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The management of greywater and sanitation in South Africa's urban informal settlements is a pressing concern. This review critically examines the legal framework that governs greywater management in South Africa's informal settlements, aiming to shed light on the existing regulations, gaps, and opportunities for sustainable greywater reuse. By scrutinizing the legal framework, the review identifies gaps and challenges in the regulatory environment, including inconsistencies, lack of clarity, and limited enforcement mechanisms. It explores the potential for international best practices to inform possible amendments to the existing legal framework. This was a quantitative research design utilizing a cross sectional survey model. Questionnaires were administered electronically to a sample of 17 municipal leaders from the City of Tshwane, City of Johannesburg and Buffalo City municipalities whose responsibilities were on water management. Descriptive statistics were employed in analysis of the data. Outcomes were reviewed against the alignment or the lack thereof with the SANS 1732:201x standards. This paper underscores the critical need for a coherent and robust legal framework to support responsible greywater management in South Africa's informal settlements. The paper's insights contribute to the ongoing discourse on water governance, shedding light on the pathways toward a more equitable water future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Global technological advancements in transport and communication have led to a compression of time and space, but some populations are confined to their geographic regions. This paper uses a qualitative approach to conduct an intersectional analysis of music by Zimbabwean migrants in Johannesburg South Africa to explore how migrants respond to this phenomenon. It presents the ways in which the migrants construct identities and spatial imaginaries as a form of claiming space in Johannesburg and globally. Xenophobia in South Africa and the migrants’ memories of the Zimbabwean State violence necessitates the narration of identities and spatial imaginaries where the migrants can claim belonging. The paper argues that even where the identities imagined do not carry currency in the contemporary world. They work to critique the current racialised global hierarchy that does not include the migrants in its power geometry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Amongst academics working with postgraduate students, there has recently been increasing interest in ways of supporting advanced academic literacy (AAL). This is a concern for us at the University of Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, South Africa, where we teach a diverse group of postgraduate students, most of whom are subject practitioners in higher education but newcomers to the study of education. We argue that the development of AAL cannot be taken for granted - it needs to be mediated and practised in situated tasks. Our concern is how most effectively, within our context, to encourage awareness of the underlying, often unarticulated norms for participation in this complex social interaction with a disciplinary community to which our students are newcomers. In this article we demonstrate that the use of reaction papers provides opportunities for legitimate peripheral participation in both the cognitive and social processes of AAL. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A growing amount of academic research has focused its attention on the debate around the viability and potential mutual benefits emanating from rural-urban linkages through cultural planning in the development of smart cities. This paper interrogates the linkages and cultural planning in the proposed smart city in Lanseria, north of Johannesburg, in South Africa. The main research questions for the paper are: (1) How did the Greater Lanseria Master Plan (GLMP) in South Africa fail to integrate culture into its planning? (2) How did communities participate in the development of the plan (3) How are smart village and smart city linkages demonstrated in the GMLP? Lastly, (4) What are the benefits of the integration of cultural planning with community participation in the proposed smart village and smart city linkages? A synthetic literature-based critical analysis of planning documents was conducted to critique, reflect, and evaluate the plan. Findings indicate that cultural planning and community development approaches are missing from the master plan. The paper recommends that cultural planning and co-creation community development approaches should influence the smart village-smart city linkages at the very inception of the GMLP in order to obtain sustainable development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: South Africa presents one of the riskiest patterns of alcohol consumption, with per capita consumption above the African regional average. Globally, there has been an increased focus on the potential of appointing lay counsellors to administer alcohol intervention strategies in resource-limited contexts. Given the increasing need for relevant and efficient intervention strategies in response to high-risk alcohol consumption, screening instruments such as the AUDIT-C have gained increased attention. Methods: This paper explores the experiences of 15 lay counsellors in response to the training received on how to administer the AUDIT-C instrument, as well as provide interventions such as brief advice or an appropriate referral, in the resource-limited South African township of Alexandra, Johannesburg. A focus group was facilitated for this purpose and, thereafter, a thematic content analysis was applied to identify the themes most central to the lay counsellors' experiences. Results: The research findings suggest that the lay counsellors perceived the training to be adequate in preparing them for administrating the AUDIT-C and for providing any relevant interventions, and that their confidence in administering the instrument developed as the project progressed. However, recruitment and administration challenges were experienced in primary healthcare and community settings, and lay counsellors perceived home visits to be more appropriate with respect to issues related to confidentiality and stigmatisation. Conclusion: Overall, while lay counsellors feel that the training they received on the tool and the tool itself is useful for effectively implementing the AUDIT-C in low-resource communities, the availability and efficiency of alcohol treatment services in Alexandra Township need to be improved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research studies as well as anecdotal evidence suggest that there are challenges regarding the NHI plan implementation. These include problems such as an increase in illnesses and a shortage of personnel to drive the project in South African public hospitals. This is exacerbated by the existing situation of most government-funded healthcare institutions, which are characterized by bad administration, insufficient budget, inadequate infrastructure, and insufficient drug supply, as highlighted in several studies. The hospital under investigation is one such facility, with a history of patients sleeping on the floor and people being turned away owing to a shortage of experts and an overburdened staff. This situation is concerning, given that the government claims to be providing appropriate funds to the institution. The hospital under research is highly regarded by the surrounding community. However, a visit by the Health MEC in 2014 revealed that the facility had insufficient sanitary standards and a high complaint rate. Based on the foregoing, as well as the difficulties that both employees and patients are confronted with at the  selected hospital, the question that emerges is whether the hospital is fit for the implementation of the NHI.Aim: The aim of this study was to assess the preparation for the launch of the national health insurance scheme