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A key global change challenge is to significantly reduce the risks of alien taxa causing harmful impacts without compromising the rights of citizens. As part of efforts to address this challenge, South Africa promulgated comprehensive regulations and lists of alien taxa in 2014. In this paper, we review how the lists developed, changed over time, and how they have been implemented. As of March 2021, 560 taxa were listed under four broad regulatory categories, and between 2014 and 2020, almost 3000 permits were issued to regulate the continued use of listed taxa. The full lists of regulated taxa, permits issued, and corresponding regulations are available in the Supplementary material. A proposed standardised, transparent, and science-informed process to revise the regulatory lists is also presented – as of 30 April 2024, risk analyses have been developed for 140 taxa using the Risk Analysis for Alien Taxa (RAAT) framework and reviewed by an independent scientific body [the Alien Species Risk Analysis Review Panel (ASRARP)] with input from taxon-specific experts. These recommendations are being considered by an interdepartmental governmental decision-making body established in March 2023 [the Risk Analysis Review Committee (RARC)]. Finally, key issues with the listing of alien taxa in South Africa that remain to be resolved are presented. As South Africa’s regulatory framework continues to develop, the process of listing and regulating alien taxa will, we believe, become more transparent, consistent, and acceptable to stakeholders, and ultimately facilitate efforts to reduce the harmful impacts of alien taxa. Significance: The regulation of alien species is a major part of how South Africa addresses biological invasions. For this process to be effective, relevant stakeholders need to be engaged and involved. This paper outlines how species have been regulated in the past, provides regulatory lists in accessible formats, and analyses how the lists have changed over time. A transparent, science-informed process to update the regulatory lists is presented and progress to date reviewed. This process aims to engage interested and affected parties in efforts to preserve the benefits of alien species while reducing the harmful impacts of invasions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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]

Health claims are considered a means to add value to food and beverages; however, it is not always evident which stakeholders benefit and to what extent they benefit. In this paper, we extend the investigation of value creation and appropriation into the domain of food, specifically food labels. Using a qualitative approach, we aimed to elucidate which forms of value can be created by legislating health claims (including those for bioactive compounds found in South African indigenous plants) on food labels. The findings reveal that health claims have the potential to advance the sustainable development agenda in South Africa, but only if structures can be put in place to appropriate human and intellectual (HI) value, as well as environmental value. Currently, there is strong evidence for economic value creation and appropriation potential, but little clear evidence that HI or environmental value will be appropriated from health claims, especially if these health claims exclude benefits from bioactive compounds found in indigenous South African plants. If we could find a means to measure the HI and environmental value creation potential of health claims, using metrics that people understand, we may be able to develop strategies to ensure that such products can benefit stakeholders beyond economic value alone (i.e. more sustainable value creation). The findings could directly impact food labelling policy formulation, considering current draft regulations to implement health claims in South Africa. Significance: The medicinal plant biodiversity of South Africa offers opportunities for economic, human and intellectual (HI), and environmental value creation through legislated health claims. Without clear metrics for the HI and environmental components, economic value creation may dominate, but the value created might not be sustainable or appropriated by the desired stakeholders. Furthermore, because the current draft legislation for health claims excludes any bioactives from indigenous South African plants, much of the economic, HI and environmental value creation potential reported as potential outcomes for this research (e.g. funds to communities, knowledge preservation or biodiversity conservation) will not materialise. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the understanding that universities play multiple social purposes, we aimed to provide an estimation of the economic impact of the public universities in South Africa. Using models described in the literature, we estimated economic benefits from four university activities -- university exports, research at universities, the production of graduates and universities as business entities. Comparative analysis shows that, as an economic sector, Higher Education contributes more to South Africa's gross value added than other economic sectors such as Wood and Wood Products, Textiles, Clothing and Leather Goods, or Paper and Paper Products. It is comparable to sectors such as Gold Mining, and Beverages and Tobacco. Taking into account a number of assumptions, which are explained in the text, for 2018 the total economic impact was estimated at about ZAR513 