22,685 results
Search Results
402. Letter from the Symposium Papers Editor for the 8th International Symposium on Soil and Plant Analysis.
- Author
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Westfall, Dwayne
- Subjects
- *
CONFERENCES & conventions , *SOIL testing , *AUTOGRAPHS , *MANUSCRIPTS , *LITERATURE - Abstract
The article presents information on the 8th International Symposium on Soil and Plant Analysis held in Cape Town, South Africa, January 13-17, 2003. The Symposium was well attended and many excellent papers were presented. All presenters did not submit manuscripts for publication consideration. All manuscripts that were submitted were subjected to peer review and 67 were accepted for publication. During the publication of manuscripts, peer reviewers play a vital role in the publication process. The authors play the key role in the publication process.
- Published
- 2005
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403. Draft White Paper on national defence released.
- Subjects
MILITARY policy - Abstract
Reports that proposals for a future defense policy for South Africa have been unveiled in a draft White Paper on National Defense. Challenge of transformation; Responsibility of participating in international peace operations; Human resource issues.
- Published
- 1995
404. Education white paper released.
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DISCRIMINATION in education ,GOVERNMENT policy - Abstract
Reports on the proposals for a non-discriminatory education in South Africa as contained in `White Paper on Education.' Emphasis on academic subjects and practical training; Qualification levels for a flexible and appropriate curricula; Proposals on the recognition of school categories.
- Published
- 1995
405. New legislative measures in South Africa aimed at combating over-indebtedness—are the new proposals sufficient under the constitution and law in general?<FNR></FNR><FN>This article is an adaptation of a paper delivered at INSOL 2005 (Academics' Group) Sydney, Australia—Renke and Roestoff ‘The Constitution of the Republic of South Africa and its role in combating over-indebtedness’. Parts of the last-mentioned paper have been based on a previous article entitled The Consumer Credit Bill—A solution to over-indebtedness—Roestoff and Renke 2005 Journal of Contemporary Roman-Dutch Law 115. </FN>
- Author
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Renke, Stéfan, Roestoff, Melanie, and Bekink, Bernard
- Subjects
DEBT ,LEGISLATIVE bills ,CONSUMERS ,CREDIT - Abstract
The National Credit Bill codifies a number of fundamental rights of consumers in the credit market. It provides inter alia for a right to information to enable consumers to make informed choices and thereby contributes to one of the purposes of the proposed legislation, namely to provide mechanisms to combat over-indebtedness. The main purpose of this research is to evaluate the proposed measures in the Bill aimed at combating over-indebtedness and also to determine to which extent these measures comply with the general constitutional consumer protection demands. In order to achieve this, the relevant guidelines of the INSOL Consumer Debt Report and measures in other jurisdictions will also be considered. Since the South African Constitution does not directly obligate the state to enact specific credit laws and as the Bill seeks, in the spirit of the supreme law, to codify certain basic consumer rights, the new legislative initiatives are to be welcomed. It is, however, submitted that the Bill does not go far enough in achieving its particular aims and objectives and that more could be done to bring South African legislation in line with measures in other jurisdictions. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
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- 2006
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406. ...as editor defends publishing key AZT paper.
- Author
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Loder, Natasha
- Subjects
- *
AZIDOTHYMIDINE , *AIDS , *DRUG efficacy - Abstract
Reports on the defense of the paper 'A Critical Analysis of the Pharmacology of AZT and its Use in AIDS,' published in the periodical 'Current Medical Research and Opinion.' Its use by President Thabo Mbeki in the debate over the efficacy of AZT in South Africa; Comments by managing editor of the periodical Peter Clarke.
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- 2000
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407. Incorporation of the Method of Ranking the Hazards of Abandoned Mine Entries into a Rule-Based Expert System.
- Author
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Mhlongo, Sphiwe Emmanuel, Amponsah-Dacosta, Francis, and Kadyamatimba, Armstrong
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ABANDONED mines ,EXPERT systems ,PAPER arts - Abstract
The work of quantifying the problems of abandoned mines is the first step towards the rehabilitation of these mines. As the result, in all countries that have many abandoned mines, researchers and different organizations have been making efforts to develop decision-making tools, methods, and techniques for rehabilitation of abandoned mines. This paper describes the work conducted to incorporate the method for ranking the problems of abandoned mine entries into a rule-based expert system. This is done using the web-based expert system platform provided by expert system (ES)-Builder Shell. The ES is tested by applying it to the case study of the problems of abandoned mine entries in the areas of Giyani and Musina, Limpopo Province of South Africa. This paper gives details of the procedure followed in creating the production rules of the ES for ranking problems of abandoned mine entries (ES-RAME), its attributes, and the results of its application to the selected case study. The use of the ES-RAME is found to be important for setting the objectives and priorities of the rehabilitation of abandoned mine entries. In addition, the incorporation of the ranking method into the expert system ensured that the procedure of the tanking method is clearly communicated and preserved as the rules of the ES. The expert system also has the advantages of being consistent in its guidance, and it gives the user an opportunity to go through the ranking process of the system using any possible fictitious information; this gives the user a feel for the ranking process and the data required when using the ES-RAME. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2019
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408. SEA and the Painted Shadow.
- Author
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Coetzer, Nicholas
- Subjects
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CORE competencies , *SCHOOLS of architecture , *CRITICAL thinking , *SCHOOL buildings , *PRIVATE schools - Abstract
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]
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- 2024
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409. The Impact of White Supremacy on First-Generation Mixed-Race Identity in Post-Apartheid South Africa.
- Author
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Metcalfe, Jody
- Subjects
- *
POST-apartheid era , *WHITE supremacy , *CRITICAL race theory , *INTERSECTIONALITY - Abstract
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]
- Published
- 2024
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410. Girls, sexuality and playground‐assemblages in a South African primary school.
- Author
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Janak, Raksha and Bhana, Deevia
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- *
SOCIALIZATION , *HUMAN sexuality , *RESEARCH methodology , *SELF-perception , *INTERVIEWING , *PSYCHOLOGY of women , *SCHOOLS , *PLAY , *RESEARCH funding , *PSYCHOLOGY of school children , *STUDENT attitudes - Abstract
Inspired by new feminist materialism, this paper seeks to reimagine existing knowledge of girls, sexuality and playgrounds by considering how the socio‐material reality may unlock girls' capacities for what is possible through play. Focusing on semi‐structured interviews of girls (aged 12–13), the paper draws attention to the playground as an 'assemblage' of human and non‐human matter that connect to illuminate other ways of being, feeling and doing. We argue that the assemblage not only creates spaces for girls to disrupt hetero‐patriarchal ideologies but simultaneously serves to reinforce them. Interventions require attention to the oppressive materialities that underpin play. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
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- 2024
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411. Digital content marketing consumption motives in the age of social media: an investigation of relational and monetary outcomes.
- Author
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Izogo, Ernest Emeka and Mpinganjira, Mercy
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- *
USER-generated content , *SOCIAL media , *CONTENT marketing , *INTERNET marketing , *BRAND communities , *CONSUMPTION (Economics) , *MEDIA consumption - Abstract
Purpose: Although digital content marketing (DCM) research and industry-wide expenditure is growing very rapidly owing to the positive outcomes associated with this new pull marketing strategy, research has not completely mapped how DCM activities can be optimized in the social media brand community context. This paper seeks to understand how social media DCM activities can be optimized to achieve greater relational and monetary outcomes for different products. Design/methodology/approach: A structural equation modeling procedure was used to analyze 416 survey responses obtained from members of Facebook brand communities in South Africa. Findings: The results reveal that social media DCM consumption motives exert significant differential effects on both relational and monetary marketing outcomes in search and experience product contexts while also demonstrating the mechanism through which social media DCM consumption motives lead to contributing social media engagement behaviors. Practical implications: The study findings call for the need for firms to understand the motives that drive the consumption of DCM in social media brand communities. Specifically, marketers of search products should deploy more of hedonic contents such as images while simultaneously keeping highly textual DCM to a minimum in Facebook brand communities as this works better for experience products. Finally, more authentic SM-DCM activities that effectively address the authenticity SM-DCM consumption motive can result from the DCM activities of social media opinion leaders and genuine consumer–brand interactions in the context of Facebook brand communities. Originality/value: This paper broke new grounds in three unique directions in terms of: (1) the relative salience of SM-DCM consumption motives in enhancing WTP and different aspects of SMBE; (2) the contextual influence of product type on SM-DCM activities optimization and (3) the mechanisms that underlie the effects of SM-DCM consumption motives on contributing SMBE in the Facebook brand community context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2024
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412. Considerations for paediatric student‐led telepractice in speech‐language therapy: A pilot observational study from South Africa.