at a Johannesburg hospital.Setting: The study was conducted at a hospital situated in eastern suburbs of Johannesburg, Gauteng, South Africa.Method: The study employed a qualitative method with an explorative, descriptive, qualitative study design. The population consisted of selected hospital employees, such as doctors, dispensary officers, hospital managers, human resources workers, facility managers, and administration record officials who were employed at the selected hospital. Purposive sampling was used to select participants.Sample Size: Category saturation was used to determine the sample size. The participants for the study were chosen using purposeful sampling, with the researcher aiming for those who were familiar with the NHI scheme at the institution. Semi structured interviews and a focus group discussion were used to gather data. The data from the focus group discussion and semi-structured interviews were analysed using thematic analysis.Results: The investigation found that the hospital was preparing to for the NHI implementation, but that was riddled with lack of resources, poor infrastructure, lack of training, delays in development and poor technological advances.Recommendations: The paper suggests that human resources be increased, infrastructure be upgraded, medicines and equipment be increased, and enough training on NHI implementation be provided.Contribution: The paper adds to the body of knowledge regarding the NHI in South Africa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Business incubation is a growing phenomenon in South Africa. Using a qualitative research approach, specifically in-depth interviews with business incubator (BI) managers (CEOs, directors, executives, founders, and sponsors), this study reports on the perceived economic value of Johannesburg-based, fintech-focused BIs and the business gains achieved from the activities of BIs. Applying theory related to business incubation, this paper finds that business incubation is equally about assisting and developing start-ups and entrepreneurs as it is about the business gains that BIs extract from the process. Moreover, private sector stakeholders, particularly banks, are perceived as the primary sponsors of fintech BIs in South Africa, and they invest for various business and socio-economic reasons. Foremost among these is business diversification and compliance with South Africa's affirmative action policies, which feature prominently as the primary benefits the banking BIs gain from the process. We discuss this as the positive duality of business incubation. Finally, we suggest several managerial and policy level implications related to our findings, including the importance of strengthening triple helix partnerships and using regulatory sandboxing to facilitate fintech innovations. Overall, this study contributes to our empirical understanding of BIs in emerging economies broadly and fintech-focused BIs in South Africa in particular. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Nelson Mandela Bridge is one of South Africa's monuments at the centre of the drive to foster urban transformation in the city of Johannesburg. It stands out as one of the monumental emblems of transformation after the disappearance of administrative and occupational apartheid. On the one hand, the bridge is used consciously and unconsciously, to rehearse the ideals of democracy by harping on the towering image of Nelson Mandela as a struggle hero. On the other hand, the bridge is 'one of the prestigious projects at the centre of city-marketing and branding'. This article explores three dimensions of representation of the bridge in terms of what Stuart Hall refers to as reflective, intentional and constructivist meaning. The paper does this by examining how these meanings are produced and ordered, as well as, the knowledge, norms and practices that structure the new system of meaning in South Africa. The main argument of the paper is that the South African post-apartheid development ideology of reconstruction embedded in the struggle memory has become a platform on which the sign value of the NMB has become a rhetorical device for the appropriation of commercial interests. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Africa is one of the most vulnerable continents to climate change (CC), warming at 'double the global average rate'. The southern African region is already a CC hotspot with climate variability exposing stark societal and biophysical ecosystem vulnerabilities. South African and southern African youth are beginning to claim their place at various CC negotiation tables adding to the voices of government and various civil society groups. In this paper, written by a group of youth activists, civil society organisation leaders, educators and climate scientists, we track the journey that a group of young change-makers and local government officials (in the age range 15–24) have taken in securing a seat at the policy table. The challenges, caveats and course corrections that have been taken in the Johannesburg Youth Climate Action Plan (YCAP) process and the wider country, are interrogated. This YCAP Johannesburg experiment provides a useful learning exercise for subsequent CC policy and practice engagements in the country and elsewhere. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is a growing concern about discriminatory behaviours on social media in recent years. However, there is a dearth of literature focused on the abuse of foreigners on South African Twitter. This paper interrogates the views of the online community on South African Twitter on the appointment of children of immigrants to political office. A case study of the hashtag #WeRejectMayorOfJHB was carried out. The scapegoating theory guided this study. The hashtag started on social media following the election of Jolidee Matongo, mayor of the City of Johannesburg, on the 10th of August 2021. Within the hashtag, the researcher used confirming and disconfirming sampling to sample 30 tweets. The sample of tweets was drawn from a population of 120 tweets on South African Twitter within 24 hours preceding the election of Jolidee Matongo as the new mayor of Johannesburg. Critical discourse analysis was used. The findings revealed that there were multiple dissonances in the construction of South African citizenship in general and Jolidee Matongo's citizenship. The views on South African citizenship under the hashtag were at odds with the Constitution and the laws of South Africa. Racial and afrophobic perspectives emerged from the analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper spotlights post‐disaster relief provision in Johannesburg, South Africa, following the floods of 2016 in a bid to explore how local government and non‐governmental actors in the country conceive of compounding vulnerability and conflict within urban disaster governance. It reveals the diverse strategies employed to navigate violent conflict during the cyclical occurrence of disaster and reconstruction that the predominantly migrant population experiences in the Setswetla informal settlement, adjacent to the Alexandra township in northern Johannesburg. Rendered visible in moments of disaster and recovery are the spatial politics and multidimensional nature of conflict. These phenomena unfold across various levels of urban governance and in the affected community and effectively construct a disaster citizenship that makes risk reduction and community cohesion impossible in the eyes of disaster managers. This research, based on a set of expert interviews, integrates conflict and disaster studies to shed light on how the conflict–disaster interface materialises, and is operationalised, in an urban setting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Globalisation and Africanisation remain largely polarised and diametrically opposed to each other between the global and the local in much of the literature focusing on urban restructuring in South Africa in the 1990s. This polarisation has rendered invisible the in-between spaces of glocalisation which yield to new signs of urbanity, and the innovative sites of collaboration and contestation in the act of defining a new urban hood in South Africa. This paper seeks to go beyond the polar-opposite way of thinking about globalisation and Africanisation. It explores the glocal encounter between the two discourses by looking at how the local is created within the discursive terms of global culture and vice versa as well as the material crossovers, within and between the two discursive categories. The thrust of argument in the paper is that the post-apartheid reconstruction process has been driven by a new political culture of global-Africanisation whereby local aspirations and global orientations and vice versa, are now discursively accepted as co-determinants in the creation of South African urban identities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: The best method to measure adherence to antiretroviral therapy (ART) in resource-limited settings has not yet been established, particularly among adolescents and young adults (AYAs). The use of mobile technology may address the need for standardized tools in measuring adherence in this often marginalized population. Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional validation study among AYAs (18– 35 years) attending a South African HIV clinic between 07/2015-09/2017. We determine the diagnostic accuracy of two modes of delivering an adherence questionnaire (self-administered electronic vs interviewer-administered paper-adherence questionnaire) comprising two self-reported adherence tools (South African National Department of Health (NDoH) adherence questionnaire and the Simplified Medication Adherence Questionnaire (SMAQ)) to identify poor adherence compared to; 1) a detectable viral load (≥ 1000 copies/mL) and 2) a sub-optimal concentration of efavirenz (EFV) (EFV ≤ 1.00 μg/mL) measured by therapeutic drug monitoring (TDM). Results: Of 278 included participants, 7.1% and 7.3% completing the electronic- and paper-questionnaires had a detectable viral load, while 14.7% and 16.5% had a sub-optimal concentration of EFV, respectively. According to viral load monitoring, the electronic-adherence questionnaire had a higher sensitivity (Se) in detecting poor adherence than the paper-based version across the NDoH adherence questionnaire (Se: 63.6% vs 33.3%) and SMAQ (Se: 90.9% vs 66.7%). In contrast, when using blood drug concentration (EFV ≤ 1.00 μg/mL), the paper-adherence questionnaire produced a higher sensitivity across both adherence tools; namely the NDoH adherence questionnaire (Se: 50.0% vs 38.1%) and SMAQ (Se: 75.0% vs 57.1%). Conclusion: When using more accurate real-time measures of poor adherence such as TDM in this young adult population, we observe a higher sensitivity of an interviewer-administered paper-adherence questionnaire than an identical set of self-administered adherence questions on an electronic tablet. An interviewer-administered questionnaire may elicit more accurate responses from participants through a sense of increased accountability when engaging with health care workers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As an important component of student lifestyle, satisfaction with residential housing has become important in examining student housing quality and services. The current study used five attributes – bedroom environment, building quality, washroom facilities, support services, and leisure room facilities – to examine the relationship between student satisfaction with and loyalty to their residential housing. Each construct was measured using four items on a five-point Likert scale, ranging from 1 'Strongly disagree' to 5 'Strongly agree'. The data were collected from South African students aged 18 years and above in tertiary institutions in Johannesburg, using paper-based questionnaires. Four hundred and forty-three (443) usable questionnaires were obtained for the analysis. The results showed that all the attributes, except for the bedroom environment, had a positive and significant relationship with student loyalty to student housing, although the effect was small for all the attributes. The control variables – age and gender – showed a similar relationship in regards to student loyalty. Academic and management implications of this study's results are also discussed extensively. Overall, students' satisfaction with residential housing dimensions has a positive and significant impact on their loyalty to the providers of residential housing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Why look at art to understand an African city like Johannesburg? African cities are often studied through the lens of urban dilemmas that are supposed to characterize them. Whereas it is common to study the role of art in the (un)making of Western cities, it is still quite uncommon to do so for African cities. In the case of South African cities, more and more scholars are nevertheless using art in order to challenge this imbalance and to propose a more qualified and sensitive approach to daily life in urban spaces. This paper aims to pursue this effort by looking at Inhabitant, a performance organized by Sello Pesa and Vaughn Sadie in Johannesburg in 2011. From a cultural and urban geographer's perspective, this performance is particularly interesting since it is offering a new vision of Johannesburg and its public spaces as they are lived by city dwellers, while inviting the audience of the performance to act upon this vision, if not to perform it. Through close qualitative analysis of Inhabitant, I will argue that art can transform urban spaces, both symbolically and materially, by fostering a change in perceptions and, consequently, in representations and practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent years have witnessed growing numbers of residents exploring their own cities as tourist destinations. This phenomenon challenges academic understandings and definitions of who is defined as a tourist, and what differentiates tourists from residents when both display the same behaviours linked with spectacle and consumption. Of particular interest in these developments are situations where the emergence of 'resident tourists' involves residents transgressing boundaries of territorial stigma and fear to visit previously-avoided urban areas. Safety and security concerns and continued territorial stigma towards the Johannesburg inner city has isolated a generation of suburbanites from this urban space. Recent years have witnessed the emergence of various – often online – social media-driven (particularly Instagram) initiatives to bring these suburbanites into the inner city as resident tourists. Drawing survey data from 200 such visitors to Johannesburg's inner city, this paper reflects on the implications for defining (proximate) tourism in terms of social or psychological rather than spatial (Euclidian) distance/proximity. In so doing, we reflect upon the role of new touristic gaze practices, inspired not only by curiosity but by a concern with self-promotion and social media self-branding. Our argument is that by rethinking emergent practices of collective consumption (facilitated in this instance by social media), we can understand how new forms of tourism occur within the locale of residence. These challenge trends towards the enclaving of daily life and mediated tourist consumption. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 2015, the billionaire Douw Steyn launched a mixed-use megaproject 27 km north of downtown Johannesburg. Plans for Steyn City include 10,000 high-end residential units along with private hospitals, schools, a golf course, an equestrian centre and 2000 acres of parkland behind a 3-m-high perimeter wall. The launch attracted some critique in the media for the exclusive environment that the development sought to create, an ambition that seemed particularly incongruous given its close proximity to the poor settlement of Diepsloot. In response, the developers argued that the project had created more than 11,000 jobs and that wealthy people should invest close to places that need work and livelihood opportunities. This paper is based on interviews with workers who live in Diepsloot and travel each day into Steyn City to work for subcontractors building infrastructure, housing and social facilities. The empirical material shows that although these workers acknowledge the opportunity of employment, they are aware these jobs are uncertain, mostly low-skilled and insufficient to cover the basic costs of everyday life in Diepsloot. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Policies for Universal Test & Treat (UTT) and same‐day initiation (SDI) of antiretroviral therapy (ART) were instituted in South Africa in September 2016 and 2017 respectively. However, there is limited evidence on whether these changes have improved patient retention after HIV diagnosis. Methods: We enrolled three cohorts of newly diagnosed HIV‐infected adults from two primary health clinics in Johannesburg from April to November 2015 (Pre‐UTT, N = 144), May‐September 2017 (UTT, N = 178) and October‐December 2017 (SDI, N = 88). A baseline survey was administered immediately after HIV diagnosis after which follow‐up using clinical records (paper charts, electronic health records and laboratory data) ensued for 12 months. The primary outcome was patient loss to follow‐up (being >90 days late for the last scheduled appointment) at 12 months post‐HIV diagnosis. We modelled attrition across HIV policy periods with Cox proportional hazard regression. Results: Overall, 410 of 580 screened HIV‐positive patients were enrolled. Overall, attrition at 12 months was 30% lower in the UTT guideline period (38.2%) compared to pre‐UTT (47.2%, aHR 0.7, 95% CI: 0.5 to 1.0). However, the total attrition was similar between the SDI (47.7%) and pre‐UTT cohorts (aHR 1.0, 95% CI: 0.7 to 1.5). Older age at HIV diagnosis (aHR 0.5 for ≥40 vs. 25 to 29 years, 95% CI: 0.3 to 0.8) and being in a non‐marital relationship (aHR 0.5 vs. being single, 95% CI: 0.3 to 0.8) protected against LTFU at 12 months, whereas LTFU rates increased with longer travel time to the diagnosing clinic (aHR 1.8 for ≥30 minutes vs. ≤15 minutes, 95% CI: 1.1 to 3.1). In analyses adjusted for the time‐varying ART initiation status, compared to the pre‐ART period of care, the hazard of on‐ART LTFU was 90% higher among participants diagnosed under the SDI policy compared to pre‐UTT (aHR 1.9, 95% CI: 1.1 to 2.9). Conclusions: Overall, nearly two‐fifths of HIV positive patients are likely to disengage from care by 12 months after HIV diagnosis under the new SDI policy. Furthermore, the increase in on‐ART patient attrition after the introduction of the SDI policy is cause for concern. Further research is needed to determine the best way for rapidly initiating patients on ART and also reducing long‐term attrition from care. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Young people face many barriers to accessing appropriate health care services including screening for HIV and tuberculosis (TB). The study aimed to identify perceived barriers to the uptake of health services among young adults entering the tertiary education system in South Africa. Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional study among first-year students aged 18–25 years, registered at one of three universities in Johannesburg, South Africa, in 2017. Participants completed a self-administered paper-based questionnaire. We describe perceived barriers to accessing health services, stratified by gender and recent engagement in TB or HIV services, together with sources of information about HIV and TB. Results: Seven hundred and ninety-two (792) students were included in the study of which 54.8% were female. Perceived barriers to accessing services included long waiting time (n = 342,43.2%), attitude of health workers (n = 263,33.2%), lack of sufficient information/poor health literacy (n = 148,18.7%), and inability to leave/stay away from studies (n = 137,17.3%). Among participants who tested for HIV in the past 6 months (n = 400, 50.5%), waiting time and attitude of health care workers were perceived as barriers to accessing services. Compared to males, females were more likely to view attitudes of health workers (40.3% vs. 25.0%; p = 0.001) and inability to leave/stay away from studies (20.5% vs.13.4%; p = 0.025) as potential barriers. While just over half of the students (50.5%; 400/792) in this study had accessed health services in the past 6 months, very few (15.0%) opted to use campus health services, and even less (5%) reported receiving information about HIV and TB from the university itself. Conclusion: Despite perceived barriers to accessing HIV and TB services off campus, fewer than one in five students starting out at university opted to use campus health services. Campus health services could address many of the barriers unique to university students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper takes the form of a ‘performative’ dialogue, a recounting of scenes, which alternate, in the mode of a cinematic montage, with academic analysis of the interfaces between boxing, art, and space. In his book Body and Soul: Notebooks on an Apprentice Boxer (2004), sociologist Loïc Wacquant mixes three genres: analytic sociology, depictive ethnography, and short story. He argues that he used this unorthodox methodology ‘to make the reader simultaneously feel and understand how boxers are “gripped” by their craft and viscerally tied to it’. Similarly, in this paper, the overlapping voices of its two authors engage in both performative, creative and intellectual ways with the critiques and social rituals surrounding boxing, ultimately finding that an understanding of boxing as an epistemological encounter gives rise to interesting ways to think through the relationships between art and urban space itself. The paper ranges widely over each author’s personal experience of boxing, analyses of specific artworks both ancient and modern, and an analysis of the psychogeography of urban space, and in particular, Johannesburg. The form of the paper, as it incorporates narrative experience (embodiment) and analytic mode, can be seen as a text that re-enacts the ‘performance’ of boxing and art-making in which the traditional opposition between the two is integrated, if not suspended. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Multimethod studies generally fall under what are referred to as "confirmatory" or "complementary" approaches. Yet in addition to these two approaches, Hammersley (1996) identifies a third, which he refers to as "facilitation." In this paper, we build on Hammersley's observation and argue that methods can be used propulsively, setting the researcher down whole new paths. We first put this observation in conversation with other recent works and pragmatist theorizing. We then use the archive as a point of departure to show the value of such an approach. Specifically, we use our investigation of the archives at the Nelson Mandela Centre of Memory in Johannesburg, South Africa as a site to show how we used propulsive facilitation to engage with and make sense of materials relating to Mandela's memoirs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

