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The study criticizes the way South Africa collects taxes from different segments of the population, primarily pensioners and workers with two sources of income. It also condemns the ineffective manner in which it administers some tax payouts, especially in the unfairness that has shown bias to some groups. Primarily, taxing of the pensioners is condemned, as well as the taxing of second earnings of employees, mainly where there were victims of the apartheid policies. The paper recommends taxing people with caution, in order not to perpetuate apartheid-initiated poverty of the South African masses of people, and in cases where earners who are being taxed could be having extra financial responsibilities. In order to resolve these problems, taxpayers and tax preparers should make sure that tax laws are applied correctly, that they are aware of the consequences of breaking the Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP), and that they routinely review and update their tax return positions in response to modifications to accounting standards and tax legislation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Globalisation and changes to the world economy have brought new challenges and opportunities for many industries, including the sawmill industry. This has led to a need to evaluate the competitiveness of South Africa's sawmilling industry by studying the factors affecting competitiveness in other sawmill industries. The review evaluated published research on sawmill industry competitiveness to identify and address the research gaps in the literature. The systematic literature review implemented a PRISMA protocol. Sankey diagrams showed the relationships between the factors driving change and those affecting competitiveness. The results showed that most factors affecting and driving industry competitiveness were similar. The reviewed papers pointed to the availability of wood, formation of clusters, policy implications, level of innovation and employment conditions as the factors affecting industry competitiveness. The research findings corresponded to some of the early ideas presented by Michael Porter on industry competitiveness. The research will guide future research on the South African sawmill industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Time‐to‐detection (TTD) occupancy models are increasingly used to study site occupancy of organisms. Occupancy is a reduced representation of abundance (distinguishing only between 0 and >0 individuals), which is also often a quantity of interest. In this paper, we present a novel framework for TTD occupancy models that address limitations of existing approaches. Our approach incorporates factors that accommodate detection heterogeneity among sites/visits and inter‐visit dependency, allowing for the relaxation of some restrictive assumptions inherent in previous models. As a result, our framework offers a robust and versatile tool for analysing various ecological data sets.We employ a maximum likelihood approach to estimate model parameters and conduct inference for the proposed TTD occupancy models. A key feature of these models is the introduction of a community parameter. This parameter characterizes the similarity of detectabilities, ranging from complete independence to complete identity, across multiple site visits. This framework disentangles the detection rate, abundance and occupancy, similar to the popular N‐mixture model. For situations where abundance estimation is not the primary goal, a family of mixed gamma exponential TTD models is developed, which generally exhibit more stable numerical properties compared to N‐mixture type TTD models.The performance of the proposed models and some reduced models is evaluated through simulation studies. The results indicate that the N‐mixture TTD model tends to considerably overestimate the occupancy probability when the community parameter is less than one, a condition necessary to satisfy the strict closure population assumption. On the other hand, the standard exponential TTD occupancy model underestimates the occupancy probability in the presence of unobserved detection heterogeneity and inter‐visit dependency. An analysis of 63 bird species in the Karoo region of South Africa demonstrates the enhanced flexibility of the proposed TTD occupancy models for data fitting.This paper demonstrates the importance of employing more flexible and general models to accurately capture the complexities of ecological systems or survey data. We provide R‐code to fit all considered models to data. The proposed TTD model framework contributes to enhancing our understanding of species occupancy distributions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explains the ambitions of Africa's first independent nonprofit school of architecture—the School of Explorative Architecture—in light of the decoloniality ideas that were galvanized by the Rhodes Must Fall protests at the University of Cape Town in 2015. The paper describes the School's three modes of teaching and learning architecture, namely the thing (professional competencies of designing a building), the shadow of the thing (theorized and critical thinking around buildings and architecture), and the painted shadow of the thing (creative acts engaging architecture in ideas and critical thinking). The paper explains the nuances of teaching and learning architecture in the South African context and the importance of teaching professional competencies while surfacing 'other' conditions through the painted shadow. The paper ends by asking if a radical spatial alterity—the folding of the thing, the shadow, and the painted shadow into each other—is possible. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mine closure is a growing concern in mining countries around the world due to the associated environmental and social impacts. This is particularly true in developing countries like South Africa where poverty, social deprivation and unemployment are widespread and environmental governance is not strong. South Africa has 230 operating mines located in diverse natural and social settings. Over 6 million people live in urban and rural mining host communities who will be significantly affected by mine closure. The national, provincial and local governments need guidance in identifying high-risk areas and relevant policy and programmatic interventions. This paper describes the development of a quantitative mine closure risk rating system that assesses the likelihood of mine closure, the risk of social impact and the risk of environmental impact of mine closure for every operating mine in the country. The paper visualises the high likelihood of closure and environmental impacts for numerous coal and gold mines, and the significant social risks in the deprived rural platinum and chrome mining areas. The rating system was tested with 10 mines and 19 experts, and the resulting maps are communicated in an online South African Mine Closure Risk and Opportunity Atlas. The risk ratings could be used in mine closure planning and management by mining companies, consultancies, governments and affected communities. While this risk rating system has been designed for South Africa, the methodology and framework could be applied to any mining country in the world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper contributes to current debates about decolonising curriculum and advancing corresponding 'humanness pedagogies' in South Africa by developing a capabilitarian approach and foregrounding epistemic justice capabilities. This is aligned with and to fostering a shared African ethic for individual transformation-in-context and for building universities which benefit communities and societies. It is proposed that epistemic justice capabilities are foundational to decolonising curriculum and foundational for pedagogies which mediate disciplinary content and the dismantling of comparative inequalities among students in order to foster humanness. The capabilitarian framework seeks to secure the expanded wellbeing, co-flourishing and agency of all, in this case in and through higher education and a quality, decolonising curriculum oriented to an ecology of knowledges and a generous, inclusive humanity. The paper concludes with suggestions regarding a way forward to dismantle an exclusionary 'epistemic line' and associated oppressions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

South African white supremacy has been shaped by over 400 years of settler colonialism and white minority apartheid rule to craft a pervasive and entrenched legacy of privilege and oppression in the post-apartheid context. This paper explores the constructions of white supremacy, specifically its role in shaping the perceptions of first-generation mixed-race identity in South Africa, through semi-structured, in-depth interviews. Through a critical race theory and an intersectional lens, this paper unpacks the personal, political, and social impact of white supremacist structures on the identity construction of first-generation mixed-race people in post-apartheid South Africa; specifically, societal- and self-perceptions of their identity within power structures with which they interact. Moreover, this paper aims to understand how first-generation mixed-race people understand their connections to white privilege. Ultimately this paper argues that although first-generation mixed-race people experience relative privilege, their access to white privilege and acceptance within structures of whiteness is always conditional. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Lists the paper and books published by South African Association of Botanists members in 2001.