- Author
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Watermeyer, Jennifer, Nattrass, Rhona, Beukes, Johanna, Madonsela, Sonto, and Scott, Megan
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- *
SPEECH therapists , *QUALITATIVE research , *OCCUPATIONAL adaptation , *MEDICAL technology , *RESEARCH funding , *HEALTH occupations students , *PILOT projects , *SCIENTIFIC observation , *UNIVERSITIES & colleges , *DIGITAL divide , *SOCIAL role , *DESCRIPTIVE statistics , *PEDIATRICS , *STUDENTS , *TELEMEDICINE , *THEMATIC analysis , *CLIENT relations , *INFORMATION literacy , *RESEARCH , *RESOURCE-limited settings , *SOCIAL support , *INTERNET service providers , *SPEECH therapy , *VIDEO recording - Abstract
Background: COVID‐19 necessitated emergency telepractice for student‐led speech‐language therapy clinical practicals in training institutions, with limited preparation and evidence‐based guidelines. Beyond the pandemic, practitioners and university training sites are likely to continue to offer telepractice necessitating thorough preparation for telepractice services underpinned by a comprehensive understanding of the complexities involved in online therapy. Aims: Adopting realist evaluation principles, our aim in this paper was to explore broadly what works and does not work in a set of student‐led telepractice sessions in a diverse, resource‐limited context. The broader goal of this project was to provide evidence‐based support to enhance the efficiency and success of telepractice sessions in student clinical training contexts. Methods & Procedures: We used qualitative observational methods with reflexive thematic analysis to analyse 28 video recordings and 61 observation notes of student‐led paediatric telepractice sessions from a South African university clinic as part of a pilot study. Outcomes & Results: We identified four overarching considerations for student‐led telepractice: (1) additional, specific preparation is required, (2) with greater management of technology and adaptation of tasks, especially during times of poor connectivity; (3) telepractice relies heavily on caregiver input and collaboration; and (4) promoting engagement online, holding a client's attention, building rapport and offering reinforcement are critical skills that are complicated by the lack of face‐to‐face contact. Conclusions & Implications: Our findings indicate that telepractice pedagogy needs to be explicitly taught and students require practical assistance as they learn how to use this service delivery approach effectively. There are some aspects peculiar to telepractice that require unique consideration and planning, especially in contexts where service providers and users may be unfamiliar with this form of service provision. The findings of this pilot study can be used by clinical educators and student clinicians to enhance clinical training opportunities involving telepractice. WHAT THIS PAPER ADDS: What is already known on this subject: Many speech‐language therapy (SLT) student clinicians had to transition quickly to telepractice service provision during COVID‐19 with limited existing guidelines and support, especially in contexts where teletherapy is typically non‐existent or difficult to access. Although there is some literature available on experiences of telepractice, there is very little evidence‐based research which explores the mechanics of such sessions in real‐time and which offers practical support to student clinicians and clinical educators engaging in this mode of service delivery. What this study adds: This pilot study examined video‐recorded, student‐led, paediatric, speech‐language teletherapy sessions to understand challenges and considerations involved in using telepractice as a clinical training tool. Findings show that additional preparation for telepractice sessions is required, particularly in contexts of poor digital literacy; students must learn to manage technology, especially when connectivity poses a challenge, and adapt therapy tasks for online work with clients; telepractice relies heavily on caregiver input and collaboration, more so than in in‐person consultations, and this relationship requires careful management; and promoting engagement online, holding a client's attention, building rapport and offering reinforcement are critical yet challenging skills in telepractice. What are the potential or actual clinical implications of this work?: Our findings highlight a need to teach telepractice pedagogy explicitly and support students practically in learning how to provide therapy effectively via this mode of service delivery. Observational methods for studying practices in recorded telepractice sessions can be used as part of a reflective approach to clinical training. Using already available data allowed us to unpack the 'messy reality' of clinical training using telepractice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2024
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413. An assessment of the perceptions of local communities in the Eastern Free State Region of South Africa regarding the impacts of climate change on livelihoods.
- Author
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Lokuthula, Msimanga and Geoffrey, Mukwada
- Subjects
- *
CLIMATE change , *LIVESTOCK mortality , *CROP yields , *SAMPLING (Process) , *ANIMAL diseases - Abstract
Due to their high vulnerability, mountain communities are adversely affected by climate change and variability causing significant challenges to their livelihood strategies. The objective of this paper is to examine the perceptions of local households in the Eastern Free State Region of South Africa regarding how climate change impacts their livelihoods. A multistage sampling procedure was used to select 400 respondents on whom a semi-structured household questionnaire survey was administered to gather information about the impacts of climate change on rural livelihoods. Sixty-seven percent of the agriculture-based mountain households reported declining water quality and quantity as the most significant impact, while 48%, 33%, 38% and 68% considered crop loss, reduced crop yields, animal diseases, and livestock mortality as the most significant impacts, respectively. Agriculture-based mountain households also cited climate-related socio-economic impacts- higher prices, farm and non-farm income loss, and increased labour as impacts of climate change. These findings reveal that the impacts of climate change effects on on-farm and off-farm activities can be contextualised according to households' primary livelihood activities. The paper concludes that understanding the mountain communities' perceptions about climate change impacts on their livelihoods could be useful for identifying context-specific adaptation strategies applicable to these communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2024
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414. A Comparative Analysis of Budgetary Allocations to Members of Parliament in Nigeria and South Africa: Towards a Possible Parliamentary Funding Model.
- Author
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Isibor, Nelson and Shopola, Arthur
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LEGISLATORS ,CITIZENS ,PUBLIC administration ,INCOME inequality ,COMPARATIVE studies ,WELL-being - Abstract
In Africa, politics often involve a significant number of resources and budget allocations. As the article will argue throughout, the comparison between salaries for parliamentarians in many African countries and the budget allocations for public management and development exposes the profitability of politics on the continent. Indeed, this raises the question of whether parliamentarians' salaries and benefits are too high and detrimental to their citizens. This paper is qualitative in nature and relies on literature materials to examine the profitability of politics in Africa. A particular focus was placed on the comparison of budgetary allocations to elected officials in Nigeria and South Africa and budgetary allocations for the rest of the populace. The aim of the paper, therefore, was to explore the extent of this problem, its impact on citizens' well-being, and potential solutions for reducing the inequality between resources allocated to MPs and those allocated to citizens. Overall, the conclusion drawn was that members of Parliament in both Nigeria and South Africa are earning too much to the detriment of their citizens. The wage gap between MPs and average citizens is substantial, exacerbating existing inequalities and undermining citizens' quality of life. Alternatively, among other recommended solutions, a funding model for the houses of parliament to raise their own revenue is possible and should be considered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2024
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415. Problems of Service Delivery Protests, Social Movements, and Democratic Consolidation: South Africa in Perspective.
