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This paper is an analysis of Francophone immigrant parents' experiences of child language brokering in the Western Cape province of South Africa. Using a qualitative research design, data was collected by means of semistructured interviews from nine immigrant parents who were selected through a convenience and snowball sampling technique. Through the lens of sociocultural theory and acculturation, the key findings indicate that the Francophone immigrant parents displayed positive feelings and had optimistic expectations concerning their children's language brokering skills in English and their future prospects in South Africa. The paper concludes that Francophone immigrant parents' experiences of child language brokering are complex and dynamic and are influenced by the context and purpose of communication. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Policy responses to the challenges associated with environmental change, including more frequent and severe climatic events, have interlinked environmental and social impacts. Less attention has been afforded to the latter, and specifically to the question of not just whether but how such responses create or entrench inequality. This paper examines policy responses to drought events in California, United States, and the Western Cape Province, South Africa, in terms of their effects on inequality, revealed in relationships to water access networks. We use concepts of water justice and hydraulic citizenship to evaluate how and why these policy responses reproduced water injustices in the two settings. We focus particularly on two mechanisms linking responses to widened inequalities: values‐reinforcement and strategic communication. Using interviews, policy documents, and media reports, we employ process tracing methods to illustrate these mechanisms through which drought policy impacts hydraulic citizenship experiences, manifesting water injustice. We contribute to emerging examinations of environmental policy responses and maladaptation by demonstrating how concepts of hydraulic citizenship and an emphasis on mechanisms can help us better understand and identify experiences of water injustice. We note policy implications and areas for future research, highlighting droughts as consequential policy sites for advancing social and environmental justice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This research aimed to assess the leadership role of principals in the implementation of peace education in selected secondary schools in the Western Cape, South Africa. Design/methodology/approach: This study employed qualitative research approach to assess the leadership role of principals in the implementation of peace education in selected secondary schools in the Western Cape, South Africa. Data were gathered from a small sample of six principals from six selected secondary schools which were engaged in the implementation of a peace education programme, and data were analysed using thematic content analyses. Findings: Findings of the study suggest that principals possess a low level of understanding or awareness of their leadership role in the implementation of peace education. The study pointed out the constraints such as time constraints and learners' negative attitudes and social influences hinder the effective implementation of peace education in selected secondary schools. Research limitations/implications: First, the data were self-reported and therefore subject to social desirability bias; participants may have provided socially desirable responses rather than their true belief or experiences. Thus, participants may have overstated their role in and commitment to the peace education programme. Originality/value: Studies that aim to explore alternative approaches to combat violence, such as peace education, are still limited in South Africa. Hence, this paper served to close that gap by contributing to the growing body of research on the leadership role of the principal in the implementation of peace education in the school and exploring barriers hampering its effective implementation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Expanding floating wind into new markets could support emission reduction targets in several national contexts. It furthers the need for adequate assessments to gain a full understanding of the technology's potential in future markets. South Africa is a prime case study as it has seen limited industry and policy developments despite its huge technical potential for floating offshore wind (FOW). This paper assessed the locational potential of floating wind in South Africa through a three-phased approach that evaluated the key technical drivers/barriers of the technology, conducted a Geographic Information System analysis (GIS) using ArcMap 10.8 to exclude unsuitable sites based on a predetermined exclusion criteria (including marine protected zones, underwater cables, major oil and gas deposits, etc.), and estimated the total harvestable capacity in the feasible sites. The study found that 2% (246,105.4 km2) of South Africa's entire Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) is suitable for hosting floating wind turbines, with a potential to generate a maximum of 142.61 GW of floating wind power. Although the Western Cape province holds the highest potential (80.52 GW) for floating wind in the country, the Eastern Cape region, with a locational potential of 20.04 GW, is considered most suitable for early-stage developments due to the availability of grid connection points, limited marine traffic, and proximity to appropriate port facilities. Future work can conduct techno-economic assessments to evaluate the technical and economic implications of developing floating wind in distinct sites in the country's EEZ. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The field of Health Policy and Systems Research (HPSR) views researchers as active participants in processes of knowledge mobilization, learning and action. Yet few studies examine how such processes are institutionalized or consider their health system or wider impacts. This paper aims to contribute insights by presenting a South African experience: the Western Cape (WC) HPSR Journal Club (JC). Methods: The paper draws on collective reflection by its authorial team, who are managerial and academic JC participants; reflective discussions with a wider range of people; and external evaluation reports. The analysis has been validated through rounds of collective engagement among authors, and through comparison with the wider sets of data, documentation and international literature. It considers impacts using a framework drawn from the co-production literature. Results: Since 2012, the JC has brought together provincial and local government health system managers and academics to discuss complex systems' and social science perspectives on health system development. The JC impacts encompass the trusting relationships (group micro-level) that have not only strengthened personal confidence and leadership skills (individual micro level), but also led to organizational impacts (meso level), such as practice and policy changes (practitioner organizations) and strengthened research and post-graduate teaching programs (academic organizations). Macro-societal impacts are, finally, judged likely to have resulted from new health system practices and policies and from academic post-graduate training activities. This set of impacts has been enabled by: the context of the JC; aspects of the JC design that underpin trusting relationships and mutual learning; the sustained participation of senior health system managers and academic managers who are able to translate new ideas into practice in their own organizational environments; and our individual and collective motivations - including the shared goal of health system development for social justice. Our challenges include risks and costs to ourselves, and the potential exclusion of challenging voices. Conclusion: The principles and practice of the JC approach, rather than the JC as a model, offer ideas for others wishing to mobilize knowledge for health system development through embedded and co-production processes. It demonstrates the potential for productive human interactions to seed long-lasting systemic change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Energy remains a major component of households' expenditures, which is also intricately linked to many Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Inadequate access to clean energy has been linked to some health problems, which disproportionately affect women and children. This paper analyzed the determinants of energy poverty in South Africa using the General Households Survey data of 2019 to 2021. The Alkire-Foster method of multidimensional poverty decomposition and Tobit regression model were used. The results showed that deprivation in access to electricity declined from 5.94% in 2019 to 4.51% in 2021, while heating with unclean energy increased 46.43% in 2019 to 49.67% in 2021. In the combined dataset, energy poverty incidence was highest in Western Cape (0.5281), while Northern Cape has the highest intensity (0.5965). Alkire-Foster multidimensional energy poverty indicator (MEPI) declined from 0.2183 in 2019 to 0.1814 in 2021. Black households, and farm households showed the highest deprivation with MEPI of 0.2250 and 0.3662 respectively in the combined data. The Tobit results showed that social grants, Western Cape province, black respondents, male headed households, tribal and farm areas residents had significantly higher MEPI. Also, increase in monthly income significantly reduced MEPI. It was concluded that although average MEPI in South Africa is generally low, attainment of the SDG on energy requires integration of programmes and interventions to promote clean energy access among black population, tribal and farm areas residents and those on social grants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Focusing on the adoption of rooftop solar photovoltaics (PV) by high-income households and businesses in the Western Cape, South Africa, the article analyzes its effects on the hybridization of urban electricity systems and the ability of municipalities to drive a just transition in cities where inequality remains very high. By reducing municipal electricity sales, decentralized solar technologies threaten the surpluses generated from charges paid by grid customers, which are essential to subsidize electricity services for the poor and support other municipal services. Based on fieldwork in four Western Cape cities, the paper shows that municipalities are implementing a variety of local arrangements (regulatory, tariff, and technical) to control distributed electricity generation and are seeking, with mixed success, to avoid a post-carbon transition model that undermines grid benefits by creating a new energy divide. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: While intersectoral collaboration is considered valuable and important for achieving health outcomes, there are few examples of successes. The literature on intersectoral collaboration suggests that success relies on a shared understanding of what can be achieved collectively and whether stakeholders can agree on mutual goals or acceptable trade-offs. When health systems are faced with negotiating intersectoral responses to complex issues, achieving consensus across sectors can be a challenging and uncertain process. Stakeholders may present divergent framings of the problem based on their disciplinary background, interests and institutional mandates. This raises an important question about how different frames of problems and solutions affect the potential to work across sectors during the initiating phases of the policy process.Methods: In this paper, this question was addressed through an analysis of the case of the First 1000 Days (FTD) Initiative, an intersectoral approach targeting early childhood in the Western Cape Province of South Africa. We conducted a documentary analysis of 34 policy and other documents on FTD (spanning global, national and subnational spheres) using Schmidt's conceptualisation of policy ideas in order to elicit framings of the policy problem and solutions.Results: We identified three main frames, associated with different sectoral positionings - a biomedical frame, a nurturing care frame and a socioeconomic frame. Anchored in these different frames, ideas of the problem (definition) and appropriate policy solutions engaged with FTD and the task of intersectoral collaboration at different levels, with a variety of (sometimes cross) purposes.Conclusions: The paper concludes on the importance of principled engagement processes at the beginning of collaborative processes to ensure that different framings are revealed, reflected upon and negotiated in order to arrive at a joint determination of common goals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The Western Cape Government (WCG) has recently implemented its seventh (7th) Provincial Evaluation Plan that is aligned to the National Evaluation Policy Framework adopted by South Africa in November 2011. The National Evaluation System (NES) and its evolution at the provincial level has been aligned to its Province-wide Monitoring and Evaluation System (PWMES). The Department of the Premier in the WCG centrally drives this system. The institutionalisation of a Provincial Evaluation System (PES) serves as a model for any sub-national government to practice government evaluations at provincial, regional or local levels. To date, thirty-three (33) evaluations have been completed and a further eleven (11) are at various stages of implementation. Objectives: Since the initial rollout of the PES in the WCG, the system has developed, strengthened and matured. This comes from a need for better access to, and understanding of, evaluations. Method: The paper has drawn on the recent evaluation of the NES which selected the Western Cape as a case study; and uses the findings to put improvements in place in the areas of policy, methodology, organisation, capacity, participation with other actors, and use. Results: The main value in sharing this work, is the building of an enabling environment to roll out evaluations on a regional level, that are in line with the national evaluation approach, whilst at the same time facilitating integration with provincial strategic priorities. Conclusion: This paper reflects on the way in which the WCG of South Africa has undertaken the implementation and maturation of the NES at a sub-national level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although the dawn of democracy promised a new beginning in South Africa, lingering effects of Apartheid remained, including the struggle to address gang violence and gender-based violence amidst the backdrop of widespread organised crime and corruption, social inequality, a sluggish economy, and poor service delivery. The last policy - National Anti-Gangsterism Strategy (2017) - required implementation at provincial level. This study examines the Western Cape policy content and deconstructs the concept of gangsterism. The paper shows that sustained anti-gang strategies and interventions demand structural obstacles and inequality are addressed in the context of the spill-over from the Apartheid era. Notably, it will be concluded that there are long-term benefits of reframing the problem of gangsterism in the Western Cape as 'a youth-at-risk-crisis' with specific attention gender-sensitivity to contribute to local peacebuilding by focusing on youth to exert agency and become empowered in pursuit of individual and community resilience and active citizenry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Housing delivery in South Africa continues to dominate conversations on human rights and social development. Using a social development lens, this paper presents the findings of a qualitative study that aimed at exploring the housing experiences of social rental housing (SRH) beneficiaries and how this interlinked with human rights and social development in South Africa. Using the purposive sampling method, the study selected three social housing institutions (SHIs) in Gauteng and two in the Western Cape province. With each SHI, a focus group discussion was conducted with its tenants to establish if there are any linkages with human rights and social development. Participants shared positive sentiments relating to SRH. The authors of this article note that SRH is implemented from a rights-based perspective, in line with international law and the social development perspective. In concluding the article, the authors provide policy recommendations for government and civil society actors operating in the arena of SRH. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to investigate the responses available to urban and rural community members in the Western Cape Province of South Africa after witnessing, experiencing, or hearing about intimate partner violence (IPV) against women. It explores the social and material spaces that make IPV against women possible in these communities, which have a complex history of multiple forms of violence, including institutional, symbolic, and interpersonal. Seven focus group discussions with community members are analysed, using thematic narrative analysis, to explore the social and collective features of IPV and how it emerges within community responses to this violence. Constructions of IPV as an "everyday" event surfaced in the data, and mutualising language was often employed to construct IPV as a reciprocal activity with no clear distinction between attacker and victim. Also, a reconciliatory "kiss-and-make-up" narrative emerged in the data, representing how community members responded to this violence. In addition, the temporary nature of the violent event was emphasised by participants, and the aftermath was described as an opportunity for the victim and perpetrator to "reunite", thereby providing justification for non-intervention in future violent events. By asking questions about responses to IPV, this paper offers insight into, and recommendations about, key forms of community intervention and engagement for gendered violence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Gated developments are a defining feature of the post-apartheid residential landscape. The fortification practices witnessed in gated developments are part of a wider securitisation of the South African urban- and ruralscapes. This research resides in the ambit of the theory of crime and violence as a precursor to the growth in gated developments. Research on gated developments has tended to focus on their proliferation in larger urban settlements, with scant attention being paid to gated developments in smaller settlements and in rural areas. However, non-metropolitan gated developments are a reality, and they display similar security features as those found in metropolitan areas. This paper compares the security levels of gated developments in a suburb of Cape Town with those in small towns in the Western Cape province. Security features are quantified to determine whether differences in securitisation levels exist between the locales. The gated developments in the city display higher levels of security than those in small towns. However, a closer analysis of small-town gated developments reveals high security levels in towns where tourism is the mainstay of the local economy. As the technology of security migrates from military applications to residential applications, a securified small-town future is a real possibility. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents prospective of using solar energy resources to produce hydrogen for feeding hydrogen vehicles at a refuelling station in South Africa. Solar energy sources from Vredendal, located in the Western Cape Province of South Africa, were used for the study. Assessment was performed for a refuelling station having capacity to meet the hydrogen needs of 25, 50 and 100 number of vehicles per day. The results showed that the annual daily average solar irradiation on the horizontal surfaces and optimally tilted surfaces were 5.77 kWh/m2 and 5.933 kWh/m2, respectively. The solar power required to meet the hydrogen production demand for each of the three refuelling number of vehicles were determined to be 2.24, 4.24 and 8.95 MW, respectively. The cost of energy from the solar PV system as well as the cost of hydrogen production at the refuelling station for each of the three hydrogen vehicle capacities was calculated as (0.24, 0.239 and 0.237) $/kWh and (16.52, 15.95 and 15.67) $/kg, respectively. The PV system would displace 387, 774 and 1548 tons of coal per annum for each of the capacity, respectively. This will result in the avoidance of 780, 1560 and 3120 tons/yr of CO2, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: There is a growing interest in implementing intersectoral approaches to address social determinants especially within the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) era. However, there is limited research that uses policy analysis approaches to understand the barriers to adoption and implementation of intersectoral approaches. In this paper we apply a policy analysis lens in examining implementation of the first thousand days (FTD) of childhood initiative in the Western Cape province of South Africa. This initiative aims to improve child outcomes through a holistic intersectoral approach, referred to as nurturing care. Methods: The case of the FTD initiative was constructed through a triangulated analysis of document reviews (34), in depth interviews (22) and observations. The analysis drew on Hall's 'ideas, interests and institutions' framework to understand the shift from political agendas to the implementation of the FTD. Results: In the Western Cape province, the FTD agenda setting process was catalysed by the increasing global evidence on the life-long impacts of brain development during the early childhood years. This created a window of opportunity for active lobbying by policy entrepreneurs and a favourable provincial context for a holistic focus on children. However, during implementation, the intersectoral goal of the FTD got lost, with limited bureaucratic support from service-delivery actors and minimal cross-sector involvement. Challenges facing the health sector, such as overburdened facilities, competing policies and the limited consideration of implementation realities (such as health providers' capacity), were perceived by implementing actors as the key constraints to intersectoral action. As a result, FTD actors, whose decision-making power largely resided in health services, reformulated FTD as a traditional maternal-child health mandate. Ambiguity and contestation between key actors regarding FTD interventions contributed to this narrowing of focus. Conclusion: This study highlights conditions that should be considered for the effective implementation of intersectoral action - including engaging cross-sector players in agenda setting processes and creating spaces that allow the consideration of actors' interests especially those at service-delivery level. Networks that prioritise relationship building and trust can be valuable in allowing the emergence of common goals that further embrace collective interests. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The COVID-19 pandemic has compelled tourism businesses to rapidly adjust operations in newer and more resilient ways as firms have to change priorities and respond to challenges, including of shifts in consumer demand. Extant research on tourism business responses and adaptations to COVID-19 highlights the significance of organizational resilience and ability of businesses to respond to uncertainty. Using a qualitative approach this paper investigates tourism business responses in Sout h Africa, seemingly the country worst hit on the African continent by the COVID-19 crisis. The research analyses tourism business responses occurring in one of South Africa's tourism-dependent areas and thus most exposed to the radical effects of COVID-19. Key findings are of the self-reliant character of the community of tourism enterprises in and around Overstrand cluster in the Western Cape. Product diversification, reductions of prices, reduced staffing, changed marketing, greater inter -enterprise cooperation are several of the most significant business adjustments undertaken. With the negative financial impacts of COVID-19 on local tourism enterprises exacerbated by South African government measures for alcohol bans and beach closures there is evidence of a disconnect and lack of trust between the area's local businesses and national government. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Educational transformation through the adoption of blended pedagogies has taken international centre stage with the hope of encouraging adoption of e-pedagogies. Arguably, blended pedagogies can be used effectively to acquire knowledge necessary for modern development and participation in the knowledge economy. In South Africa, the Western Cape Province invested in e-pedagogies rather than blending as part of its pursuit of modern development. However, evidence suggest that this educational transformation comes with challenges mostly associated with the inability of teachers and learners to use the e-infrastructure effectively due to absence of e-culture and e-skills. Often, the majority of teachers and learners lack the minimum levels of e-culture and computer and information literacy which are necessary requirements for successful adoption of blended pedagogies. This paper argues that the limited use or lack of e-infrastructure in teaching and learning is to a large extent blamed on absence of e-culture and e-skills necessary for blended pedagogies; and, that the Western Cape Province is not an exception. Theoretically, e-culture and e-skills, among others, are the necessary preconditions that determine the readiness of teachers and learners to adopt blended pedagogies. The paper concludes that e-infrastructure which is assumed to provide sufficient and necessary conditions for educational transformation through e-learning for modern development, is seldom used for the intended purpose due to challenges related to the absence of e-culture and e-skills among teachers and learners. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents continuous, high resolution fossil pollen and microcharcoal records from Bo Langvlei, a lake in the Wilderness Embayment on South Africa's southern Cape coast. Spanning the past ~1300 years and encompassing the Medieval Climate Anomaly (MCA; c. AD 950–1250) and the Little Ice Age (LIA; c. AD 1300–1850), these records provide a rare southern African perspective on past temperature, moisture and vegetation change during these much debated periods of the recent geological past. Considered together with other records from the Wilderness Embayment, we conclude that conditions in the region during the MCA chronozone were – in the context of the last 1300 years – likely relatively dry (reduced levels of Afrotemperate forest pollen) and perhaps slightly cooler (increased percentages of Stoebe -type pollen) than present. The most significant phase of forest expansion, and more humid conditions, occurred during the transition between the MCA and the most prominent cooling phase of the LIA. The LIA is clearly identified at this locality as a period of cool, dry conditions between c. AD 1600 and 1850. The mechanisms driving the changes observed in the Bo Langvlei pollen record appear to be generally linked to changes in temperature, and changes in the influence of tropical circulation systems. During warmer periods, moisture availability was higher at Bo Langvlei, and rainfall was perhaps less seasonal. During colder periods, precipitation resulting from tropical disturbances was more restricted, resulting in drier conditions. While increased precipitation has been reported during the LIA from Verlorenvlei in the Western Cape as a result of an equatorward displacement of the westerly storm-track at this time, the opposing response at Bo Langvlei suggests that any increased influence of westerlies was insufficient to compensate for the concurrent reduction in tropical/local rainfall in the region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Road Safety is a major cause of death around the world and South Africa has one of the highest road fatality rates. Many measures, engineering and medical, are investigated. However, analysis of the accessibility of emergency care facilities is often overlooked. This paper aims to fill the gap between pre-crash engineering solutions and literature on trauma injuries and emergency care procedures. The focus is on the role that accessibility to emergency care facilities in rural areas plays, given that 50% of the world's population lives in rural areas, which are often omitted from international research. The Western Cape (a rural province with low population volumes and high volume roads in South Africa) is analysed as an example of access to trauma care in rural areas. Method It is internationally accepted that the time to emergency care facilities influences the survival chances. However, the international literature still debates the exact time period. In this paper, the 'Golden Hour' is used to analyse the accessibility of emergency care facilities in rural areas and establish a geographical analysis method which identifies