South Africa continues to bear a heavy burden of HIV and a significant proportion of the nation's population consists of immigrants from other severely afflicted African nations. Yet little is known about how migrant populations respond to HIV in shifting cultural and clinical landscapes. Analysing 21 ethnographic life history interviews, this paper explores the social complexities of living with antiretroviral therapy and disclosure of serostatus among HIV-positive Mozambican migrants in Johannesburg. It focuses on (i) conceptualising the 'biosocial ambiance of illness'; (ii) how transformations occur in perceptions of disease; and (iii) how stigma produces an ambit of loneliness and secrecy, which inflects disclosure unevenly in different life-spaces and health-worlds. The net effect of these three processes is a silence which is detrimental to the social normalisation of HIV, treatment-seeking and clinical drug adherence, which in turn may increase rates of morbidity and mortality and contribute to drug resistance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Great strides have been made in decreasing paediatric human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infections, especially in sub-Saharan Africa. In South Africa, new paediatric HIV infections decreased by 84% between 2009 and 2015. This achievement is a result of a strong political will and the rapid evolution of the country's prevention of mother-to-child transmission (PMTCT) guidelines. Objectives: In this paper we report on the implementation of a large PMTCT programme in Soweto, South Africa. Methods: We reviewed routinely collected PMTCT data from 13 healthcare facilities, for the period 2002–2015. Antiretroviral therapy (ART) coverage among pregnant women living with HIV (PWLHIV) and the mother-to-child transmission (MTCT) rate at early infant diagnosis were evaluated. Results: In total, 360 751 pregnant women attended the facilities during the review period, and the HIV prevalence remained high throughout at around 30%. The proportion of PWLHIV presenting with a known HIV status increased from 14.3% in 2009 when the indicator was first collected to 45% in 2015, p < 0.001. In 2006, less than 10% of the PWLHIV were initiated on ART, increasing to 88% by 2011. The MTCT rate decreased from 6.9% in 2007 to under 1% from 2013 to 2015, p < 0.001. Conclusion: The achievements in decreasing paediatric HIV infections have been hailed as one of the greatest public health achievements of our times. While there are inherent limitations with using routinely collected aggregate data, the Soweto data reflect progress made in the implementation of PMTCT programmes in South Africa. Progress with PMTCT has, however, not been accompanied by a decline in HIV prevalence among pregnant women. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research concerning studentification is growing in importance. The supply of private student accommodation forms part of the wider urban process of studentification which documents changes in the social, economic and cultural fabric of cities. Although scholarly interest concerning the supply of private student accommodation has enjoyed sustained interest in the global North, only limited work is available surrounding the supply and demand for private student accommodation in global South urban centres. In South Africa there has been growing recognition of the impact of the studentification that has accompanied the massification of tertiary education in the post-apartheid period. Using interviews with key stakeholders, suppliers of student accommodation, as well as focus groups with students, this paper explores the supply of houses in multiple occupation and students' perspectives on such properties in Johannesburg, South Africa. One distinctive influence upon the studentification process in South Africa is the impact of the national government funding system which was restructured in order to support the tertiary education of students from previously disadvantaged communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In South Africa, as is mostly the norm globally, national legislation and guidelines specify that potable water distribution networks maintain the capacity to provide specified quantities of water for firefighting. This paper addresses the question: is the South African standard and guideline pertaining to fire-flow provision appropriate for firefighting and do these ensure the most efficient balance between providing sufficient fire protection and promoting sustainable water use? In answering this question, this study: (i) reviewed national and international design standards and guidelines; and (ii) captured and analysed 10 years of billable fire incident reports representing 3 859 fire events within the City of Johannesburg. Highlights from the study include: inconsistencies in categories when comparing the SANS 10090 and The Red Book fire tables and violations (in The Red Book) of stipulated Minimum Fire Flows; over the 10 year period, 75% of fire incidents within the City of Johannesburg were extinguished using less than 6.6 kL of water – less than the capacity (6.9 kL) of the City’s conventional pumping tanker during the period; 99.9% of fire incidents within the City were quenched using an average fire flow rate of less than 1 200 L/min, which is the minimum hydrant flow rate for the lowest fire risk category in SANS 10090; and peak fire occurrence did not correspond with typical peak residential water use. Recommendations are proffered in respect of the above. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract This paper proposes an improved enhanced differential evolution algorithm for implementing demand response between aggregator and consumer. The proposed algorithm utilizes a secondary population archive, which contains unfit solutions that are discarded by the primary archive of the earlier proposed enhanced differential evolution algorithm. The secondary archive initializes, mutates and recombines candidates in order to improve their fitness and then passes them back to the primary archive for possible selection. The capability of this proposed algorithm is confirmed by comparing its performance with three other well-performing evolutionary algorithms: enhanced differential evolution, multiobjective evolutionary algorithm based on dominance and decomposition, and non-dominated sorting genetic algorithm III. This is achieved by testing the algorithms' ability to optimize a multi-objective optimization problem representing a smart home with demand response aggregator. Shiftable and non-shiftable loads are considered for the smart home which model energy usage profile for a typical household in Johannesburg, South Africa. In this study, renewable sources include battery bank and rooftop photovoltaic panels. Simulation results show that the proposed algorithm is able to optimize energy usage by balancing load scheduling and contribution of renewable sources, while maximizing user comfort and minimizing peak-to-average ratio. Highlights • Evolutionary algorithms play significant role in demand response implementation. • Aggregator-consumer matching via evolutionary algorithms improves mutual benefits. • Two-archive strategy improves mutation and crossover speed in differential evolution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper outlines the sport management curricula adopted by the Rand Afrikaans University in South Africa. The literature that provided the frame- work and the local conditions that influenced the curriculum design are described. The differences between the curriculum models generally found in North America and the present model are noted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