- Author
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Vhumbunu, Clayton Hazvinei and Adetiba, Toyin Cotties
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DEMOCRATIZATION ,SOCIAL movements ,SOCIAL services ,QUALITY of service ,SOCIAL impact - Abstract
In recent decades, especially at the turn of the millennium, several countries considered as mature democracies are now exhibiting trends and patterns of democratic recession, democratic backsliding and democratic apostacy as many of them are experiencing legitimacy erosion as manifested through frequent public delivery protests organized by cross-sector social movements and general dissatisfaction with the quality and nature of service delivery. In South Africa, between 2004 and 2019, there were a total of over 3 000 service delivery protests organised by several social movements, with the country experiencing 2 455 service delivery protests just between July and September 2022 alone. This calls for an interrogation of the problems of service delivery protests in the midst of democratic consolidation. This paper therefore sought to examine the intricacies presented by problems of service delivery protest organised by various social movements within the contexts of states experiencing democratic consolidation. Specifically, the paper analysed the impact and implications of these social movements-organised service delivery protests on the progression of democratic consolidation. Methodologically, secondary data sources are used for analysis, with the concept of democratic consolidation providing conceptual lenses for analysis. Findings are critical in adding fresh perspectives and insights into the conversations on service delivery and democratic consolidation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2024
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416. A comparison of traditional road safety assessment methods and the newly developed 'road safety deserts' approach.
- Author
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Vanderschuren, M. J. W. A. and Newlands, A. G.
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ROAD safety measures ,TRAFFIC fatalities ,DESERTS ,DEATH rate ,SUPPLY & demand - Abstract
Road fatalities were labelled a pandemic as early as 1973 (BMJ 1973). The number of road fatalities reached 1.35 million in 2016. Currently over 3 500 people perish every day on the world's roads. South Africa has one of the highest road fatality rates in the world, with a fatality rate of 25.9 deaths per 100 000 population (WHO 2018). In order to understand and improve the road safety situation of a region, effective road safety assessments must be carried out. This paper presents a comparison of four different road safety assessment approaches, both traditional and novel, and serves as a proof of concept for the 'road safety desert' methodology, a new technique adapted from the 'transit desert' concept. This new approach to road safety assessment explores the possibility of geo-coded supply and demand comparisons to identify 'road safety deserts' - areas that have a comparatively higher road safety risk. This paper shows that there are several unique and effective ways to assess road safety, and that each approach incorporates different characteristics within their methodologies. It is recommended that road safety analysis is conducted using a multitude of methods, so as to improve understanding and intervention selection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2024
- Full Text
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417. A Mine Closure Risk Rating System for South Africa.
- Author
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Cole, Megan J.
- Subjects
MINE closures ,SOCIAL impact ,ENVIRONMENTAL impact analysis ,ENVIRONMENTAL risk - Abstract
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]
- Published
- 2024
- Full Text
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418. A unified framework for time‐to‐detection occupancy and abundance models.
- Author
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Priyadarshani, Dinusha, Huynh, Huu‐Dinh, Altwegg, Res, and Hwang, Wen‐Han
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ECOSYSTEMS ,ECOLOGICAL surveys ,SPECIES distribution ,DATA modeling ,HETEROGENEITY - Abstract
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]
- Published
- 2024
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419. Managing Trade‐Offs Between Environmental, Social, Governance and Financial Sustainability in State‐Owned Enterprises: Insights from an Emerging Market.
- Author
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Adebayo, Adeyemi and Ackers, Barry
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GOVERNMENT business enterprises ,SUSTAINABLE investing ,EMERGING markets ,SUSTAINABILITY ,SUSTAINABLE development reporting ,FINANCIAL statements - Abstract
Concerns remain about how companies will reconcile environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues with their core mandates. This is one reason why many organisations did not initially subscribe to sustainable investing, reporting and accounting, especially where it is not mandatory, despite growing stakeholder pressure to do so. This paper examines how state‐owned enterprises (SOEs) with social and commercial mandates in South Africa, where sustainability reporting is mandatory, balance ESG practices and financial sustainability to fulfil their mandates. This article proposes and evaluates propositions about SOEs adopting and reporting ESG components using a survey questionnaire and semi‐structured interviews with important SOE stakeholders to show that its sustainability accounting approach benefits policy and non‐policy observers. More than half of the studied SOEs have embraced and disclosed their ESG practices, yet there appears to be no systematic way in which they balance ESG practices and financial sustainability, resulting in conflict. This paper appears to be the first SOE study on this topic. In this regard, this study offers novel insights into how sustainability practices may be incorporated into the social and commercial objectives of SOEs, which in most cases are conflicting, while still allowing SOEs to be financially sustainable and depend less on state bailouts, which is often the case, especially in Africa and in countries that face a high level of corruption. Considering the characteristics and mandates of SOEs, part of being socially responsible is utilising public resources in the form of taxpayers' money in an efficient, effective and accountable manner. The discussion in this paper indicates that paying attention to ESG issues is part of a broader accountability mechanism expected from SOEs. Also, the choice of South Africa and of SOEs in South Africa has implications for theory and practice since SOEs in South Africa have social and commercial objectives such that they are expected to be agents of social responsibility. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2024
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420. Protecting Home Loan Seekers in South Africa: Combating Unlawful Mortgage Lending Practices by Financial Institutions.
- Author
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ODEKU, Kola O. and MUDZIELWANA, Takalani
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FINANCIAL institutions ,MORTGAGE loans ,MORTGAGE banks ,MORTGAGE loan default ,FORECLOSURE ,MORTGAGES ,CRIMINAL liability ,CONSUMERS - Abstract
All over the world, home loans and mortgages are part and parcel of the products and services being offered by the financial institutions-such as banks and homeowner mortgage institutions to their numerous customers. Prior, during and post home loan transactions, they owe their customers the duty to ensure full disclosure of all the terms and conditions in the mortgage agreements without withholding any information. This paper examines any act contrary to uberrimae fidei-utmost good faith in the transactions. Uberrimae fidei requires the highest standard of good faith on both the lender and borrower to disclose all material facts that could influence the decisions of the other party in seeking and granting home loans and mortgages. Failure might result in severe consequences by exploring both the civil and criminal responsibilities and liabilities of the party who acted mala fide-in bad faith. Against this backdrop, this paper examines the protection offered by the laws to ensure level playing field prior, during and after mortgage lending transactions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2024
- Full Text
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421. Developing a change management measurement instrument for effective use of examination administration system.
- Author
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Mphahlele, Ngoanamosadi Stanford, Kekwaletswe, Raymond Mompoloki, and Seaba, Tshinakaho Relebogile
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CHANGE management ,LIBRARY user satisfaction ,EXAMINATION administrators ,COLLEGE teachers - Abstract
The quantitative change management measurement for effective use, which consists of operationalized change drivers, dimensions and sub-dimensions for effective use of Examination Administration System (EAS) in the South African context, has been scarcely discussed in the literature. This paper intends to develop and validate a change management measurement instrument (CHAMI) to measure the effective use of EAS in South Africa's (SA) Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) colleges. The CHAMI was developed drawing on the survey measurement instruments literature for change management and effective use and assessed quantitatively using data collected from 215 EAS users across all 318 TVET colleges from nine provinces of SA. The empirical results found the existence of construct validity of the CHAMI with 11 dimensions (i.e. user involvement and change recognition, user satisfaction, performance measurement, technology use, EAS adaptive use, EAS verification, user learning, transparent interaction, representational fidelity, informed action, and effective use) and 63 questions. Another contribution this study stems from the way the research constructs in a measurement model are operationalized as they incorporate measurement class (i.e. reflective or formative). This paper presents a CHAMI for effective use of EAS. In the future, management, researchers and practitioners can use the CHAMI to measure effective use, espouse or adapt instrument as an additional use measurement dimension on United Nations digital transformation programmes index or test it in different settings to advance its generalizability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2024
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
422. Threshold Effect of Trade on Climate Change in South Africa.
- Author
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Mosikari, Teboho J. and Mmelesi, Kesaobaka
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CLIMATE change models ,EXPORT trading companies ,ENERGY consumption - Abstract
The relationship between trade and climate change is not a simple linear relationship. In this paper, using the threshold regression model, we estimated the effect of trade on climate change in South Africa. The paper applied the LM test to examine the nonlinear inference approach to test whether nonlinearity existed and if the threshold model was relevant to the study. The results show that when energy use is set as the threshold variable, the relationship between trade and climate change measured as methane is U-shaped. Also, in other models of GHG as climate change indicators, the results show that the effect of trade on climate change is not dynamic. This result supports the idea that high and low trade effects may have different impacts on climate change indicators. It is, therefore, recommended that all exporters in South Africa resort to more innovative environmental mechanisms to reduce the contribution to climate. The suggestion for future studies is to consider exports of different sectors to climate change. This approach will avoid the generalization of exporting firms as the worst emitters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2024
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423. The macroeconomics of establishing a basic income grant in South Africa.