ABSTRACT The article takes a radical democratic starting point arguing the importance of the rural focus of research as a corrective to excessive emphasis on urbanism. Civil society is weak and autonomous public spheres hardly exist outside urban areas. But the author argues that the social and cultural resources that are present in the Southern African villages are both interesting and promising elements for future change. More research and more work will help develop a genuin 'rural public sphere'. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cites failure of electronic record-keeping systems to meet expectations South African users. Proposals to effect management of electronically-stored data; Intellectual and psychological factors contributing to the failure of electronic systems; Information on data acquisition, storage and retrieval and disposal; Integrated approach to information management.

Teachers in South Africa are under great pressure from the state to improve their qualifications, one of the state`s strategies for improving education standards The pressure u felt more acutely by black teachers who were previously allowed to teach with lower qualifications than their white counterparts In-service teachers, irrespective of their age or length of experience, are required to obtain the school leavers' certificate post hoc to earn a salary commensurate with their duties Their duties are heavy the pupil-teacher ratio is about 451, and teachers teach between 42 and 50 periods a week, without many basic facilities Consequently, many teachers are neglecting their pupils to concentrate on their studies The call for qualifications can be viewed as a component of the South African state`a reform initiative, and, as such, is yet another cosmetic amelioration of black people`s status because it does not address their needs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In South Africa, Municipal Service Partnerships (MSPs) have been in existence afore the global breakout of COVID-19 Pandemic as an essential mechanism to expand and accelerate municipal service delivery in the local government sphere. However, once the National Lockdown (NL) was put in place by the state president Cyril Ramaphosa on the 26 of March 2020, many South African municipalities were and still are pushed to look for assistance from their partners in the private sector in order to help with addressing the challenges, imposed by the pandemic, especially, service delivery backlogs. Municipalities are entering into service contracts with the private sector for the provision of basic services that are deemed essential in terms of the National Lockdown Regulations (NLRs). In curbing the spread of the virus in the communities, municipalities extended their effort by commonly cooperating with private partners. For instance, most municipalities went to an extend of collaborating with private partners and other government agencies like Rand Water for the provision of water and water tanks at different schools and communities across the provinces and Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), namely masks and hand sanitisers. Methodologically, this is a conceptual paper that is embedded from secondary data. The secondary data was analysed through the Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) approach. The article argues that South African municipalities and their MSPs are faced with huge challenges more than ever. It also argues that private partners have been long-standing with a commitment to serve communities on behalf of the government and that now includes partnering with the government in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. The call by President Ramaphosa has been noted for increased partnerships, solidarity, collaboration and the sharing of knowledge and experience to fight the pandemic, poverty, service delivery backlogs and social injustice. The paper concludes by offering feasible solutions to curb the challenges, faced by MSPs and service delivery backlogs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Keeping in mind the recent COVID-19 pandemic, this paper builds on a study that examined how a major twentieth century South African newspaper utilised outbreaks of bubonic plague to propagate racial stereotypes in Johannesburg. The data were gathered from the Rand Daily Mail archive database and analysed thematically. Recent years have seen the emergence of new disciplines, such as historical pragmatics, along with calls for historians to move beyond collecting documentation into textual analysis. Thus, the researchers reanalysed selected data using systemic functional grammar to discover how the communicative intention was achieved. The research follows a descriptive qualitative method. It was found that the newspaper played a major role in the promotion of racial segregation. However, at times its reporting was nuanced. Understanding how past media made use of events and discourses to influence the public and achieve political goals can serve to inform the present and illuminate the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Security guards face victimization in the workplace as well as through the nature of their employment as first responders to criminal activity. Consequently, these risks threaten their job satisfaction, wellbeing, and turnover rate in the industry. Exacerbating the problem further is the dearth of scientific studies and reliable reports on the victimization of security guards specific to the South African context. Thus, the goal of the study is to explore the victimization of security guards working in Gauteng, South Africa. This paper is informed by 14 qualitative one-on-one interviews with security guards. The narrative accounts provide rich and descriptive data which were thematically analyzed. The findings suggest that security guards experience victimization in terms of their working conditions and crime victimization while on duty. Moreover, the implications of victimization are exposed. Interestingly, a recurring theme throughout the paper is the sense of powerlessness experienced by the participants as substantiated through literature. This paper makes a unique contribution to industry and academia due to the dearth of scientific studies and reports on the victimization of security guards specific to the South African context. Additionally, the paper advocates for working towards sustainable solutions through work engagement, awareness, training, and effective management strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The consumption of technical and vocational education and training has increased exponentially over the past two decades. In terms of inclusion, it is without a doubt that today's TVET sector is a far cry from what it was before the democratic government took over the baton from the apartheid government. TVET has become a refuge to many hopefuls from the historically disadvantaged sectors of society who, due to a range of apparent reasons, would ordinarily not have managed to partake in tertiary education. To many South African youth, TVET presents an avenue for the acquisition of a skill that will give them a fighting chance at escaping the harsh recurrence of poverty, economic inactivity and resource deprivation they are subjected to almost on a daily basis. However, beneath this silver lining lies a growing public disgruntlement over the TVET system's inability to steadfastly deliver quality education and transform the lives of students, by instilling in them agency for self-regulated and collaborative innovation that will turn them into formidable and assertive role players in the knowledge societies, come the fourth industrial revolution (4IR). To understand the crux of public mistrust in TVET college education in South Africa, an extensive body of literature was reviewed. The findings of the paper point to strategic factors (which in the main are attributed to a lack of effective leadership and managerial skills) and contextual factors that occur at a campus level, as major causes of public mistrust in TVET education. The paper concludes by tabling a manifesto for changing the status quo ahead of the advent of 4IR. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The devastation of the Covid-19 pandemic on society raised the question of how best to gauge society's psychological adaptation to continually evolving global disruptor events, such as Covid-19. This paper aims to illustrate the use of different approaches to monitor society's psychological response to Covid-19, in order to argue for a more comprehensive, multi-model, approach. The results from different approaches are presented in two studies employing measures of mental disorders and mental distress, respectively, using South African samples for demonstration. The first study presents findings from repeat administration of measures of common mental disorders (major depressive and generalized anxiety disorders) across three consecutive years, while the second study presents findings from mood response profiles (measured with the Brunel Mood Scale) collected across five time points during the Covid-19 pandemic. Both studies showed that the Covid-19 pandemic was temporally associated with adverse mental health outcomes across the mental health continuum, and that mental health profiles were associated with both time since onset of Covid-19 and subsequent wave occurrence. Elevated prevalence of common mental disorders, as well as fluctuating patterns of mood response profiles, are discussed against the context of Covid-19. The paper concludes that a multi-modal approach, for instance measuring specific mental disorders as well as more general mental distress, is crucial to comprehensively understand society's psychological adaptation to major disruptor events, and guide health sector responses. The paper serves as a reminder to continue to observe mental health more inclusively to appropriately respond to the psychological needs of communities. Plain Language Summary: Measuring mental health across Covid-19 waves The impact of Covid-19 on mental health raised the question of how can we best measure how society adapts, psychologically, to major events that disrupt life. This article looked at two specific ways to measure and monitor society's psychological response to Covid-19. The first study looked at the prevalence of mental disorders, and the second looked at levels of mental distress. Both studies used South African samples to demonstrate this. The first study presented data from a repeat administration of scales that identify depressive and anxiety disorders, completed across three consecutive years. The second study presented findings from mood response profiles (measured with the Brunel Mood Scale) collected across five time points during the Covid-19 pandemic. The results showed that the pandemic was associated with adverse mental health outcomes—across the mental health continuum—and that mental health profiles were associated with both time since the start of Covid-19 and fluctuated with the subsequent waves across the pandemic time-line. This article demonstrated the importance of using a multi-modal approach to fully understand society's psychological response to major life disruptions. It also acted as reminder to monitor mental health continuously to be able to respond to the psychological needs of communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While incidents of xenophobia, or the occurrence thereof, in some parts of South Africa, are both deplorable and deeply reprehensible, it is important never to ignore the political factors that perpetuate them. Using the interpretive method, this article drew on the literature to present or reinterpret the story of Noah's Ark in Genesis 6:13-9:29 and the Great Commission of Matthew 28:16-20 in a way that is aimed at defusing xenophobia in South Africa. The Missio Politica as used in this paper provided a missiological framework in which political factors perpetuating xenophobia were seen as an obstacle to the goals of the Missio Dei, particularly the complete redemption of humanity. This paper argued that the continued unlawful imposition of international sanctions against some African countries such as Zimbabwe and, moreover, the lack of refugee camps in countries such as South Africa significantly exacerbates the problem of xenophobia. Consequently, pursuant to defusing xenophobia in South Africa, this paper calls for a renewed mission that includes rejecting unlawful sanctions against African countries and establishing refugee camps not only in South Africa but in all African countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Technology-based interventions in healthcare are often anticipated to improve the quality of healthcare services. These expectations are based on a perceived belief in the ability of technology to alleviate some of the challenges associated with manual, paper-based healthcare service delivery. As a result, the drive to implement healthcare technology has gained significant traction in recent years. Unfortunately, the implementation efforts of most health-related technologies have been tainted with several challenges such as fragmentation, lack of interoperability, and co-ordination. As a result, data management and health-related information dissemination across various levels of healthcare systems have been jeopardized. The objective of this study is to identify context-based factors that influence healthcare information systems (IS) implementation in resource-constrained public hospitals. The emphasis is on the public healthcare landscape in South Africa. A qualitative methodological approach was employed. Semi-structured interviews with purposively sampled participants in a public healthcare hospital provided primary data. The findings indicate that factors such as implementation of policies, planning and support strategies, and analysis of healthcare IS's fitness for purpose in healthcare workflows processes influence successful healthcare IS implementation. Addressing these factors is critical if public healthcare hospitals are to realise fully the transformative potential of technology-based interventions. The contributions made in this paper may be useful to the relevant government bodies, policymakers and other stakeholders interested in advancing adequate healthcare service delivery using healthcare IS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Continuing Professional Teacher Development (CPTD) refers to the ongoing learning and development of teachers throughout their careers. It involves a range of activities, programs, and initiatives designed to help teachers improve their knowledge, skills, and effectiveness in the classroom. CPTD programs can take many different forms, such as workshops, seminars, mentoring programs, online courses, and peer networks. This desktop review paper examines the role of CPTD on teachers' and learners' achievement. The paper reviews among others the following; the nature and concept of CPTD, the importance of CPTD, South African teacher education policy framework and CPTD, the educational achievement and CPTD, school effectiveness and CPTD, learner and teacher learning and CPTD. The paper uses social learning theory as a theory that underpins the paper and makes some plausible recommendations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Widowhood in Africa presents unique challenges for women due to cultural and social factors. This paper discusses the challenges of widowhood in African contexts with a view that various social, cultural, legal, financial, and economic issues are at the centre of the challenges widows face in Africa. A thematic literature review was used to examine the multifaceted challenges faced by widows in African societies. Findings show that widows in Africa face multiple challenges, including limited healthcare access, property rights, social support, and harmful traditional practices, impacting their well-being across various dimensions. Cultural attitudes, legal barriers, resource constraints, limited awareness, and the complex interplay of these factors hinder effective interventions. The literature review also found that changing cultural norms, improving access to education and economic opportunities, and strengthening social protection systems are crucial steps towards creating a more inclusive and equitable society for widows. The paper concludes that comprehensive and coordinated strategies are necessary to address these