From the mid 2000s, militant local political protests have been widespread in poor townships and shack settlements across South Africa, recalling mobilisations of a previous decade. Youth have been at the forefront of these protests, as the weight of the job and housing crisis has fallen disproportionately on those under 35. Similarly to the 1980s, this has created fears over a youth-led rebellion, with youth portrayed as militant, angry, disillusioned and available for direct action. Significantly, very little research has captured the role of youth in these urban uprisings from the perspective of youth themselves. This paper provides insight into the lives of a number of youth who participated in the 2011 protests in Zandspruit informal settlement, on the outskirts of Johannesburg. Situating the protests within a larger context allows an exploration of the complex web of structural factors which motivate youth involvement, and the ways in which youth actively shape and transform their social reality. This includes an understanding of the nature of youth unemployment, the politicisation of access to resources and services, and the relationship between leaders and youth. Through an analysis of the shared grievances and frustrated aspirations of youth within a context of perverse social inequality and intense competition for power and access to resources, the motivations of youth are analysed through two key concepts: waiting and envy. This paper draws attention to the changing nature of political action among youth and the implications for broader politics and society in South Africa. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In the context of the foundation phase, where women tend to dominate, the increasing numbers of male students entering teaching programmes for this phase of schooling has generated considerable praise, as well as criticism. This paper explores the views of two first-year foundation phase (FP) student cohorts at a Johannesburg university about male teachers in the FP. Student responses to two open-ended questions formed the data for this study, with qualitative content analysis procedures used to make sense thereof. Findings indicate an uncomfortable tension between the 'good,' the 'bad', and the 'ugly' in student perspectives of male teachers in the FP, where the 'good' is reflected in recognition of the valuable role of males in countering the effects of absentee fathers; the 'bad' in the various reasons provided for male's unsuitability as teachers of young children; and the 'ugly' in the dominant association of males with the perception of a threat of sexual abuse and molestation, much of which is attributed to increased media coverage and public awareness of abuse in schools. The paper concludes with a discussion of the ramifications hereof for teacher education and for the profession. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since 2000, South Africa has experienced unprecedented migration from Zimbabwe. Surveys have estimated that by the end of 2007, between 1 million and 2 million Zimbabweans had migrated to South Africa as a result of a political and economic crisis that has been bedevilling their country. These migrants are supporting the livelihoods of relatives left at home through remittances. The nature of the remittance flows is not well documented, and the characteristics of the remittance senders and recipients are even less well understood. In this paper, I attempt to fill this research gap by focusing on the remittance behaviour of the senders. Using data from a survey of Zimbabwean migrants living in Johannesburg in South Africa, in this paper I examine the socio-economic and demographic characteristics of the remittance senders. Pertinent findings are that remittance behaviour is seen to be positively correlated with age, the number of dependents supported in the home country, income level and the return migration decision. Furthermore, males and married persons make up a larger proportion of the remitters than females and single persons. There are more remitters among migrants with basic education than among those with tertiary education. I have found remittance behaviour to be independent of legal status and length of stay in the host country. The independence with regard to length of stay raises questions about the validity of the remittance decay hypothesis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper compares the working lives of different generations of British expatriate women living in Johannesburg, South Africa. The city has strong and established transnational connections with Europe and consequently has a substantial population of white, highly skilled professionals who have come to take advantage of the benefits that South Africa has consistently delivered to whiteness. However, now nearly twenty years since the post-apartheid Government came into office, an important question to ask is how aims for racial equality are playing out in everyday life. This paper explores this question by drawing on new research evidence which looks at the changing labour market fortunes of British women migrants in South Africa. I argue that whilst the resources of whiteness/Britishness are becoming increasingly less certain, contemporary migrants may still draw upon their transnational advantages to maintain their expectations of cultural and economic privilege. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Urban renewal and its impact on inner city areas globally has been the subject of sustained investigation. Yet, research into the process of urban renewal in the global South remains under-investigated. This paper attempts to address this paucity in research by looking at the inner city of Johannesburg. The Johannesburg inner city has undergone numerous changes throughout its history, from being built-up to the economic centre of Africa, decentralisation and ultimately undergoing sociodemographic changes during and after the fall of apartheid. Some would argue that the inner city has fallen into a deteriorated state and is a 'no-go' zone, especially for middle-class suburbanites. Going hand-in-hand with the meteoric rise of social media, urban renewal initiatives implemented by the private and public sphere in many cities in South Africa have now gained momentum. This is especially the case in the inner city of Johannesburg where mostly white suburban youth, often part of the creative class, now access the inner city regularly through InstaMeets. However, this process is a double-edged sword. It is argued that while there are tangible benefits to renewed access to the inner city, in some cases, it can be considered voyeuristic and lead to displacement of residents with vulnerable livelihoods if not managed correctly. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In January 2012 the residents of an inner-city tenement building in Doornfontein, Johannesburg, were evicted on a court order. The building was situated in a post-industrial neighbourhood in which thousands of South Africans and foreign nationals, many blind or disabled, live in unlawfully occupied buildings without access to water, basic sanitation, electricity and waste management services. Such buildings are known in policy discourse as 'bad buildings', and informally as 'dark buildings', invoking both a sense of developmental failure and spiritual insecurity. In this paper I analyse how urban renewal policies created social divisions and alliances not only among the residents of Chambers, which were channelled along nationalist lines, but also between the able-bodied and disabled, and produced new social alliances. In particular, I document how a group of blind Zimbabweans experienced threats of violence and accusations of betrayal, as they were offered alternate accommodation by the evicting company because of their disability. I argue here that the pressures of private-sector housing developments intersected with the insecurities and divisions of inner-city social spaces and also fostered new alliances. Following the work of Deleuze and Guattari, I invoke the concept of 'decoding dispossession', proposing that ongoing evictions and dispossessions are characterized by simultaneous movements of 'decoding and deterritorialization' and 'overcoding-reterritorialization'. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper describes the Ububele Baby Mat Project - a community parent-infant mental health intervention offered at primary health care clinics in Alexandra (an impoverished township in Johannesburg, South Africa). The paper traces the project's history and theoretical underpinnings. At its core, the Baby Mat Project aims to support the caregiving component (parents/caregivers and their support structures) of the attachment system, through a focus on reflective functioning, observation and direct communication with the infant. The facilitating of wondering, mhlawumbe in isiZulu, encourages deeper thought about the meaning of the presenting problem, which is usually of a seemingly concrete nature. An in situ example illustrates the process of a Baby Mat session. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is based on a 12 week New Beginnings group intervention for mothers and their infants in a shelter in Johannesburg, South Africa. Contextual deprivation loomed large in the therapeutic encounter and preoccupied both participants and therapists. At times, this preoccupation hindered the participants' and therapists' capacity for reflective functioning. This paper argues that contextual deprivation functioned at times as an anti-analytic third in the therapeutic process, interfering with thoughtfulness. A close reading of the beginning of two consecutive sessions that took place toward the end of the intervention reveals how central deprivation was and how, through the therapeutic group process and the therapists' working through of challenging countertransferential material, the rigidity of deprivation in the minds of the therapists and group members was shifted. Although the contextual deprivation remained unchanged, there appeared to be more capacity for flexibility in thinking about it. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Informed largely by the Critical Discourse Analysis framework, this article analyses flyers and posters that advertise traditional/alternative healing distributed and posted respectively in and around Johannesburg's Central Business District. Paying close attention to text and context, the paper analyses the advertising of medicines and practices referred to as traditional/alternative. The advertising, which employs modern media and advertising techniques, is as complex as the multiplicity of religious, secular and corporeal interventions offered by the healers. The ubiquitous presence of flyers and the continued pasting of posters onto city structures, despite warnings by the city of Johannesburg, are an expression of resistance to city authorities. The paper posits that what may appear to be downright charlatanism by the advertisers might in fact be a viable alternative to biomedicine, especially in Johannesburg's context of high in-migration with its attendant plethora of social and health problems. Thus the healing services that the healers advertise pose a challenge to allopathic medicine, suggesting that illness needs to be understood in a broad sense. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper explores the representation of the first African World Cup in the British and South African press. Drawing on the output of a variety of media outlets between 2004, when South Africa was awarded the right to host the 2010 event, and the culmination of the tournament in July 2010, this paper contends that a range of representations of Africa have been put forward by the British and South African media. These can be interpreted as alarmist, sensationalist and even racist in certain extreme instances, and hypernationalist and overly defensive in other cases. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The paper revisits participation and decentralization in relation to local clientelism, arguing that they share the personalization of links between residents and the state and the local possibility to adapt state policies. The line between decentralization-participation on the one hand, and clientelism on the other, is therefore easily blurred. The paper then argues that clientelism is not per se anti-democratic, some forms allow for local and immediate accountability of politicians. However, in most cases, it contributes to fragment or sedate local organizations or social movements and it prevents contestation of existing policies and dominant power structures. The paper thus challenges the idea that the promotion of decentralization and participatory institutions intrinsically leads to more democratic forms of government. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Evidence from a recent study suggests that perceptions of corruption within the South African housing programme are widespread. This paper explores the pervasiveness of such perceptions and argues that they may reflect a range of factors, including the opacity, clumsiness and arbitrariness of the housing programme. Offering both positive and negative accounts, the paper considers the ways in which perceptions of corruption shape the manner in which residents access and respond to the state. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Bibliotherapy, as a part of expressive therapy, involves the systematic use of books to help people cope with mental, physical, emotional, or social problems. It has been widely recognized as an approach that holds great promise in helping librarians to better address emotional, behavioural and social concerns of various groups of people. The benefits of bibliotherapeutic services such as reading groups, expanded readers' advisory, books-on-prescription and information-on-prescription services as well as various outreach programs are well documented in the library literature. On the other hand, health professionals who work in cooperation with educators and librarians share medical records on the healing and consoling power of books. The paper will explore the role of bibliotherapy in a library setting and identify particular bibliotherapeutic schemes to be used when serving people affected by HIV/AIDS. The paper will provide an overview of the library project developed to address educational and recreational needs of the African people living with HIV/AIDS. The project was successfully implemented at the Nkosi's Haven Library in Johannesburg, South Africa in 2010. Although the project targeted all the residents of Nkosi's Haven, the paper will focus mostly on the part of the program developed for children and young adults. The paper will identify psychological and social factors that affect the targeted group of children within the African environment. Particularly, it will highlight a negative effect that stigmatization around the disease has on the lives of the HIV-infected individuals and their families. Within this context, bibliotherapy is seen as an effective way of reaching out and breaking the isolation of people, especially children living with HIV/AIDS. The paper will describe specific activities strategically chosen for the bibliotherapy sessions to provide a channel through which the participants of the program could analyze their behaviours or situations and address their concerns. It will also provide a list of books selected for the targeted group of children and young adults. The paper will highlight the great potential of bibliotherapy in addressing the needs of vulnerable people and thus justify the importance of implementing bibliotherapy within the library setting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Planning for current and future climate risks depends on more than early warning signals and technical climate information. The management and enabling of effective risk approaches, we argue, is shaped by complex contextual settings. These contexts are shaped by decisions including: What climate risks are prioritised? Who makes decisions about risk response interventions and how do they make these decisions? This preliminary study uses observed changes in storm events in the City of Johannesburg (CoJ) and the City's Climate Change Adaptation Plan as a lens through which the scope of such contexts and decisions can be interrogated. The study is used as a springboard from which to begin a dialogue on interactive approaches to adaptation and response planning for current and future climate change. We suggest that this dialogue may be required for a more proactive disaster-risk approach in the city. The major focus of the paper includes a statistical analysis of historical weather data from the OR Tambo Weather Station, located in close proximity to the city. Significant trends are identified in the frequency and intensity of thunderstorms for the period 1960-2009. This preliminary assessment shows some similarities with emerging climate change projections that suggest that heavy rainfall events may become more frequent and intense. The preliminary results presented here also concur with the recent