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Hollander, Hylton, Havemann, Roy, and Steenkamp, Daan
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BASIC income ,MACROECONOMICS ,GOVERNMENT debt limit ,PUBLIC debts ,DEBT relief - Abstract
This paper quantifies the effect of fiscal transfers on the trade‐off between social relief and debt accumulation and discusses the economic growth and fiscal implications of different combinations of expanded social support and funding choices. Given South Africa's already high level of public debt, the opportunity to fund a basic income grant through higher debt is limited. Using a general equilibrium model, the paper shows that extending the social relief of distress grant could be fiscally feasible provided taxes rise to fund such a programme. Implementing such a policy would, however, have a contractionary impact on the economy. A larger basic income grant (even at the level of the food poverty line) would threaten fiscal sustainability as it would require large tax increases that would crowd‐out consumption and investment. The model results show that sustainably expanding social transfers requires structurally higher growth, which necessitates growth‐enhancing reforms that crowd‐in the private sector through, for example, relieving the energy constraint, increasing government infrastructure investment and expanding employment programmes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2024
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
424. Exploring Tensions between Conservationists and African Subsistence Farmers in the Dukuduku Forest Area KwaZulu Natal, in the 1980s and 1990s.
- Author
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Nyathi, Patrick A.
- Subjects
BIOTIC communities ,CONSERVATIONISTS ,FOOD security ,ARCHIVAL resources ,WELL-being ,ENVIRONMENTALISM ,FOOD preferences - Abstract
All over the world, individuals rely on forests for food security, nutrition, and the sustenance of their livelihoods. Forests serve as a source of personal and economic consumption, where harvested products are used directly or sold for profit. Consequently, forests play a crucial role in ensuring food security and supporting the livelihoods of people worldwide. In South Africa, natural forests and woodlands hold particular significance for the well-being of rural communities. These ecosystems provide a variety of socio-economic and ecological benefits to communities residing within or near such forested areas. The Dukuduku forest is an integral part of a sensitive ecosystem at both national and continental levels. It is intricately connected to the iSimangaliso Wetland Park, contributing to the economic development and natural diversity of South Africa. Thus, discussing one area without considering the other is impossible. This paper relies on a combination of archival sources, including newspapers, research reports, and various written and oral accounts gathered from interviews with land claimants, community leaders, traditional leaders, local farmers, and residents of the area. The central argument posited is that the primary source of conflict in the Dukuduku forest arises from the state's efforts to displace forest residents whose livelihoods have historically depended on the forest. The paper aims to illustrate that the racialization of the destruction of this indigenous forest has not served the interests of either the state or environmentalists. Forest residents have employed diverse strategies to resist evictions, resulting in the substantial destruction of the forest and at least sixty percent of the flood plain along the uMfolozi River. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2024
425. Coalition Councils in South African Local Government: Analysis of the Challenges and Possible Solutions.
- Author
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Harry, Munzhedzi Pandelani and Shopola, Arthur
- Subjects
COALITION governments ,LOCAL government ,LOCAL delivery services ,POLITICAL doctrines ,COALITIONS ,MUNICIPAL government - Abstract
Coalition government is an old phenomenon that has got its roots in Western European countries. It has since spread all over the world including in South Africa. Coalitions in the local sphere of government have existed predominantly in KwaZulu Natal and Western Cape, but it has since spread over to other provinces in South Africa. The outcome of the 2016 local government elections brought about dramatic results which saw the governments of three metropolitan municipalities change hands to coalitions of political parties. The Democratic Alliance (DA) and other small parties with the assistance of the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) constituted coalition governments in Nelson Mandela Bay (in Eastern Cape), City of Tshwane, and Johannesburg in Gauteng province. However, the DA mayor and his executive in Nelson Mandela Bay have since been removed with the one from the United Democratic Movement (UDM) as a mayor and the executives from the African National Congress (ANC) and other smaller parties. The EFF announced in July 2019 that it will not vote with the DAor ANC in all municipalities where coalition councils must be formed. This paper seeks to identify challenges associated with coalition governments in the local sphere of government and propose possible solutions for curtailing such challenges. The paper does so by way of reviewing existing literature related to coalitions and alliances of municipal governments in South Africa. One of the challenges is the differing policy positions of the political parties in the coalition. This paper proposes that the needs and service delivery demands of the local communities must be given more preference over the political ideologies of the political parties concerned. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2024
426. Grappling with Gender Issues in the South African Context: A Matter of African Culture?
- Author
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N. E., Mathebula
- Subjects
WOMEN'S rights ,EXPERIMENTAL literature ,SEXUAL orientation ,INTERNATIONAL trade disputes ,GENDER ,CULTURE ,CENSUS - Abstract
Sexual orientation disparity and the minimization of ladies have been in the middle of present-day wrangles around the globe. Gracious society, government, and trade proceed a battle for what can be seen inside an equitable South Africa as separation. Afew ‘old-fashioned' researchers and commentators contend that the teaching of certain rights into the Constitution, 1996 at first denied to ladies a Western inconvenience and an endeavor to debilitate African culture and conventions. This sort of nearsighted consideration subscribes to a Cambodian saying that “men are a chunk of gold, and ladies are a chunk of cloth”. In a majority rule allotment such as that of South Africa, this kind of expression is an offense to ladies, the institution of majority rule government, and the Constitution,. Even though African culture and sexual orientation balance are different factors of inequitable weights, one does not or at least ought to exceed the other. Employing a substance examination approach and a Generic woman's rights hypothetical viewpoint, this article endeavors to contend that despite different machineries pointed at changing sex disparities, South Africa remains one of the foremost unequal social orders in connection to dark ladies strengthening. This article is conceptual and auxiliary information is collected through diary articles, books, the Census, and the African Improvement Bank insights. Contentions and conclusions are built around the embraced hypothetical system and the strategy taken after. The paper found out that there must be self-reflection required for a talk that will look to oblige as distant as conceivable social values and standards into the Constitution, of the Republic of South Africa. This in this manner as a implies of forceful way of finishing disparity and separation, must be consolidated into early childhood improvement. The article hence concludes that while culture, its hones, and conventions remain imperative in society, they must be joined to human rights declared through the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa (1996), pieces of enactment and universal arrangements. This paper employments experimental information and writing to contend that ladies in South African social orders stay undermined despite down-to-earth and forceful authoritative changes. The findings contribute colossally in attempting to shape and separate men from negative states of mind implied at disparaging ladies utilizing the support of culture and convention. In this manner, numerous suggestions contribute to the talk of imbalance and sexual orientation considers and wrangles about. This will go a long way toward relooking the administrative system meant to advance and secure the proper of ladies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2024
427. A capabilitarian approach to decolonising curriculum.
- Author
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Walker, Melanie
- Subjects
DECOLONIZATION ,CURRICULUM ,JUSTICE ,EDUCATIONAL quality ,HIGHER education - Abstract
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]