multifaceted challenges, including legal reforms, economic empowerment, awareness campaigns, and the provision of essential resources. Further, collaborative implementation of these strategies can promote gender equality, reduce poverty, and enhance the lives of widows in African countries. Further, there is a need for the urgency of comprehensive interventions and support systems to alleviate the hardships faced by widows in African societies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this paper is to examine the unequal and inadequate access to opportunities by both men and women in South Africa, as well as the progress made in achieving gender equality and promoting women's empowerment, which are embedded in the Millennium Development Goals and Sustainable Development Goals, respectively. The paper is virtuously theoretical and relies upon literature to present its arguments, soliciting information from published journals, reports, and previous studies. Access is primarily a gendered phenomenon worldwide, pertaining to the subsets of, inter alia, access to information, rights, land, money, education, skills, political participation, and opinion. Gender equity and equality are high on the developmental agenda of women in almost every country. South Africa, being part of international treaties and conventions on gender equity, is obliged to advance the empowerment of women and eliminate all forms of gender discrimination. The development of women, their access to essential resources, and their participation in important positions of decision-making are still challenges in most countries. It is commonly known that everywhere in the world, women face constraints that limit their capacity to contribute to production, well-being, decision-making, growth, and most importantly, empowerment, which in turn promotes independence. Women face discrimination in access to productive resources such as land; they face wage inequality in rural labor markets; and they are also more likely to work part-time, seasonal, and/or low-paying jobs when engaged in wage employment. Despite the Domestic Violence Act 116 of 1998 and the inauguration of the Annual 16 Days of Activism for No Violence Against Women and Children by the South African government, which are aimed at fighting the perpetual inequalities and abuse of women and children, gender inequality, women's disempowerment, and unequal access to opportunities are still predominant in the country. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 1994, the African National Congress (ANC)-ledgovernment implemented a Reconstruction and Development Programme (RDP) program that entailed providing South Africans with stable and regular electricity supplies. Government through the state president declared COVID-19 a pandemic in 2019. Institutions of higher education resorted to introduce online teaching and learning as a method of ensuring that section 27(1) (a) (b) of the Constitution of the republic of South Africa was executed. Load shedding brought numerous challenges in the education settings in the institutions of higher learning. The crisis led to institutional economy and disrupted academic performance at institutions of higher learning. The purpose of this paper is to examine whether load shedding can be regarded as a pandemic post COVID-19. Access the impact of load shedding at institutions of higher learning. Therefore, this is a conceptual paper and it relied on existing data for analysis and interpretation. The paper recommends that institution of higher learning should invest in alternative sources of energy, and develop an effective communication strategy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: There is a growing call both globally and nationally for integrated multisectoral and multidisciplinary systems of care to be implemented for children's needs in the foundation stages of their growth to be met. Extant literature shows that historical, structural, epidemiological, political and social factors create many adversities for South African children both in the short and in the long term. South Africa's fragmented and weak service delivery compounds the situation. In this paper, the authors describe the lessons learnt from a multisectoral and multidisciplinary community of practice established to strengthen social systems to ensure child wellbeing outcomes. Design/methodology/approach: A qualitative research design was used, drawing on data collected over a two-year period. Data included meeting minutes, focus group discussions, and email communications between project partners. Focus group discussions were audio-recorded and transcribed verbatim. Data was analysed thematically. Findings: Findings show that having a shared goal, establishing supportive, mutually beneficial relationships and contributing to services that enhance child wellbeing outcomes enabled the community of practice, while differing organizational mandates and heavy workloads constrained the partnership. Research limitations/implications: The study shows the effectiveness of a Community of Practice (CoP) in integrating services across sectors for children's well-being and promoting collaborative learning and intersectoral work. However, this success also depends on the presence of strong leadership and efficient coordination.Limitation: Despite its benefits, the CoP model presents challenges, including securing active participation and buy-in from stakeholders, managing time and resource constraints, and dealing with issues in the existing service delivery system. Questions about long-term sustainability and the practicalities of scaling and institutionalizing the model need to be addressed. Originality/value: Through this paper, the authors contribute to a nascent area of research in the Global South, critically reflecting on the lessons the authors learnt from implementing an integrated community of practice approach to strengthen social sector systems toward the enhancement of children's wellbeing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This paper analyses the direct relationship between budget deficits and economic growth, the channels through which budget deficits inhibit growth and finally, the Granger causality between budget deficit and economic growth in South Africa over the period 1975 to 2020. Design/methodology/approach: In a bid to control for endogeneity that is common in economic growth regressions, the author employed the dynamic ordinary least squares (DOLS) approach. Findings: Towards analysing the direct relationship between budget deficit and economic growth, results show that a 10-percentage rise in the budget deficit slows economic growth by 0.2 percentage points. Results show that the growth inhibiting consequences of the budget deficit in South Africa are principally driven by negatively affecting private and public physical capital accumulation growth, as well as a drop in gross national savings. However, results show no evidence of a deficit reduction effect through long term-real interest rate. The findings reveal a one-way Granger causality running from budget deficits to economic growth. Practical implications: Based on the findings in this article, expanding the fiscal deficit to support growth is not a viable policy option for the South African economy. Originality/value: The originality of this paper lies in establishing the Granger causality between budget deficit and economic growth, thus adding to the scant literature, as well as establishing the channels through which budget deficit retards economic growth for the South African economy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Democracy is a system by which majority tend to have their way: the majority rules. South Africa is one country which has multiple parties that seek to be leaders of the nation. This multiparty state has seen many unrests previously and currently and many fueled by political intolerance and loss of African morals. The paper examines the impact of indigenous knowledge on political tolerance in a multi-party country like South Africa. It determines if any, local indigenous can enhance mutual political tolerance at the party level. Political intolerance in many instances is linked to cultural intolerance which in turn