findings contained in the CoJ's Climate Change Adaptation Plan (2009). While the study is in no way substantive and few wider generalisations and strong conclusions can be drawn from it, the study does provide a useful starting point for considering possible planning interventions. The potential value of using science and information from studies, such as this, is highlighted along with the possible ways in which such science can interact with and help inform a comprehensive planning agenda in the City. Finally, the paper calls for more attention to be paid to the contributions and perceptions of community awareness and understanding of climate risks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper describes patients who presented at the psychiatric outpatient department of a large hospital in Johannesburg after attempting suicide. The high volumes of such patients as well as the seemingly trivial reasons these patients gave for their impulsive acts led the author to formulate an understanding of this phenomenon in that particular setting. The generally accepted models of the genesis of borderline personality illness are expanded to include the broader socio-political context. The paper explores the idea of the state as a toxic parental object and reflects on how the social aspects of violence and poverty in post-apartheid South Africa impact the psychological development of these patients, resulting in borderline-like psychic structures. To illustrate the thesis, a case of a woman who committed infanticide is discussed, and the conclusion is drawn that to be a good enough mother requires a good enough holding social environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For long periods in the history of South Africa gold mining formed the backbone of an otherwise agriculturally-dominated economy, initiating rapid urbanisation in often remote and underdeveloped farming areas. This paper explores examples from a mined-out goldfield west of Johannesburg (West Rand), where consequences of mine closure can currently be observed, as well as from an active goldfield on the Far West Rand. Both areas are linked by the Wonderfonteinspruit, a stream drawing much national and international media attention for its high levels of radioactive pollution. Dating back more than 120 years, the impacts of gold mining and later uranium mining on the natural environment are profound and complex, perhaps most affecting the rich groundwater resources found in the exceptionally well-karstified dolomite that underlies most of the catchment area. Mining-related impacts such as large-scale land degradation associated with dewatering of karstic aquifers and widespread pollution of surface water and groundwater systems are discussed. Based on this, potential threats and opportunities for post-mining scenarios are identified in a series of 3 papers. Part 1 of this series outlines impacts of mining, particularly on the natural water resources, and possible consequences associated with the future re-watering of currently de-watered dolomitic compartments. The need for a regionally-integrated approach to the closure of highly interconnected mines is stressed and timelines of the closure process estimated. In Part 2 the emphasis is on identifying possible opportunities for post-mining development centred mainly around the utilisation of exceptional karst features and associated water resources. Part 3 aims to quantify uncertainties associated with planning in mining-dominated environments by comparing historical predictions with factual developments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This paper is a part of a larger study that explores the “social complexity” of antiretroviral therapy (ART), in resource-limited environments. Drawing on in-depth interviews with a sample of 44 patients in an urban HIV/AIDS clinic in Johannesburg, South Africa, this paper examines how people with HIV/AIDS conceptualise their illness and its treatment in this context. The paper concludes that the fear of stigma plays a significant role in patients’ experiences throughout the disease trajectory. Yet, demonstrates that there are indications that ARVs are transforming the experience of living with HIV/AIDS and a process of normalisation is taking place. Despite the resource-limited context and, often, lack of family and community support, patients see the ARVs as ‘life saving’ and express their long-term commitment to adhere to the drug regimen as well as their trust in health professionals. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Urban renewal and inner city regeneration have become critical efforts for the South African government, which has invested in several structures to stem the tide of decline in its nine major cities. Commitment to the alleviation of poverty is a focal point of the renewal and regeneration agenda and will remain so in the future. This effort is motivated by the fact that around 24% of the South African population currently lives on less than USD 1.00 per day, below the poverty line defined by the World Bank. The Central Government has made numerous public commitments to development, a part of which concerns extensive infrastructure investment and service delivery. Communities are expected to participate fully in the planning and implementation of these urban renewal projects. To this aim, participation is a process through which stakeholders influence and share control over development initiatives and the decisions and resources which affect them. Community participation should be aimed at empowering people by ensuring the development of skills and the creation of employment opportunities. This paper first explores the concept of community participation, and will then look at relevant past experiences in relation to community participation in urban renewal projects. Furthermore, the paper outlines the challenges and problems of community participation in urban renewal projects in Johannesburg, and finally, close with recommendations for the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines a residential sampling technique that was used to survey refugees in inner-city Johannesburg. The survey's sampling framework assumed that, once displaced populations had settled, they could be a) adequately categorized according to residential sampling ‘frames’; and b) readily accessed in their homes. The paper explores the theoretical and practical limits of these assumptions. It shows how the particularly volatile relationship between respondents and the urban landscape made it difficult to generate a representative sample. The paper uses these findings to call for sampling procedures that are better suited to forced migrants’ experiences of urban space. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper uses the case of Mazibuko v. City of Johannesburg, now set down on appeal in the Constitutional Court of South Africa, as the basis of a discussion of judicial enforcement of social and economic rights, with special emphasis on the right of access to sufficient water. The paper compares the conditions of the black township residents who brought the lawsuit and residents of wealthier, white areas of Johannesburg and calls attention to trends in water policy in South Africa running counter to egalitarian goals of the Constitution. The paper argues that judicial enforcement of social and economic rights can (although it does not necessarily) advance democracy by affording every person the minimum conditions necessary for meaningful political participation and enjoyment of his or her political, social, and economic rights. The paper proposes a new legal approach for analyzing access-to-water and other socioeconomic rights issues -- the 'developmental-reasonableness' test which incorporates equality principles -- as better suited than existing approaches to the transformative aspirations of the South African Constitution. The proposal urges that socio-economic rights jurisprudence emphasise redistributive measures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]