- Published
- 2024
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
428. On violence in South African higher education: An ideological perspective.
- Author
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Hlatshwayo, Mlamuli
- Subjects
HIGHER education ,GENDER-based violence ,SOUTH Africans ,VIOLENCE ,CORPORATE culture ,SOCIAL dominance ,VIOLENCE against women - Abstract
South Africa is inherently a violent country. From the service delivery protests, rise in murder rates, gender-based violence, and an increasingly violent higher education sector; South Africans are increasingly feeling vulnerable and despondent about the future. In this paper, I attempt to provide a conceptual understanding of violence in higher education. Through Gramsci's idea of the organic crisis, I propose two kinds of violence that need urgent attention if we are to realise higher education transformation and decolonisation. Firstly, I propose a focus on what I see as the deeply embedded and well-entrenched epistemic violence in higher education. This violence operates at the level of curricula and knowledge production, and occasions the need to displace the dominance of Eurocentric thought in curriculum design. Secondly, I propose a focus on social violence, which operates at the discursive level of the institutional culture. This relates to the growing frustrations, anguish, and depression among Black academics and Black students who continue to see, read and experience higher education in South Africa as inherently anti-Black, anti-women, and increasingly anti-poor. I end the paper with some concluding thoughts on the need to adopt a broader conception of violence, and the epistemic/ontological/methodological possibilities this gives us in transforming the higher education sector in South Africa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2024
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
429. The contribution of Safe Parks to school safety: Lessons from the Thari Programme.
- Author
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Reyneke, Roelf
- Subjects
SCHOOL violence ,SCHOOL safety ,ADVERSE childhood experiences ,SOCIAL support ,COMMUNITY involvement ,CHILD services - Abstract
Unsafe and violent schools are a widespread problem in South Africa. This paper argues that Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) contribute to this phenomenon. While various individual and community-level interventions to address ACEs have been reported on, the contribution of safe parks towards preventing school violence has not yet been explored. To support schools in dealing with violence, the Adopt-a-School Foundation introduced a pilot project at eight schools in Botshabelo in the Free State Province. The programme included psychosocial support services, establishing safe parks, and ensuring community involvement. The goal was to improve school communities by creating environments that are empowering, academically effective, gender sensitive and free from violence. Although there are safe parks in communities around South Africa, they are an uncommon sight at schools. This paper reports on the quantitative study conducted on safe parks' contribution to making schools safer and less violent. Results show that safe park activities improve community well-being, including reduced gangsterism, enhanced learner safety, and decreased disciplinary problems. It is recommended that safe parks continue to provide psychosocial services to children at schools and that their programmes be expanded to include more services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2024
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
430. Tribes Must Go: New African Intellectuals and the Contested Idea of Black Nationhood.
- Author
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Ngqulunga, Bongani
- Subjects
- *
TRIBES , *NATIONALISM , *GENDER inequality , *MODERNITY - Abstract
The paper discusses critically various ideas that late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries' New African intellectuals in South Africa advanced regarding the notion of black/African nationhood. At the heart of debates and contestations over the character and scope of black/African nationhood was the issue of tribal identities and institutions. Some New African intellectuals argued that for a common black nationhood to emerge and thrive tribal identities should be jettisoned. Others held a different view, which did not consider tribal identities and institutions as detrimental to forging a common black nationhood. This paper discusses these perspectives and exposes their underlying assumptions regarding important concepts such as nation, tribe, and nationhood, and how these identities come into being. In discussing these debates and contestations, the paper demonstrates that there were and are nuances to the broad ideology of African nationalism that are often missed by some scholars who write on the African nationalist tradition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2024
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
431. Sexuality Research During a National Lockdown: Reflexive Notes and Lessons from my Ph.D. Fieldwork.
- Author
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Maake, Tshepo B.
- Subjects
- *
DIGITAL technology , *SEXTING , *SEXUAL minorities , *STAY-at-home orders , *BLACK gay men , *RESEARCH personnel - Abstract
The COVID-19 pandemic presented challenges for qualitative researchers since many countries had to implement lockdown policies to control the spread of the virus. Within the South African context, research on sexual minority identities and experiences is automatically sensitive and risky given the extent of intolerance and high regard for heteronormative ideologies and beliefs that continually exclude sexual minorities from the "normal." The sensitivity is intensified during a national lockdown since there is an excessive reliance on digital public spaces to recruit participants and conduct interviews. Based on the experience of Ph.D. fieldwork, this paper pays attention to a sexuality researcher's experience of conducting research on gay men's experiences in the South African military and police services during a national lockdown. Particular attention is given to the dilemmas posed by the government's restriction on physical movement and reliance on digital spaces, particularly social media to identify gay men who work in the two organizations and form virtual relationships of mutual trust. Ultimately, this paper holds that reflexivity is critical to feminist research on vulnerable sexual minorities when the relationships between the researcher and the researched are established and maintained through digital platforms. While digital spaces offer opportunities to reach vulnerable populations, they present some challenges that may compromise the credibility of the study if not identified by the researcher. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2024
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
432. Modelling HIV/AIDS epidemiological complexity: A scoping review of Agent-Based Models and their application.
- Author
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Anderle, Rodrigo Volmir, de Oliveira, Robson Bruniera, Rubio, Felipe Alves, Macinko, James, Dourado, Ines, and Rasella, Davide
- Subjects
- *
HIV , *AIDS , *INFECTIOUS disease transmission - Abstract
Objective: To end the AIDS epidemic by 2030, despite the increasing poverty and inequalities, policies should be designed to deal with population heterogeneity and environmental changes. Bottom-up designs, such as the Agent-Based Model (ABM), can model these features, dealing with such complexity. HIV/AIDS has a complex dynamic of structural factors, risk behaviors, biomedical characteristics and interventions. All embedded in unequal, stigmatized and heterogeneous social structure. To understand how ABMs can model this complexity, we performed a scoping review of HIV applications, highlighting their potentialities. Methods: We searched on PubMed, Web of Science, and Scopus repositories following the PRISMA extension for scoping reviews. Our inclusion criteria were HIV/AIDS studies with an ABM application. We identified the main articles using a local co-citation analysis and categorized the overall literature aims, (sub)populations, regions, and if the papers declared the use of ODD protocol and limitations. Results: We found 154 articles. We identified eleven main papers, and discussed them using the overall category results. Most studies model Transmission Dynamics (37/154), about Men who have sex with Men (MSM) (41/154), or individuals living in the US or South Africa (84/154). Recent studies applied ABM to model PrEP interventions (17/154) and Racial Disparities (12/154). Only six papers declared the use of ODD Protocol (6/154), and 34/154 didn't mention the study limitations. Conclusions: While ABM is among the most sophisticated techniques available to model HIV/AIDS complexity. Their applications are still restricted to some realities. However, researchers are challenged to think about social structure due model characteristics, the inclusion of these features is still restricted to case-specific. Data and computational power availability can enhance this feature providing insightful results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2024
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
433. Ubuntu in Post-Apartheid South Africa: Educational, Cultural and Philosophical Considerations.
- Author
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Patel, Mahmoud, Mohammed, Tawffeek A. S., and Koen, Raymond
- Subjects
- *
THREATS of violence , *WORKING class , *POLITICAL parties , *APARTHEID , *TERRITORIAL partition , *HUMAN beings , *IDEOLOGY , *AFRICAN philosophy - Abstract
Ubuntu has been defined as a moral quality of human beings, as a philosophy or an ethic, as African humanism, and as a worldview. This paper explores these definitions as conceptual tools for understanding the cultural, educational, and philosophical landscape of post-apartheid South Africa. Key to this understanding is the Althusserian concept of state apparatus. Louis Althusser divides the state apparatus into two forces: the repressive state apparatus (RSA); and the ideological state apparatus (ISA). RSAs curtail the working classes, predominately through direct violence or the threat of violence, whereas ISAs function primarily by ideology, including forms of organised religion, the education system, family units, legal systems, trade unions, political parties, and media. This paper discusses the link between increasing inequality in post-apartheid South Africa and education, with specific reference to Althusser's ISAs and the abuse of Ubuntu as a subterfuge for socio-economic inequality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2024
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
434. South African Basic Education System: Colonial Legacies in the Curriculum Design and a Way Forward.
- Author
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Rapanyane, Makhura B.