constrains the liberty of individual citizens. South Africa like many other countries in the world is faced with the COVID-19 pandemic and this has caused many to lose jobs and other sources of income to sustain their lives. The lack to maintain the lives has resulted in many resorting to looting and committing small crimes in order to feed and maintain their families. Furthermore, the incarceration of former president Jacob Zuma fueled the political intolerance that has always been a problem in South Africa. This paper applies a qualitative document analysis (QDA) to track the trends in literature about IK and politics in South Africa. It finds that IK is inter, multi and transdisciplinary disciplines and knowledge applied to address the national ills of looting, protests and opportunistic crimes. It concludes that indigenous knowledge (IK) as a form of knowledge that resonates with many ethnic communities, has attracted the attention of many experts, academics and politicians and is viewed by many as a catalyst to liberate the society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Concerted efforts have been geared towards development in the South African Post-apartheid era at local level. Studies have shown that local governments have recognized local economic development as a crucial tool for addressing development-related challenges. The extent to which the municipalities have ingrained the local economic development goal, however, has received little to no attention. Hence, this paper intends to fill the missing gap and answers the following questions: what are the key components of economic development at the local level in the post-apartheid era? To what extent has the local economic development stimulated growth and development with particular reference to small and medium scale enterprise? What are the donors’ approaches to local development and their critical challenges? Using the secondary sources of data collection, this paper reviews current level of economic development at local municipalities in South Africa. Thereafter, it examines the impact of the municipal government strategies designed to stimulate political and socio-economic development agenda at the local level in South Africa. This paper identifies strategic planning and local resources needed to address the local economic development in South Africa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Writing centres have had to adapt to many challenges, including the move to online learning during the Covid-19 pandemic. In South Africa this move was complexified by differential access to digital environments and contextual issues such as lack of electricity and rolling blackouts. Writing centres also need to consider the increasing massification of higher education and ways of harnessing diverse resources to enrich communication. This paper explores writing centre approaches to research and pedagogy within a social justice agenda, including combining an academic literacies approach with a multimodal social semiotic approach. It also investigates innovative approaches to teaching writing in diverse and multilingual contexts, including expanding the repertoire of resources used in writing consultations. It argues that the explicit utilisation of a range of modes can enhance writing production and enable writers to actively explore different modes for constructing meaning. The paper reflects on developing inclusive multimodal writing centre materials. It then explores the changing function of modes in online and face-to-face consultations (post-pandemic lockdowns), including talk as mode, silence as mode, visual modes, and the use of time. The aim is to interrogate our academic practices concerning the diverse languages and various forms of communication that students possess, whether in virtual or physical learning environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Covid-19 pandemic brought about restrictions on physical interactions, which in many ways changed how we live and work. Due to these restrictions, writing centres at universities and other educational institutions around the world had to transition from traditional ways of supporting students to online or remote methods. To save the academic year, Wits University's teaching and learning and other student support programmes, including the Wits School of Education Writing Centre (WSoE WC), were compelled to adopt Emergency Remote Teaching and Learning (ERTL). Transitioning to ERTL meant reimagining student support in an online mode. This paper explores how the WSoE WC transitioned from face-to-face student consultations to offering online academic literacy support and development. The paper highlights the adaptation process in the transition, particularly how the WSoE WC dealt with the varying complexities accompanying ERTL. The main question guiding this exploration is: How did the WSoE WC negotiate the move to online academic literacy support and development during the Covid-19 pandemic? Data were collected through semi-structured interviews with the director of the WSoE WC, who steered the adoption of the online mode and the peer tutors who worked directly with students online. The findings show that transitioning to the online mode during ERTL was difficult and complex. However, collective and individual agency enabled continued student academic literacy support despite disruption and change. This paper contributes to the ongoing conversation around the role of writing centres at universities in South Africa and beyond, particularly during disruptions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper takes the form of a deeply personal narrative, relating the story of how early community activism prompted a career of over two decades in urban planning in a post-apartheid metropolitan Council in South Africa. It shows how a sense of frustration with a system that was unable to facilitate the spatial restructuring of an unequal urban form, prompted the transition towards becoming a critical researcher within the local state apparatus. It reveals how attempts to speak truth to power through research that could uncover unexplored complexities, contestations and dubious local state practices, whilst still in the employ of the institution was at best, challenging. Through the use of real examples from planning practice, the paper unpacks and carefully documents four key considerations that make such embedded research difficult. In sharing the lessons learned from the aborted research project, it then suggests what type of research is possible by picking up the story of a second attempt at "safer research". It wraps up the story with new insights, this time from a perspective as a recent-outsider — not as a stranger though, but as one of the local state's own. Whilst appreciating the value of distance in undertaking research, it speaks to the power of familiarity and trusted ties, and the legitimacy that comes with being a credible outsider. At the same time, it also reflects on the possible challenges associated with being such an outsider. Through critical reflection on the process of doing research inside and outside of the local state, the paper suggests that differential positioning can significantly affect the depth of insights around state practices in urban governance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

