐being, and (2) knowledge enrichment. Data collected through impact questionnaires, participatory site visits, practical work exchange, focus group discussions, and a workshop are analyzed using thematic analysis framed by the International Principles and Standards for the Practice of Ecological Restoration #1 and #2. We explore participants' perceptions of knowledge exchange benefits and discuss implications for future collaboration in establishing long‐term knowledge exchange. Findings show that knowledge exchange is perceived to result in enhanced teamwork engagement, and strengthened knowledge on restoration techniques through mutual learning, inspiration, and a strengthened sense of community. Findings suggest that sustained knowledge exchange and engagement activities between different practitioner organizations is key to realize and transform short‐term perceived benefits into long‐term applied socioecological impacts across landscapes in dryland Africa. There is a need to progress from short‐term, horizontal learning, to long‐term (horizontal and vertical) knowledge exchange, to inform restoration project design and implementation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the role of English in peer interactions among black male youth in two Johannesburg townships. We demonstrate how social meanings attached to English shape ways of using English in the expression of social identities. English is a central tool in processes of authentification and delegitimization in relation to notions of African urban male township identity. Longitudinal ethnographic work, with recordings of spontaneous peer interactions on the township streets, show how social meanings attached to using English have shifted with socio‐economic changes since 1994. These changes have impacted patterns of English use among black youth and male youth in particular. The way in which youth use English challenges structural variety approaches to youth languages in African contexts that treat them as separate linguistic varieties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To establish the significance of Henry Bernstein's theoretical work on the dynamics of agrarian class struggles in Africa, this paper discusses two important political debates in which he has been both observer and participant, and that have oriented much of the subsequent Marxist work done in Africa on agrarian change. The first was the heated discussion begun over 40 years ago around Nyerere's 'African socialism' and the failures of the ujamaa policy of villagization. The second is the still unsettled debate around programmes of redistributive land reform in South Africa. Bernstein's distinction between the peasantry and petty commodity production allowed him to apply Lenin's theory of peasant differentiation to new contexts, and to locate African class struggles within the contradictions between capital and labour. He thus disposed of two competing visions: the harmonic peasant community and the maximizing entrepreneurial peasant hindered by the absence of markets. Yet, this paper argues, his focus on class formation within the peasantry can also limit our understanding of class alliances in the politics of anti-capitalist struggles in Africa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reflects on issues raised by work with children in an ongoing child mobility study in three sub-Saharan African countries: Ghana, Malawi and South Africa. There are now 70 school pupils of varying ages involved in the project, but the paper is particularly concerned with the participation of those children 14 years and under. We examine the significant ethical issues associated with working with younger child researchers, and linked questions concerning the spaces open to them in African contexts where local cultural constructions of childhood and associated economic imperatives (which commonly drive family and household endeavour) help shape the attitudes of adults to children’s rights and responsibilities and inter-generational power relations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Urban geographers increasingly incorporate the potential of so-called informal livelihood activities to provide resources that can be creatively managed in the transformation of urban space, particularly to the benefit of less well off and marginalized residents. This paper reports a case study in Rustenburg, North West Province, South Africa, where city managers began to promote inclusive development in the early 1990s, just prior to the formal dismantling of the apartheid system. The findings reveal that Rustenburg's urban transformation process, over a decade later, continued to reproduce repressive practices that limit the informal livelihood activities of the urban majority. Apparently efforts of well-meaning city managers to implement a sustainable and inclusive development process are often rendered futile at the point of actually defining the constituents of urban socioeconomic transformation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reports the results of the first study on secondary seed removal of seeds dispersed by Sykes' monkeys ( Cercopithecus albogularis) using camera traps in Africa. Patterns of primary seed dispersal are often superimposed by secondary conveyance, emphasising the need to study these secondary processes carefully. As the agents and mechanisms of seed dispersal are often concealed, being carried out by cryptic or nocturnal animals in dense vegetation, camera trapping was deemed a viable means to investigate secondary removal of seeds disseminated by C. albogularis in the Western Soutpansberg, South Africa. Camera traps were established at preferred feeding trees of the focal Sykes' monkey group to identify animal species that remove seeds and fruits spat and dropped to the forest floor and seed removal observations were carried out. This method proved to be effective in identifying seed removers and also allowed to get indications about the quantities of seeds removed. Ten animal species were recorded visiting the trees, of which eight were observed removing seeds and fruits. Overall seed and fruit removal rates were high, indicating that the foraging behaviour of C. albogularis attracts many terrestrial frugivores. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we address two major questions. First, the question of whether China and India are displacing the African manufacturing export from the third market. Second, whether there is an evidence of shifting comparative advantage from China and India to Africa. We employed a gravity model with a panel data using 13 African exporters of clothing and accessories for the period 1995–2005 to answer the first question. To answer the second question, we used a flying-geese model and estimated Spearman's rank correlation coefficients on indices of the revealed comparative advantage vectors of the African exporters and China and India for the same period. Both the gravity and flying-geese models predicted similar outcomes. We found that there is strong evidence that China has been displacing African manufactures from the third market while India has been complementing it in the early years of the study. However, the overall third market impact of China and India has been that of complementarity in the later years of the study period. This result is found to vary across countries. Furthermore, we found evidence of shifting comparative advantage from China and India to Africa as the flying-geese theory predicts, South Africa being the leading goose followed by Kenya. The major implication of the study is that, in the world where China and India are reshaping the global economic order dynamically, the outcomes of the traditionally received wisdom of trade liberalization and industrialization policies through export promotion may be uncertain and requires strategic thinking. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A procedure is required for ecosystem studies which is ordered but flexible and directs workers quickly and inexpensively towards answers to key ecological and management questions. The procedure presented in this paper develops an increasingly complex description of the ecosystem. The initial phase consists of a structural and dynamic description of the ecosystem, followed by a description of its utilization. From this phase, key questions are elaborated and, where appropriate, mathematics models are then constructed. The South African Savanna Ecosystem Project (SASEP) provides an example of the manner in which the procedure can be applied. Examples of key ecological questions are cited, and appropriate models for some of these are described. The use of the approach, in the SASEP, is described by reference to its current objectives, defined in terms of twelve key questions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]