- Subjects
- *
CURRICULUM planning , *BASIC education , *SECONDARY school curriculum , *COLONIES , *LEGACY systems , *INDIGENOUS rights - Abstract
The South African Basic Education System does little to provide skills, needed to survive outside the schooling system, for those who do not wish to pursue post-secondary school education. The education system produces secondary school graduates who are poised, as content carriers and an un-employable labour force. A research question grappled with in this paper is whether this secondary school curriculum design inherited from the colonial formal education system is beneficial for South African learners? The paper argues that the continuation of the provision of this curriculum is tantamount to contributing very little to the national educational strategic goals of creating a skilled workforce needed to run the South African economy. Additionally, this also contributes to the exacerbation of the unemployment in South Africa. From a decolonial point of view, the paper provides a comprehensive overview of the basic education curriculum from the colonial period until the contemporary period and shows how it has contributed to huge numbers of jobseekers visa-versa employees and subservient of the curriculum design and schooling system. Methodologically, this paper is informed by a qualitative research approach in the form of document review. The research revealed four major important elements in decolonization of the school curriculum namely; history lesson, social justice and self-determination, formulation and execution of the protection of indigenous knowledge systems and promoting the significance of indigenous languages and use. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2024
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
435. Metanarratives of visual impairment rehabilitation: the discursive positioning of disabled service users in South Africa.
- Author
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Botha, Michelle and Watermeyer, Brian
- Subjects
- *
REHABILITATION of blind people , *BLINDNESS , *NONPROFIT organizations , *SELF-perception , *RESEARCH funding , *DISCOURSE analysis , *COMMUNICATION , *PEOPLE with disabilities , *WORLD Wide Web , *ADULTS ,MEDICAL care for people with disabilities - Abstract
This paper presents findings from a study on blindness discourses found in South African non-profit organisations that provide rehabilitation services to visually impaired adults. The paper investigates what the public relations materials of these organisations communicate about blindness. It also considers the ideological assumptions that blindness discourses reinforce and embed in rehabilitation practice. The primary focus is a discourse analytic review conducted on a sample of organisation public facing material. The findings comprise three clusters of assumptions, with concomitant enactments in practice. These are i) third-person alliances around the blind subject and a resulting objectification of service users ii) 'journey discourse' which prohibits the expression of complex disability experiences and iii) polarised blindness fantasies which promote othering and prescribe acceptable ways of being for blind subjects. This paper questions what might be imparted to blind persons at a symbolic level through rehabilitative practices. This article explores the ways that blindness and blind persons are represented on the websites of organisations that provide visual impairment rehabilitation services in South Africa. These representations affect the way that society views visually impaired people, and the way that visually impaired people feel about themselves. Organisation websites describe visually impaired people in ways that make it seem as though they play little active role in the rehabilitation process. The idea that rehabilitation is a journey from dependence and depression to independence and self-acceptance might make it difficult for rehabilitation service users to express ongoing feelings of grief and loss. There is a need for more focus on interdependence in rehabilitation services. Rehabilitation organisations must think carefully about what their public relations materials communicate to society about blindness and blind persons. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2024
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
436. Moving towards social inclusion: Engaging rural voices in priority setting for health.
- Author
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Tugendhaft, Aviva, Christofides, Nicola, Stacey, Nicholas, Kahn, Kathleen, Erzse, Agnes, Danis, Marion, Gold, Marthe, and Hofman, Karen
- Subjects
- *
HEALTH policy , *MEDICAL information storage & retrieval systems , *RURAL conditions , *PSYCHOLOGICAL vulnerability , *MEDICAL care , *UNIVERSAL healthcare , *MANN Whitney U Test , *DECISION making , *DESCRIPTIVE statistics , *RURAL health , *DATA analysis software , *SOCIODEMOGRAPHIC factors , *SOCIAL integration , *HEALTH planning - Abstract
Background: Achieving universal health coverage (UHC) in the context of limited resources will require prioritising the most vulnerable and ensuring health policies and services are responsive to their needs. One way of addressing this is through the engagement of marginalised voices in the priority setting process. Public engagement approaches that enable group level deliberation as well as individual level preference capturing might be valuable in this regard, but there are limited examples of their practical application, and gaps in understanding their outcomes, especially with rural populations. Objective: To address this gap, we implemented a modified priority setting tool (Choosing All Together—CHAT) that enables individuals and groups to make trade‐offs to demonstrate the type of health services packages that may be acceptable to a rural population. The paper presents the findings from the individual choices as compared to the group choices, as well as the differences among the individual choices using this tool. Methods: Participants worked in groups and as individuals to allocate stickers representing the available budget to different health topics and interventions using the CHAT tool. The allocations were recorded at each stage of the study. We calculated the median and interquartile range across study participants for the topic totals. To examine differences in individual choices, we performed Wilcoxon rank sum tests. Results: The results show that individual interests were mostly aligned with societal ones, and there were no statistically significant differences between the individual and group choices. However, there were some statistically significant differences between individual priorities based on demographic characteristics like age. Discussion: The study demonstrates that giving individuals greater control and agency in designing health services packages can increase their participation in the priority setting process, align individual and community priorities, and potentially enhance the legitimacy and acceptability of priority setting. Methods that enable group level deliberation and individual level priority setting may be necessary to reconcile plurality. The paper also highlights the importance of capturing the details of public engagement processes and transparently reporting on these details to ensure valuable outcomes. Public Contribution: The facilitator of the CHAT groups was a member from the community and underwent training from the research team. The fieldworkers were also from the community and were trained and paid to capture the data. The participants were all members of the rural community‐ the study represents their priorities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2024
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
437. Orality in Translating Biblical Hebrew Proverbs in Sesotho.
- Author
-
Makutoane, Tshokolo J.
- Subjects
- *
PROVERBS , *BIBLICAL translations , *TRANSLATORS - Abstract
This paper evaluates how Sesotho translators have translated Biblical Hebrew proverbs in the 1989 Sesotho translation of the Bible. Because this 1989 translation is undergoing revision by the Bible Society of South Africa, it is important to determine the success of the translation. The orality of proverbs relates to their origin as orally transmitted sapiential sayings. In evaluating how some of the Biblical Hebrew proverbs are translated in Sesotho, the literal translation of 1909/61 will be compared to the 1989 dynamic equivalent translation. Using complexity thinking as a theoretical framework, the paper argues that the Hebrew proverbs are better translated in the 1989 version than they are in the 1909/61 version of the Bible in Sesotho in terms of numerous features of orality. In the 1989 version and its revision, proverbs are translated in a poetic format. This means that the translated proverbs in this version of the Bible, informed by the principles of orality, exhibit Sesotho poetic features or structures. The article is divided into the following components: proverbs in Hebrew and Sesotho, theoretical frameworks, how the theoretical frameworks are used to translate certain Hebrew proverbs in the 1989 version, and conclusions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2024
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
438. Teach Assess Teach (TAT) Pedagogical Model for Cognitive Change: A Cultural Historical Approach to Teaching/Learning.
- Author
-
Hardman, Joanne
- Subjects
SOCIAL change ,COGNITIVE dissonance ,LEARNING ,TEACHING models ,HIGHER education - Abstract
Learning in higher education settings requires that students can acquire high level abstract concepts in meaningful ways. This paper proposes a model of teaching that relies on causing cognitive conflict in educational setting to engage students' learning. Drawing on the work of Vygotsky, Feuerstein, and Piaget, the model developed in this paper illustrates how pedagogy can be used to facilitate students' acquisition of abstract concepts. The paper introduces the background to the model before presenting a single case study of its use in a large university in South Africa. Forty-eight students registered for an honors course in education participated in this study. Findings indicated that students reported that this model of teaching opens interaction and makes work more easily accessible, and, further, analysis of student talk indicates the presence of exploratory talk, which is illustrative of reasoning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2024