risk areas. The analysis can be repeated if the international literature debates regarding the exact time period changes. Results A Geographical Information System (GIS) tool revealed that 53% of the fatalities in the rural parts if the Western Cape occur outside the Golden Hour. In high risk crash areas, the fatality risk is up to nine times higher than the province's rural average. People in need of trauma care after a road crash are most likely to survive if they receive definitive care timeously. At the time of the study, the rural areas in the Western Cape had 44 Emergency Medical Services stations and 29 medical facilities that can assist to provide definitive (trauma) care. Further optimisation of the facility locations is recommended and research has begun. More advanced geographical modelling is possible when improved data becomes available on the 'Golden Hour' theory, differential times for varying injury types or travel speeds of ambulances. This, more advanced, modelling can reduce the road crash burden in rural areas around the world further. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper the impact of various factors on teacher effectiveness is considered in the South African context. The Teacher Effectiveness Model is constructed to answer the research question whether it is the low quantity of teachers or predominantly their low quality that contributes to the basic education crisis of Quintile 1 to 3 schools in the Western Cape, South Africa. The model illustrates the impact of improving the quantity and quality of teachers within the province. This research question is answered when the system exhibits an increase of 13% in the success measure when the quantity is improved and an increase of 10% in the success measure when quality is improved. Improvement in both factors, however, gives the best result with a 17% increase in the success measure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

OBJECTIVE: As child sexual abuse haunts South African communities, this paper aims to present the nature of empowerment services rendered by the non-profit sector for child sexual abuse in the Western Cape, South Africa. METHODS: A qualitative research approach was applied to interview 20 participants at six non-profit organisations (NPOs) who render empowerment services in communities haunted by child sexual abuse. OUTCOMES: Findings of the study indicate that participants execute an empowerment approach by means of a process which entails building relationships, determining goals, identifying strengths, developing action plans, executing plans, attaining goals and ending relationships. The findings also indicate that sexually abused children in South African communities are empowered with micro level intervention to deal with the consequences of their abuse. SOCIAL WORK IMPLICATIONS: Service providers should be equipped to empower sexually abused children with meso and macro level intervention in addition to micro level intervention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The operating curve parameters of a wind turbine should match the local wind regime optimally to ensure maximum exploitation of available energy in a mass of moving air. This paper provides estimates of the capacity factor of 20 commercially available wind turbines, based on the local wind characteristics of ten different sites located in the Western Cape region of South Africa. Ten-min average time series wind-speed data for a period of 1 year are used for the study. First, the wind distribution that best models the local wind regime of the sites is determined. This is based on root mean square error (RMSE) and coefficient of determination (R 2) which are used to test goodness of fit. First, annual, seasonal, diurnal and peak period-capacity factor are estimated analytically. Then, the influence of turbine power curve parameters on the capacity factor is investigated. Some of the key results show that the wind distribution of the entire site can best be modelled statistically using the Weibull distribution. Site WM05 (Napier) presents the highest capacity factor for all the turbines. This indicates that this site has the highest wind power potential of all the available sites. Site WM02 (Calvinia) has the lowest capacity factor i.e. lowest wind power potential. This paper can assist in the planning and development of large-scale wind power-generating sites in South Africa. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This paper analyses South Africa's fourth local democratic elections that were held on 18 May 2011. Set within a brief context of global and national political-economic conditions, some recent local government elections in Africa, local community unrest in South Africa and the South African local government electoral system, the paper discusses the nature of the contestation that the principal political parties in the elections engaged in. Drawing on data from the 2001 and 2006 local government elections, and the national and provincial elections of 2004 and 2009, the paper highlights and discusses, with particular focus on the Western Cape and KwaZulu-Natal Provinces, the critical results and trends stemming from the 2011 municipal elections. It concludes that the South African political landscape is volatile, with political parties having the opportunity to seize available political spaces. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Despite recent critical analyses of the nature and impacts of social and environmental certification, the increasingly complex landscape of voluntary, industry and third-party codes and certification processes that have emerged in specific sectors is poorly understood. In particular, little is known about the potential threats posed by an increasingly complex and contested ‘ethical’ landscape in undermining radical initiatives designed to bring about improvements to material and social well-being. In response, this paper explores the current dynamics of social and environmental certification in the South African wine industry. Drawing on fieldwork in the UK and Western Cape, the paper analyses the overlapping and sometimes conflictual processes of social and environmental certification, and the role of key drivers in establishing them within the wine industry. It explores whether attempts to capture a portion of the expanding market for ‘ethical’ wines and the expansion of corporate interests in ‘responsibility’ and ‘ethics’ work to depoliticize the meaning and nature of transformation. The implications of the findings are that, in the absence of legislative requirements to transform the wine industry, social codes and civic conventions are likely to remain significant, but that greater understanding is required of the different meanings and outcomes of transformation and empowerment being deployed within the industry. The paper concludes that a significant problem facing transformation and alternative trade in the wine industry, and more broadly, lies in the growing gap between the abstract ethical discourse of corporate actors, on the one hand, and the moral experience of workers on the other. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

There is a general sentiment against the idea of marketing among architectural professionals. This paper argues for the necessity of a marketing approach particularly in times where the workload is declining. This paper looks at the marketing strategies that the Western Cape architects follow. It examines their efforts in building a successful marketing portfolio that defines marketing targets, utilizes proper marketing tools, and carry on helpful image building tasks. The data were collected using a mailed questionnaire to all principals of architectural offices in the Western Cape Province. The concluding section relates these strategies with the perception of growth over a five-year period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aimed to explore the decision-making process of patients with pregnancies affected by serious congenital abnormalities. The study design was an exploratory qualitative study. The sample for this study was pregnant individuals who had a prenatal diagnosis of a serious congenital abnormality and were offered termination of pregnancy. Semi-structured face-to-face interviews with closed and open-ended questions, recorded and transcribed verbatim, were used to collect the data; this was then analyzed using a thematic data analysis approach. Five topics were developed: "Health care services", "Home", "Being a mother", "Finding meaning", and "The aftermath". The first four topics describe the decision-making process where the participants filtered through multiple factors to reach their final decision. Although the participants consulted with their families, partners, and community, they made the final decision themselves. The final topics describes activities which were necessary for closure and coping. This study has provided valuable insight into the decision-making process, which can be used to improve services offered to patients. Information should be communicated clearly with follow-up appointments to discuss further. Healthcare professional should show empathy and assure the participants that their decision is supported. • There are limited qualitative data on termination of pregnancy decision-making for serious congenital abnormalities in the African setting. • This paper provides insight into the decision-making process of pregnant individuals from the Western Cape, South Africa. • Decision-making for terminating pregnancy affected by congenital abnormality is multifaceted but with one deciding factor. • Contrary to what is anecdotally expected, in this study the participants made the final decision. • Tragic optimism was necessary for the participants to carry on with their lives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper discusses of some key issues arising from South African experience of the UK-based Ethical Trading Initiative's (ETI) pilot project in the monitoring of compliance codes of conduct for product sourcing. The paper argues that the experience of 'local stakeholder participation' in the ETI's pilot project in the South African wine industry raises serious questions about the appropriateness and efficacy of 'ethical sourcing' as a vehicle for creative global-local engagement. It explores key elements of the globalizing 'technologies of ethics' deployed by projects like the ETI, and argues that these may simply normalize and regularize power relations in trade between North and South. These limitations are particularly serious in light of the course of labour market restructuring in South Africa, which has reshaped agricultural employment in ways that limit the ability of employment standards to address real difficulties faced by agricultural workers. This does not render 'ethical sourcing' irrelevant, nor does it mean that it can be read as simply securing retailer interests. It does mean, however, that a key question facing 'Southern' organizations and their allies is how to increase the scope for engagement and contestation around the implementation of such initiatives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Volunteer tourists have become a critical human resource for many organisations in South Africa. Understanding who the volunteer tourist is as well as how a host organisation benefits from this interaction is imperative for the effective management of this human resource. A review of the current literature showed that most volunteer tourism research studies is volunteertourist- centred and focus on the motivations for participation and the benefits of participation to the volunteer tourist. Within the South African context, only two volunteer tourist profile studies exist and both excluded host organisation factors that indicated