South Africa is one of the countries that contributed significantly to the development of the global 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (the 2030 Agenda) and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to eradicate poverty, protect the environment and work towards peace and prosperity. In its commitment to contribute to the 17 SDGs, the country has, together with the United Nations, finalised the United Nations Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework for 2020-2025 under the new guidelines released in 2019. Domestically, the country recognises the importance of local government, as the sphere closest to the people, in administering government duties, making it a potentially significant role player in localising the implementation of the SDGs. The question that frames the contention of this paper is whether South Africa has administrative provisions for local government to meet its SDG targets. The paper is largely informed by a qualitative methodology that adopts a discourse analysis approach. Theory building and a critical scholarship review of journal articles, official government documents and books are methodological ways of obtaining data. The realist epistemology of the study undertaken presumes that some of the SDGs are embodied in the basic local government functions. However, this research found that South Africa has no lucid mandate for municipalities to implement its SDG obligations. It therefore recommends ways as to how municipalities can strategically localise and drive the SDG agenda. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Persons with HIV and tuberculosis (TB) co-infection require transaminase monitoring while on hepatotoxic medications. A novel paper-based, point-of-care transaminase test is in development at an anticipated cost of $1 per test. Methods To project long-term clinical outcomes and estimate the cost-effectiveness of using a paper-based fingerstick test to monitor for drug-induced liver injury (DILI), as compared with automated testing and with no laboratory monitoring. The design was a decision analytic model, including deterministic and probabilistic sensitivity analyses. Data sources were observational cohorts and a validation study of the paper-based test. The target population was HIV/TB co-infected persons in South Africa on antiretroviral therapy who were initiating TB therapy. Interventions: (1) clinical (no laboratory) monitoring; (2) monitoring using the paper-based test with a ≥120 IU/mL threshold for positivity; (3) monitoring using the paper-based test with a ≥200 IU/mL threshold for positivity; (4) monitoring using the paper-based test using 1 of 3 categories: <120 IU/mL, 120 to 200 IU/mL, and >200 IU/mL (“bin placement”); (5) monitoring using automated ALT testing using the same 3 categories (“automated testing”). The outcome measures were discounted quality-adjusted life-years (QALYs), costs, and incremental cost-effectiveness ratios (ICERs). Results The ICER of automated testing was $5180/QALY. Use of the paper-based test with the bin placement strategy was cost-effective compared with clinical monitoring alone. Conclusion At its current performance, monthly DILI monitoring by bin placement using the paper-based test was cost-effective, compared with clinical monitoring, in HIV/TB co-infected persons in South Africa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper will re-visit the origins and early use in South African curriculum writing of the concept of 'coherence'; it will go on to show how Suellen Shay and her colleagues fleshed out the concept and created an instrument for its empirical analysis; it will then step back and examine the contribution and some problems that were brought to light; examine briefly how Shay's later work continued to wrestle with the notion of 'practice', particularly in light of curricula that were judged to display conceptual coherence; and will suggest one possible solution in the seminal paper by Bernstein (2000). Finally, the paper will reflect on two implicit definitions of 'curriculum', a 'strict' one and an 'extended' one and suggest why they should be distinguished. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the extent to which apartheid has and continues to shape the agricultural sector in South Africa. The paper employed the Sustainable Livelihood Approach (SLA) as a theoretical lens. This approach helped to understand the long-lasting legacies (and their subsequent effects) of apartheid in the agricultural sector and how the government has, since post-1994, approached the process and need for land redistribution in South Africa. This paper relied on secondary data to gather the relevant literature that speaks to what the paper aims to achieve. Findings revealed that apartheid introduced systemic policies to segregate and deprive black South Africans of owning land and restricted their participation in the agricultural sector. While the South African government post-1994 has undertaken an array of steps to address the need for land reform, these approaches have yet to achieve their desired results, albeit never-ending challenges have characterized them. Moreover, there needs to be a consensus from a political perspective to reflect how land reform should be undertaken while at the same time protecting proprietary rights and the economic development of the country. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective – The aim of this paper is to examine the relationship between the CPI, the brent crude oil price, and the PPI for final manufactured goods as well as the Rand/Dollar exchange rate during the past year. The study used South Africa as a proxy for developed countries. The objective is, therefore, to evaluate the effects of the increase in commodity prices on inflation and other macroeconomic variables. Methodology –The study utilised a quantitative methodological approach through the assessment of an econometric model that employed monthly data from January 2017 to May 2022. The paper utilized variables such as CPI, brent crude oil prices, PPI for final manufactured goods as well as the Rand/Dollar exchange rate. Findings – Short- and long-run relationships were established between the variables using the vector error correction model (VECM) and the Johansen co-integration equation methods. The long-run conclusions showed that high brent crude oil prices, high sunflower oil, a depreciating exchange rate and increasingly high PPI levels will lead to an increase in the CPI (Inflation). The results also indicated that oil prices still influence the basic prices of goods and services since all things need to be transported. Novelty – The results of the study showed that a perpetual international and national macro-economic environment is crucial to prevent inflationary pressures and price shocks, while volatile exchange rates unsteady PPI’s and significantly high oil and commodity prices causes cost-push inflation. Policy certainty and political stability is important to keep inflation stable and economic growth positive, which could lead to a more self-sufficient economy which are is reliant on political instability as an obstacle for positive future economic growth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper uses desktop review to critique Ndlovu (2014)'s analysis of South Africa's 'exceptionalism' and 'xenophobia' based on the articulations of the minister of Sports Fikile Mbalula at the Cape Town stadium in September 2014. Critical analysis underpinned on interpretivism was used to argue that Ndlovu chose an irrelevant case to frame his problem. This resulted in the biased analysis as published. Ndlovu (2014) is ignorant on the influence of sports rivalrism on human behaviour - especially as it has been historical between Nigeria and South Africa. Ndlovu's (2014) description of Black South Africans affirms Euro-American hostility and attitude on Blackness which to this tradition denotes 'danger' - a sentiment sponsored by the swart gevaar philosophy of the apartheid regime in South Africa. The idea of the swart gevaar philosophy was to assassinate Blackness and Black people's character. It is concluded that Ndlovu (2014) is pontifical - wanting to model immigrant nationals as victims of Black South Africans while positioning white and immigrant nationals as the civilised humans who happened to share social space with the barbarous Black South Africans. This is an antagonistic approach of wanting to solve what could be a real challenge in society however ending with the unintended consequence of broadening existing social polarisation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explored the experiences of geography subject advisors (GSAs) in the implementation of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) in South African schools. This was done to determine how they assist in the implementation of GIS. National senior certificate diagnostic reports for matric results indicate every year that learners are performing poorly in the GIS section of geography subject. The current literature shows that there is a lack of pedagogical content knowledge in geography teachers in the teaching and learning