439. Negotiating Newlands: contesting a Rugby heritage site in Cape Town, South Africa.
- Author
-
Grundlingh, Marizanne
- Subjects
HISTORIC sites ,RUGBY football ,RUGBY competitions ,SOCIAL impact ,STADIUMS - Abstract
The Newlands Rugby Stadium in Cape Town is the oldest rugby stadium in South Africa and the second oldest rugby stadium in the world. This paper explores the social and cultural consequences of the imminent demolition of the Newlands Rugby Stadium. Most research on stadia in South Africa have focused on the hosting of sports-mega events. This analysis goes beyond a descriptive examination of the tangible heritage of the stadium and focuses on the meaning and intangible heritage the stadium holds in the everyday lives of those who frequent it. With the advent of rampant commercialisation and globalisation of rugby, the Newlands Rugby Stadium itself has become expendable and a sporting space with fleeting qualities. This development highlights the importance of exploring the intangible heritage associated with this site. The study is informed by the notion of 'Topophilia' and associated heritage dynamics. This paper is based on the author's observations at the stadium during Super Rugby and Test matches, interviews with fans, and vendors, and the lived experience of going to the stadium over a ten-year period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2024
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
440. IT Deployment and Integration – An Assessment of Enabling and Inhibiting Factors.
- Author
-
Matshwane, Ontiretse Lesley and Marnewick, Carl
- Subjects
THEMATIC analysis ,SEMI-structured interviews ,CITIES & towns ,DATA analysis - Abstract
Although delivery of services in South Africa is the responsibility of all spheres of government, the provision of basic services lies at the doorstep of local municipalities. Local municipalities have, for many reasons, frequently been unable to live up to this mandate despite the fact that some of the challenges that they face can be addressed by using IT. This paper assesses factors enabling and inhibiting the efficient deployment and integration of IT in local municipalities. The technological, organizational and environmental (TOE) framework was deployed to assess the factors. A multiple case study in which semi-structured interviews were conducted produced qualitative data and thematic analysis was carried out. This paper suggests that effective deployment and integration of IT is not solely dependent on technological factors but that organizational and environmental factors also influence the outcomes to a significant extent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2024
441. Moving beyond fish: working towards integrating human dimensions into sustainable seafood guides from South African perspectives.
- Author
-
Dale Ward, Catherine, Pillay, Pavitray, and Norton, Marieke
- Subjects
SMALL-scale fisheries ,FISHERY management ,SEAFOOD ,FISHERIES ,HUMAN rights violations ,SUSTAINABLE fisheries ,SOCIAL norms - Abstract
Traditionally, seafood assessments and subsequent ratings have guided choice and responsible sourcing of sustainable seafood based primarily on environmental concerns, with limited to no consideration to multi-faceted human dimensions that form an integral part of these complex socialecological systems. For wild-capture marine fisheries around the world, and particularly in developing countries, human dimensions remain underrepresented in sustainability ratings, where the focus has traditionally been on larger, data-rich commercial fishery components that report predominantly on ecological and management considerations. Yet, addressing the diverse and complex nature of marine social-ecological systems remains critical to achieve global sustainable seafood systems that balance ecological and societal needs to benefit both nature and people. This paper champions the integration of human elements into seafood sustainability guides, building on work reviewing how best to integrate human dimensions into traditional seafood assessments under the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) - drawing on examples from South Africa. While the paper does not prescribe a blueprint for implementation, this review highlights challenges and opportunities to include human rights violations and small-scale fisheries in existing sustainable seafood guides from a South African perspective. There is a need for sustainability considerations to move beyond fish to better represent how these socialecological systems feed into oceanic cultural norms and nutrition. This translates to shifting from an ecological focus to include human dimensions to better represent complex marine social-ecological systems and drive equitable change within local and global seafood industries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2024
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
442. Academic librarians' perceptions of mobile technology's usefulness in library service delivery at universities of technology in South Africa.
- Author
-
Matumba, Muvhulawa and Rajkoomar, Mogiveny
- Subjects
- *
ACADEMIC librarians , *ELECTRONIC journals , *ACADEMIC libraries , *THEMATIC analysis , *LIBRARIES , *INFORMATION literacy - Abstract
Purpose: Globally, mobile technology is a significant factor influencing how libraries are changing the ways of delivering services to today's users. This paper aims to explore academic librarians' perceptions of the usefulness of mobile technology in delivering library services and the efforts required for its successful adoption. Design/methodology/approach: The study was conducted within an interpretive paradigm. The research objectives were underpinned by the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology as a theoretical framework. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews and analyses using NVIVO for thematic analysis. Findings: Results show that, in general, academic librarians support the use of mobile technology to provide services such as access to eBooks and Journals, Online Public Access Catalogue, Bookmyne application, information literacy consultations and training. Library managers, fellow librarians and users were identified as encouraging the adoption of mobile technology to enhance library services. The paper further confirms that the successful adoption of mobile technology requires some effort. However, due to some of the challenges presented in the study, a majority of respondents felt that their libraries are not yet ready to fully embrace mobile technology the way it is envisioned in today's world. Practical implications: The study endeavours to address the divergence between students and academic librarians' viewpoints regarding the application of mobile technology in the provision of library services. Originality/value: This paper highlights numerous ways that academic librarians could adopt and embrace mobile technology, which can benefit both academic libraries and other institutions of higher learning. The knowledge presented in this paper could assist academic librarians in assessing their institutions' vulnerabilities, challenges and strengths in using mobile technologies to provide library services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2024
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
443. Challenges in the ocean economy of South Africa.
- Author
-
Struwig, Miemie, Van den Berg, Amanda, and Hadi, Nomtha
- Subjects
- *
BLUE economy , *WASTE disposal in the ocean , *OIL spills , *MARINE ecology , *ENVIRONMENTAL disasters - Abstract
This paper shows how four major challenges in the ocean economy is linked to the 15 global challenges and the sectors that are influenced by these challenges. The ocean is becoming a focal point in the discourse on growth and sustainable development, both at national and international levels. Human aspirations and economic growth exert pressure on the ocean and the marine ecosystem and, therefore, constitute challenges for sustaining growth and ocean economy development. This conceptual paper analyses definitions of the ocean economy, the ocean economy's contribution toward world economic growth, the 15 global challenges, and specific challenges in the South African ocean economy. Four critical challenges are highlighted, firstly, pollution, which includes environmental disasters such as oil spills and dumping at sea, secondly, illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing, thirdly, climate change and, finally, disease events. As both private and public sectors should address these challenges, this research identifies possible reform measures for further consideration by these sectors to find possible solutions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2024
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
444. Situating Dashed Prospects of Independence into the Xenophobic Narrative in South Africa.
- Author
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Yingi, Edwin, Ncube, Tomy, and Benyera, Everisto
- Subjects
- *
XENOPHOBIA , *APARTHEID , *STEREOTYPES , *NARRATIVES - Abstract
Xenophobia in South Africa is often depicted as anti-immigrant sentiments and stereotypes that emanate from social, political, and economic misconceptions. This paper argues that though the causes of xenophobia are many and complex, they stem from the dashed hopes of independence and the legacy of apartheid. This narrative has over the years been overshadowed by the view that xenophobic attacks in South Africa are a product of hate and anti-migration. We argue that the failure of successive governments of the ANC to correct the wrongs of the apartheid past and make the economy inclusive has stoked the tensions between citizens and foreign nationals. To underscore this point, this paper undertakes a discussion on the pertinent implications of the political trajectory of xenophobia in South Africa and makes some recommendations on what can be done to reduce incidences of xenophobic attacks in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2024
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
445. South African research contributions to Lecture Notes in Computer Science, 1973-2022.
- Author
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Naudé, Filistéa and Kroeze, Jan H.