billion. Governmental expenditure on higher education in that year was ZAR66 billion. These figures produce a cost--benefit ratio for the sector of 1 : 7.7, considering only these four university activities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Informal waste reclaimers are a key part of South Africa's recycling economy, being responsible for around 51% of all paper and packaging waste collected in South Africa in 2017. Active in the waste and recycling landscape for more than three decades, their activity predates the earliest voluntary paper and packaging Extended Producer Responsibility schemes. However, these voluntary schemes have been instrumental in scaling South Africa's recycling economy. Investment by brand owners, retailers, converters and recyclers has helped develop local end-use markets, creating a demand for paper and packaging recyclables and a resultant increase in their collection. An analysis of tonnage and price data shows that the mean estimate of money paid by the private sector to the informal waste sector through the purchase of recyclables at intermediaries such as buy-back centres, was ZAR625 million in 2012, increasing to ZAR872 million in 2017. This private sector 'investment' in the local recycling economy has led to direct and indirect job creation and improved livelihoods, particularly for a large, well-established and effective informal waste sector, and has indirectly funded municipal waste diversion strategies, saving municipalities in both the collection and disposal of waste. Significance: * Informal waste reclaimers make a significant contribution to the diversion of paper and packaging recyclables from landfill to recycling in South Africa. * Limited information exists on the earnings of informal reclaimers. * This paper provides new insights on the annual financial payments made by the private sector to informal reclaimers tor the collection of recyclables. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Given a growing global population and shift to embrace the blue economy, a need for marine spatial planning (MSP) has emerged in South Africa to sustainably resolve the rising conflicts over the use of marine and seabed resources and services. A well-developed marine spatial plan yields numerous ecological, social and economic benefits. These are achieved through mediating between spatially conflicting economic drivers' interests (e.g. commercial fishing, tourism, mining), preventing their activities from compromising thresholds of an environment's sustainability. Within the MSP framework, high-resolution geospatial datasets are required to document and describe the seabed in the highest possible detail. At any scale, integrated analysis of seabed geomorphology and habitats is anticipated to greatly improve the understanding of ecosystem functioning from a multidisciplinary perspective, whilst improving MSP procedures and management of marine space. South Africa is the first of few African countries to have an approved and implemented MSP framework, but is still somewhat behind globally in implementing large-scale regional hydroacoustic surveys to cover the country's vast offshore territory. The deficiency of hydroacoustic surveys is perhaps due to a relative lack of funds and poor communication about the value of multibeam echo-sounder (MBES) derived data, whilst marine geoscience remains a scarce skill in the country. This review paper presents a geological perspective of MSP and explores (1) the value that seabed mapping offers MSP specifically and (2) the need to increase seabed mapping with MBES, using a recently initiated project from the South African east coast as a case study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Geosynthetic clay liners (GCLs) have become a suitable substitute for compacted clay liners used for prevention of leachate percolation from landfills and tailings dams into the groundwater system. The characteristics of most bentonites is improved through a process of activation by mixing with soda ash (Na2CO3). This paper presents the investigation results of the suitability of bentonites from the Imerys Mine in South Africa for use in GCLs. Both activated and non-activated bentonites were investigated through X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis and swell index, fluid loss, plate water absorption and Atterberg limits tests. The XRD analysis results indicate that the activated and non-activated bentonite have a smectite content of 58% and 67%, respectively. The swell index of non-activated bentonite was significantly lower than that of activated bentonite. The activated bentonite samples tested at different times subsequent to activation revealed that a minimum of 4 weeks of activation time is required to fully activate it to the ideal soda ash to bentonite ratio of 1:16. The fluid loss tests displayed results slightly above the required minimum of 18 mL because of the low swell index of the bentonites tested. The activated and non-activated bentonites have absorption capacities of 133% and 121%, respectively. The plasticity index of the activated bentonite is 101%, 15% higher than the non-activated bentonite. The overall results concluded that the Imerys bentonite is a medium-quality bentonite with borderline index properties that requires at least 4 weeks of beneficiation to achieve complete activation to suitably be used as GCLs. Significance: • The significance of this paper is the beneficiation process of bentonite in the geotextile industry. • This study is relevant to geotechnical engineers, environmental geologists, engineering geologists and other related professionals working with geosynthetic clay liners whereby bentonite is the key ingredient. • The study provides an optimum ratio of bentonite to sodium carbonate and the required time for beneficiation. • We further recommend that quality control measures should be implemented to ensure complete activation of bentonite, including the blending process of different qualities of bentonite. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The impact of landfills on the environment has come under increasing scrutiny in recent years due to the confounding effects of climate change and water scarcity. There is an urgent need to reduce from landfills the greenhouse gas emissions that cause climate change, and to provide effective treatment solutions for waste, thereby diverting it from landfills. With an estimated 80 million tonnes of plastic waste entering the world's oceans annually, the accumulation of marine plastic has become a global crisis. Plastic pollution threatens food safety and quality, human health and coastal tourism, and contributes to climate change. For these reasons, there is an urgent need to explore a bioplastic biorefinery process. This review paper examines the potential of organic waste as an alternative carbon source in the efficient and feasible microbial production of polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA) and polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB), which are precursors for bioplastic. More specifically, this paper presents a concept for a bioplastic biorefinery from a technological perspective, based on data from previous studies. Biofuel production processes are also assessed with the aim of integrating these processes to construct a bioplastic waste biorefinery. Garden refuse and food waste have been shown to be feasible feedstocks for the production of PHA and PHB in singular processes. Diverting these wastes away from landfills will significantly ease the environmental impacts currently associated with their disposal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ten years after the conclusion of World War II, the Department of Native Affairs of the National Party government of South Africa sponsored research into the selection of African civil servants. The study was conducted by Rae Sherwood, under the auspices of the National Social Research Council, and the National Institute for Personnel Research. In 1960, Sherwood submitted the work to the University of tine Witwatersrand to obtain a PhD degree. Two government departments objected to the award of the degree. In this paper I recount the history of the research, explaining that the acceleration of the apartheid project between 1948 and 1961 played a significant role in the controversy that developed. The paper furthermore illustrates the difficulties faced by social scientific research under repressive political conditions, and the need for a more nuanced view of the psychological research of the National Institute for Personnel Research in South Africa at the time. Significance: * The history of South Africa's research organisations has been of interest for a long time. This study recalls the history of an unknown chapter in the history of the National Institute for Personnel Research, based on a PhD submission kept under embargo in the archives of the University of the Witwatersrand. The study was methodologically sophisticated. rich in data; but controversial in its findings, at least as it reflected on the policies pursued by the apartheid government after World War II. It adds another contextual element to the type ot work conducted by the Institute. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There are three major mollusc collections in South Africa and seven smaller, thematic collections. The KwaZulu-Natal Museum holds one of the largest collections in the southern hemisphere. Its strengths are marine molluscs of southern Africa and the southwestern Indian Ocean, and terrestrial molluscs of South Africa. Research on marine molluscs has led to revisionary papers across a wide range of gastropod families. The lziko South African Museum contains the most comprehensive collections of Cephalopoda (octopus, squid and relatives) and Polyplacophora (chitons) for southern Africa. The East London Museum is a provincial museum of the Eastern Cape. Recent research focuses on terrestrial molluscs and the collection is growing to address the gap in knowledge of this element of biodiversity. Mollusc collections in South Africa date to about 1900 and are an invaluable resource of morphological and genetic diversity, with associated spatial and temporal data. The South African National Biodiversity lnstitute is encouraging discovery and documentation to address gaps in knowledge, particularly of invertebrates. Museums are supported with grants for surveys, systematic studies and data mobilisation. The Department of Science and Innovation is investing in collections as irreplaceable research infrastructure through the Natural Science Collections Facility, whereby 16 institutions, including those holding mollusc collections, are assisted to achieve common targets and coordinated outputs. Significance: Mollusc collections are among the oldest natural science collections in South Africa, dating from just before 1900. They provide an invaluable resource of morphological and genetic diversity, with associated spatial and temporal data. They are spread across the country in three comprehensive and seven smaller, thematic collections and this paper puts together available information about these scattered and diverse collections. Each has its own strengths and specialisations, and together they cater to a variety of the country's identified research priorities. Although staff complements are small, mollusc collections are well curated and conserved, expanding, actively researched and associated data are available online or on request. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Alcohol is a major contributing factor to the burden of road traffic crashes and injuries in South Africa. There has been an increase in political interest and engagement on the issue of drink-driving in recent months following government restrictions on the sale and public consumption of alcohol during the COVID-19 lockdowns along with proposed zero-tolerance drink-driving legislation. In this paper, we critically examine global research and experiences with the adoption of zero-tolerance approaches to drink-driving along with key South African contextual considerations to provide evidence-based and contextually relevant recommendations for advancing zero-tolerance drink-driving legislation in the country. There is significant evidence to support the adoption of zero-tolerance legislation but at a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) threshold limit for the general driving population set at 0.02 g/100 mL (rather than the zero-BAC limit proposed through the Road Traffic Amendment Bill) to allow for variance in testing. Recommendations centre on the proposed legislation incorporating a gradualist approach and its location within a broader zero-tolerance approach that includes other complementary interventions to enable implementation. Significance: • The recommended blood alcohol level of 0.02 g/100 mL is lower than the best practice limit recommended by the World Health Organization of 0.05 g/100 mL, following consideration of the road safety and general alcohol consumption challenges in South Africa and evidence of success from other similar country contexts. • Broad principles and recommendations are presented to support the sustainable adoption of zerotolerance drink-driving legislation in the country. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Electronic waste (e-waste) recycling presents an opportunity to reclaim materials trom a secondary resource and to create jobs and other economic opportunities. E-waste consists of various materials such as metals, plastics, glass, and other chemical substances. Some of these materials are hazardous if processed or disposed of improperly. Therefore, e-waste is classified as hazardous in South African law up until the hazardous components are removed. With the appropriate infrastructure and technology, a large portion of materials contained in e-waste can be reclaimed, and any adverse impacts of irresponsible management prevented. The private sector has played a proactive role in shaping the South African waste economy, and the government is taking strides to draw up enabling regulatory frameworks. Through a literature review and stakeholder engagements, this paper unpacks the organisation of the South African e-waste recycling industry. We consider whether the legal environment drives a common vision for a circular e-waste economy and probe the barriers to e-waste recycling across the value chain. The findings indicate that the development of the e-waste recycling sector in South Africa is dependent on a robust collection network and the enabling of local end-processing, refining, and manufacturing capacity. The availability and quality of input material and the development of local refining and manufacturing capacity are co-dependent and should be addressed simultaneously. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The transition towards a circular economy is becoming a priority in many countries globally. However, the circular bioeconomy has received relatively less attention. In South Africa, the valorisation of organic waste is a priority area as demonstrated by national goals to divert organic waste from landfill. To support the growth of the organic waste value chain it is important to gain an understanding of the different value chain actors and their activities. Through a series of semi-structured interviews across the industry, this paper unpacks the organic waste value chain including the roles of different actors and the interlinkages amongst them. Interviewed actors were those involved in the waste treatment sector, including consultants, composters and technology providers and installers. The value chain is characterised by a number of partnerships, including sub-contracting and outsourcing, which enable value chain actors to offer services that they do not necessarily have the in-house skills or capacity to deliver on their own. The majority of actors were not directly engaged in activities related to the treatment of waste, with many of them engaging in support activities to facilitate the treatment of waste. This finding may be attributed to the fact that support activities have relatively lower barriers to entry. This has the potential to create a bottleneck, in which there will be limited capacity for waste treatment as new entrants opt for engaging in support activities. Greater investment is needed from both private and public sources in the waste treatment sector, including support for new entrants. This investment will help enable the country to meet its goals for organic waste diversion whilst contributing to job creation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]