of GIS. Several scholars have written about learners and educators in the implementation of GIS in schools, but there is a lack of literature on GSAs' experiences in the implementation of GIS in schools. This paper is underpinned by instructional leadership theory, which argues for leadership to focus their efforts on implementing of practices that positively impact students' learning. Qualitative research approach, and semi-structured interviews were used to generate data to answer the research questions. Two GSAs from two selected districts were purposively chosen to participate in this study. The findings showed that GSAs organise workshops for educators. However, certain educators do not attend workshops and other workshops which are planned, do not materialise. GSAs rely on geography educators that are knowledgeable about GIS to assist in workshops by teaching others. GIS teaching in schools was alleged to be focused on a theoretical aspect without integrating the practical part. The study proposes that the DBE in collaboration with higher education institutions, should provide GIS teacher training opportunities for teachers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper examines the educators' perceptions of the influence of administrative communication on effective teaching in a selected school in South Africa. The paper adopted a case study research design of a qualitative research approach. Purposive sampling techniques were used to select eight (8) participants that comprises of 4 (four) educators and 4 (four) principals of some selected public schools in Buffalo City Metropolitan. A semi-structured interview was used to elicit information from the participants. The findings indicated that administrative communication influences educators' task performance and communication is revealed to influence the attainment of goals and school objectives. Also, the principals make use of different communication channels according to the skills of their educators to make valuable decisions. Educators performed better when they have a sense of belonging and when they receive constant communication from the principal. It is however recommended that the principals should endeavour to understand the type of communication skills possessed by the educators so that such skills will be used constantly to promote effective teaching. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

South African teachers are faced with corruption during teacher promotion processes, and this remains unabated. This qualitative paper used three purposively selected case studies of victim teachers to investigate the impact of this corruption on victim teachers. The paper used the Crisis Intervention Theory to underpin the theoretical framework for the analysis. Key informant interviews (KIIs) were administered on a senior union member to solicit crucial data while the primary participants (n=3) were interviewed on face-to-face approach to collect data. Relevant literature was also used to provide supportive and corroborative scientific propositions. The paper discovered that corruption during teacher promotion processes in the South African Basic Education sector was reality. However, in some instances, such claims could not be backed by sustainable evidence. Victim teachers have suffered traumatic experiences resulting in stress, health challenges, relational challenges with colleagues and resignations. The department did not assist victim teachers needing emergency counselling and psychological rehabilitation to cope with the emanating pressure. It is recommended that authorities punish perpetrators of corruption. Victim teachers need to be assisted through professional resolving of their grievances and therapeutical intervention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The specialty of African politics lies within its historical contents and background. The continent grew from strength to strength to attain its political development stronghold. By doing so over the years, the continent has been reflected in most states' political development stronghold. While in some states, religion and tribal alliances are critical factors in political affiliation, in states such as South Africa and Kenya, democracy and ethnicity have been the leading courses to political development. Democracy and ethnicity have proven to be part of the party identification and evaluation factors and have also become the center point of growth and development in the state's politics. Thus, by focusing on Kenya and South Africa as case studies, the paper adopted a qualitative method of research to understand democracy as well as ethnicity as the bane of these states' political development. Although much has been documented on either state's political development, little is understood about democracy and ethnicity as the bane of their political leadership from 1989 to 2021, which is the complete focus of the paper. The paper relied on qualitative research methodology to collect and analyze the data on democracy and ethnicity as the bane of Kenya and South Africa from 1989 to 2021. Therefore, the study relied on secondary sources such as accredited journal articles, books, and reports to collect and analyze data on the phenomenon at hand. Thus, the paper's main findings suggest that democracy and ethnicity are the strongholds of South Africa and Kenya's political leadership development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Phosphate rock is mined on a large scale as a source material for fertilizers and other phosphorous containing products, such as phosphoric acid and gypsum. The potential problem of high concentrations of naturally occurring radionuclides in the phosphate industry has been recognized for many years. The industry is responsible for the production of millions of tons of phosphogypsum waste, which is usually stockpiled and might impact the surrounding environment. The presented study aims to assess the natural radioactivity concentrations in raw and waste sub-products from phosphate mining and fertilizer production in South Africa and determine the potential radiological risk associated with the industry. Activity concentrations of 238U, 226Ra and 232Th in phosphate rock, phosphogypsum, tailings, fertilizer, soil and sediment were found to be similar to values reported in previous studies conducted in South Africa. Concentrations of the 232Th decay series were higher than those of the 238U series in rock and ore. The low concentrations of 238U and 226Ra in rock and ore, compared to other countries, makes it more suitable to be used for fertilizer production, and therefore increases the demand for export of rock phosphate and fertilizer from South Africa. 228Ra concentrations in phosphogypsum were higher than 226Ra. The activity of 228Ra was also enriched compared to 232Th, with a ratio of 0.45–19.8. Similar equilibria as described in literature were observed, with almost all the 228Ra and 226Ra present in the phosphate rock observed in the phosphogypsum. Only a low percentage of 232Th present in the original rock remained in the phosphogypsum, with more than 60% present in the fertilizer. The activity concentrations of all nuclides in the analysed samples from the phosphate industry were less than the 1000 Bq kg−1 exclusion value proposed internationally for regulation of NORM. With the exception of phosphate rock samples, concentrations in all solids were lower than the 500 Bq kg−1 limit proposed by the National Nuclear Regulator in South Africa. The obtained values of Ra eq for all phosphogypsum, tailings and soil samples were less than the recommended limit of 370 Bq kg−1. The gamma index for the majority of samples was less than 0.5. The index exceeded the limit of unity only for phosphate rock and fertilizer samples, indicating some radiological risk to people living in the vicinity of the industry. The results suggested that members of the public were unlikely to receive any significant dose from the use of phosphate rocks and fertilizers, with an annual effective dose of less than 0.5 mSv.a−1. The highest external dose of 0.45 mSv a−1 is expected from phosphate rock. The suitability of use of phosphogypsum as building material was evaluated. Based on the calculated gamma index [ I γ = 0.52 ± 0.14] use of phosphogypsum as building material is permitted. • Characterization of natural radioactivity in samples from the phosphate fertilizer production industry in South Africa. • Comparison of measured activity concentrations in these samples with those in similar products worldwide. • Evaluation of the radiological impact associated with the phosphate industry in South Africa. • Evaluation of utilization of by-products such as phosphogypsum as building material. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Eucalyptus grandisis predominantly cultivated in the humid, warmer temperate, subtropical regions in South Africa for pulp and paper production because of its rapid growth and desirable wood properties. With forestry expanding into mid-altitude drier and warmer, or drier and colder sites, the growth ofE. grandishas been compromised by unsuitable growing conditions and, therefore, the search to identify reasonably well-performing species/provenances for such sites has extended to summer rainfall provenances ofE. cypellocarpafor pulp and paper production. Seed collected from New South Wales, Australia, comprising provenances from Hanging Rock, Nullo Mountain, Wingello State Forests and Kaputar Mountain National Park was established in provenance/progeny trials on three sites in South Africa (Windy Gap, Petrusvlei and Speenkoppies). Trials were planted at 1 667 stems ha−1, in single-row plots of six trees, with four replications in one balanced and two unbalanced lattice designs. Commercial seed of other eucalypts and clones was used as controls. Diameter at breast height and height were measured at 96 months at Windy Gap, and 72 months at both Petrusvlei and Speenkoppies. Basal areas and volumes were derived from these measurements. There were distinct family and provenance differences for growth at the different sites, with the Hanging Rock provenance generally performing well across all sites. A genotype × environment interaction was present between two sites, as indicated by low Type B correlations of 0.47 and 0.53 for basal area and volume, respectively. This indicated that different populations ofE. cypellocarpashould be developed for the cold and warm sites. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Geographical information systems (GIS) were phased into the geography curriculum of South African schools from 2006-2008 as part of the National Curriculum Statement (NCS) for grades 10-12. Since its introduction, GIS education in schools across the country has been met with a number of challenges including the cost of purchasing the hardware and software required to elucidate the basic concepts of GIS to learners. This article examines the introduction of GIS education in schools in South Africa. The development and distribution of a paper-based GIS educational package for resource-poor schools in the country is also highlighted. Preliminary educator and learner evaluations of the paper-based GIS package are discussed and the broader learning opportunities and benefits associated with flexible teaching mechanisms are examined. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Co-authorship networks are graphs in which the nodes of the graph represent authors and two authors are connected by an edge if they have written one or more papers together. When applied to the authorship of scholarly papers, analysing the structure of a co-authorship network can provide useful insights into the way in which research is carried out in a particular field. We examine two co-authorship networks in our article, constructed from papers written on the subjects of chemistry and mathematics during the period 1990 to 2005, in which at least one of the authors was South African. Local results are compared with other studies conducted in much larger discipline-wide networks. We find that many of the same patterns exist locally, with the main difference being a far more fragmented South African mathematics network. We discuss some tentative implications of these results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article the authors discuss topics related to orthodontics. It talks about a randomized controlled trial which examines the difference between banding and bonding of first permanent molars. It mentions a study which examines the level of knowledge and understanding of the British Orthodontic Society's Training Grades Group about informed consent. It notes a study conducted at South Africa's University of the Witwatersrand which explores the perceptions of facial profile attractiveness.

The article focuses on the "Discussion Paper on Tax Avoidance and Section 103 of the Income Tax Act, 1962 (Act No. 58 of 1961)," released by the South African Revenue Service. It provides an account of the common elements of tax-avoidance transactions and the development of anti-avoidance law in South Africa. It presents examples of tax-avoidance transactions. It presents an overview of the harms caused by impermissible tax avoidance.

Settlement categorisation differs tremendously between countries making their cross‐comparison, globally, close to impossible. In 2012, the United Nations (UN) proposed a manner in which settlements within its member states could be classified. However, the proposed typology is rather broad and does not offer much on how settlements are classified. Consequently, this paper explored how settlements in South Africa (one of the UN member states) have been categorised, as it is believed that at the least settlements should be categorised consistently within a particular country. This paper conducted an explorative literature review in order to uncover how settlements have been classified in South Africa between 1993 and 2016 in order to draw deduction on the typology of settlements in South Africa. Findings were drawn through a comparative analysis of the literature in order to determine if there was consistency in the understanding of how settlements are classified within the country. The paper found that the categorisation of settlements within South Africa has been a rather contentious matter and the method of classification being fickle in its application. The paper calls for a more structured approach to categorising settlements within the country and pose spatial considerations for other countries dealing with similar issues. Future research in this regard should be considered in order to understand the application of settlement typologies in the quest of a uniform classification as envisioned by the UN. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this paper is to conceptually explore and examine teaching in higher education during and post COVID-19 era. This paper uses literature-based approach which considers a narrative review of literature as its main approach in exploring and examining data related to online teaching and learning in higher education. There has been various challenges and criticisms about online teaching ever since lockdown regulations instigated by COVID-19 in South Africa. Online teaching and learning has been criticized for their lack of quality assurance in higher education. Although there are claims, hiccups and criticisms of the quality assurance and credibility of online teaching and learning, accessing education is inevitable irrespective of the challenges encountered. Accessing education is important and goes beyond or post COVID-19 pandemic whereby distance learning should be endorsed in higher institutions. The paper argues that the usage of online platforms during COVID-19 pandemic became a panacea for the students who were remote from physical institutions of higher learning to access higher education. Therefore, the paper submits that while COVID-19 would have its aftermath in higher education institutions, there are lessons and prospects that could be drawn from the challenges. The paper recommends the re-thinking strategies that could possibly be employed to enhance students' learning and engagement thereof. Among those strategies, is a Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) that encapsulate the blended method of pedagogy and Open Distance Learning (ODL) that may be effective in teaching and learning in the current circumstances. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]