- Subjects
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COMPUTER science , *ARTIFICIAL intelligence , *RESEARCH personnel , *AUTHORSHIP collaboration , *PERIODICAL articles - Abstract
Lecture Notes in Computer Science (LNCS) is a globally recognised publication outlet for the field of Computer Science, including in South Africa. In this study, spanning from 1973 to 2022, we investigated the research participation of South African based authors in LNCS. The publication output and citation impact of these authors were compared to the global Computer Science and LNCS output. The authorship patterns and collaborative behaviour of South African LNCS papers were explored, and a keyword or topic analysis also conducted. Of the total of 518 662 LNCS papers published globally between 1973 and 2022, South African based researchers contributed 1150 papers (0.22%). The LNCS papers from South Africa exhibit a strong collaborative publication culture, with 1043 (91%) co-authored and 107 (9%) singleauthored works. Local LNCS researchers prefer institutional collaboration (43%), followed by international (37%) and national collaboration (11%). Europe emerged as the most significant collaboration partner for LNCS researchers in South Africa. Of the 1150 papers, 836 (73%) had received citations, while 314 (27%) had not. On average, papers published by South African based authors received 6.05 citations, compared to the global LNCS average of 9.49 citations per paper. A keyword analysis revealed that the majority of papers by South African authors focus on artificial intelligence. The results indicate that, although LNCS serves as a reputable dissemination platform for Computer Science research output both globally and locally, South African authors should consider publishing more journal articles to build and improve their researcher profiles. Significance: * The study shows that LNCS is the most frequent publication outlet for Computer Science researchers, globally and in South Africa. * The study offers insight into the publication output, authorship patterns, collaborative behaviour and citation impact of South African based Computer Science researchers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2024
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
446. Equity not equality: the undocumented migrant child's opportunity to access education in South Africa.
- Author
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Blessed-Sayah, Sarah and Griffiths, Dominic
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UNDOCUMENTED immigrant children , *CONSTITUTION education , *LEGAL education - Abstract
Access to education for undocumented migrant children in South Africa remains a significant challenge. While the difficulties related to their inability to access education within the country have been highlighted elsewhere, there remains a lack of clarity on an approach to how this basic human right can be achieved. In this conceptual paper, we draw on the distinction between equality and equity, and describe the various ways in which education has been conceptualised in the South African Constitution – which in part contributes to the existing confusion on education for various groups, including undocumented migrant children. In this paper, we critically reflect on the need to develop an integrated approach for creating a platform that allows all undocumented migrant children access to education in South Africa. We argue that an integrated approach – which entails ways through which access to education can be delivered through the lens of equity – will enhance the right to education for undocumented migrant children in South Africa. We conclude that the South African government must urgently consider this integrated approach to enable access to education for undocumented migrant children, so that they can achieve their full educational potential. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2024
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
447. The Antecedents and Outcomes of Micro-Enterprise Business Banking Customers' Relationship Satisfaction.
- Author
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van der Merwe, Michelle Caroline, Mostert, Pierre, Ndoro, Tinashe, Svensson, Göran, and Chuchu, Tinashe
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SOCIAL enterprises , *TRANSACTION costs , *BANK customers , *SATISFACTION , *BUSINESS-to-business transactions , *CONFIRMATORY factor analysis , *STRUCTURAL equation modeling - Abstract
The paper uses an ongoing business-to-business (B2B) relationship perspective to establish the interrelationships between trust, commitment, and relationship satisfaction (as relational constructs) and specific assets, formalization, and opportunism (as transaction cost variables) from a buyer's perspective, framed within micro-enterprises in the business banking industry in South Africa. Data were collected via self-administered online questionnaires from 381 micro-enterprise customers of one of South Africa's major banks. We first used confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) to assess the measurement model before structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to estimate the hypothesized relationships between the study constructs. The measurement and structural models fitted the data well. The research was approached using the dual theoretical lenses of relationship marketing and transaction cost theory to investigate relationship satisfaction from a buyer's perspective. The results support the notion that, in a B2B context, relationship satisfaction is an outcome of trust and commitment, with commitment being the stronger predictor. Relationship satisfaction, in turn, was positively related to both specific assets and formalization (the relationship with formalization being the strongest), and a negative relationship between relationship satisfaction and opportunism. Since our results found commitment to be a stronger predictor of relationship satisfaction than trust (contrary to much previous research that found the opposite to be true), the paper concludes with several commitment-related suggestions for banks. Although much research exists on trust, commitment, and satisfaction, to our knowledge this study is the first using dual theoretical lenses (relationship marketing and transaction cost theory) to investigate relationship satisfaction from a buyer's perspective among micro-enterprise customers in a banking context. The insights gained from our study therefore not only address this under-researched area (micro-enterprises), but also contribute toward expanding our understanding of forming (and maintaining) banking relationships with the customers of the smallest-sized businesses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2024
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
448. Transforming a provincial archive through the collection of sports memories: experiences of the Gauteng province in South Africa.
- Author
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Ngoepe, Mpho, Mbuyisa, Sizwe, Saurombe, Nampombe, and Matshotshwane, Joseph
- Subjects
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HISTORY of sports , *PROVINCES , *ARCHIVES , *ORAL history , *SPORTS - Abstract
Purpose: South African public archives have not been able to transform into active documenters of society. As a result, they cannot carry out their mandate of collecting non-public records of lasting value and national significance and recording aspects of the country's experience that have previously been ignored by archives repositories. This paper aims to discuss efforts by the Gauteng Provincial Archives to transform the archival landscape in South Africa by collecting sports memories. This is because, in democratic South Africa, the archival landscape was expected to change and reflect the nation's diversity, despite the fact that it still largely reflected the Western-dominated global mainstream. Design/methodology/approach: This study is based on the authors' personal experiences with the development and operation of the Gauteng Provincial Archives. The authors are also involved in the Gauteng Provincial Archives' oral history project, which aims to build an inclusive archive by recording oral histories of sports memories across the province. Findings: The construction of the Gauteng Archives Repository has ushered in a chance to decolonise South African archives by collecting sports memories. These are windows of opportunity through which ordinary people can include their own experiences, filling in the gaps left by colonial and apartheid archives. Originality/value: This paper offers practical experience in transforming and decolonising archives through collecting sports memories. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2024
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
449. Porous Penality and the Myth of Liberal Punishment: Lessons from South Africa.
- Author
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Super, Gail
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PRISON violence , *RACIALIZATION , *TRANSGRESSION (Ethics) - Abstract
Drawing on Walter Benjamin, this paper discusses the relationships between law, violence, and punishment. The main argument I make is that state punishment is BOTH a violent and logically contradictory practice and that the state's legal right to punish often spills over into extralegal penal violence, perpetrated by a range of actors against the racialized poor. I use the term penal violence to refer to all forms of violence which are aimed at enforcing law or punishing a perceived transgression of law or norms. The paper focuses on the infliction of penal violence in South Africa on/in three different scales and jurisdictions: Makwanyane and violence in prisons; police and prosecutorial violence; and extralegal civilian violence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2024
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
450. Background commentary on the Researching the Obesogenic Food Environment (ROFE) project.
- Author
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Annan, Reginald Adjetey, Agyapong, Nana Ama Frimpomaa, Thow, Anne Marie, and Swart, Elizabeth Catherina
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FOOD supply , *VALUE chains , *FOOD chains , *NUTRITION policy , *NARRATION , *FOOD consumption - Abstract
Objective: The objective of this commentary is to provide an overview of the rationale and objectives of the Researching the Obesogenic Food Environment (ROFE) project that was conducted in Ghana and South Africa. Design: Narration has been used to describe the main objectives, phases as well as the methods used for the conduct of this project. Setting: The project described in this commentary was conducted in Khayelitsha and Mount Frere in South Africa and Ahodwo and Ejuratia for Ghana. Participant: Participants of the study described here include households in South Africa and Ghana, stakeholders and policymakers, and various actors within the food chain in both countries. Results: The ROFE findings provide a good understanding of the extent of the impact of the food environment on consumption, characteristics of value chains of healthy and unhealthy foods, as well as the potential for improved governance and policy that is relevant to the region. The supplement provides the opportunity to share the extensive findings of the ROFE project. Nine papers that describe the process and findings of the three phases of the ROFE project have been presented. Some of the papers focus on phases of the ROFE, while others cut across different phases and explore the linkages between the phases. Briefly descriptions of key findings of some of the papers in the supplement are provided. Conclusion: Together, the findings of the ROFE study presented in this supplement have increased understanding of how communities in SA and Ghana interact with their food supplies and have led to identification of specific opportunities to improve food supply policies, in ways that create incentives for the production and consumption of healthy, relative to unhealthy foods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2024
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
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