how host organisations benefited from hosting volunteer tourists. This paper created a comprehensive profile of volunteer tourists at a non-profit seabird rehabilitation centre in Table View, Western Cape, South Africa. The profile included demographic and motivational factors as well as host organisation specific information that provided valuable information for volunteer management, future marketing and fundraising campaigns. Data were collected through 110 anonymous, self-administered, online questionnaires and from the data, four conclusions were reached. Firstly, the demographic factors of volunteer tourists that participated in this international volunteer programme was similar to other South African based volunteer tourism studies. Secondly, to experience something different and new was the most important motivational factor for volunteer tourists. Thirdly, volunteer tourists derived considerable benefit from the experience. Lastly, volunteer tourists continued to support this non-profit organisation (NPO) through social and financial activities after completing the programme, indicating that a mutually beneficial relationship exists between the host organisation and the volunteer tourist. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: While attention to the socio-ecological and political economic influences on health grows, there remains a paucity of political ecological analyses of health (King, 2010). At the same time, the growing burden of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) in the Global South demands new conceptual and pragmatic engagements with their modifiable risk factors. Drawing on the example of South Africa, this paper argues that alcohol consumption might usefully be theorised in political ecological lexicon as a “disaster”. To do so, it draws attention to the upstream causes of vulnerability, rather than just the downstream effects of risky drinking. This reorientation is needed for sustainable, publicly acceptable alcohol policies. To realise this, it draws on Blaikie et al.’s (1994, 2003) political ecological approach to risk, vulnerability and coping and, more specifically, applies their Pressure and Release model to explore liquor as a situated “disaster” in South Africa’s Western Cape province. In so doing, it aims to mark out an under-explored research agenda that considers alcohol as a pervasive governance dilemma. In addition, it also reflects on the model’s utility as a means of communicating findings that might reorient policy discussions on alcohol control in both South Africa and countries of the Global South. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: This paper explores the personal narratives of 12 women members of the Heiveld, a rooibos [1] Rooibos (Aspalathus linearis) is a plant endemic to the Western Cape region of South Africa. It has recently become internationally popular as a healthful, caffeine-free alternative to tea and coffee, and is widely available in many countries. 1 producer cooperative in the Northern Cape province of South Africa. It contributes to the emerging literature in geography and allied disciplines on so-called ‘alternative economies’, the aims of which often include the conceptual re-location of agency from the capitalist system to the realm of the human. This work suggests that human development – both individual and collective – is central to the success and indeed the alterity of alternative economies. The Heiveld members’ narratives support these ideas, in particular through their accounts of the importance of autonomous work and the significance of learning from and with others. We argue, however, that these narratives also foreground a theme that tends to be neglected in the alternative economies literature – that of consumption and the possession of material things. Our interviewees repeatedly emphasise buying and owning things as being among the most meaningful outcomes of alternative economic activity. They see great value both in having their own money, homes, and furnishings, and in being able to give to others. Through an analysis of the reciprocal, meaningful relationships between these women and everyday objects, we suggest that consumption is not opposed to human development but can be part of it. More attention should therefore be paid to the ways in which tangible, material things help constitute the more commonly researched, intangible benefits of alternative economic participation, such as empowerment, dignity, knowledge-sharing and care for others. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Background: In South Africa, district social service offices are often the first point of entry into the substance abuse treatment system. Despite this, little is known about the profile of people presenting with substance-related problems at these service points. This has a negative impact on treatment service planning. This paper begins to redress this gap through describing patterns of substance use and service needs among people using general social services in the Western Cape and comparing findings against the profile of persons attending specialist substance abuse treatment facilities in the region. Methods: As part of a standard client information system, an electronic questionnaire was completed for each person seeking social assistance. Data on socio-demographic characteristics, the range of presenting problems, patterns of substance use, perceived consequences of substance use, as well as types of services provided were analysed for the 691 social welfare clients who reported substance use between 2007 and 2009. These data were compared against clients attending substance abuse treatment centres during the same time period. Results: Findings indicate that social services offices are used as a way of accessing specialist services but are also used as a service point, especially by groups under-represented in the specialist treatment sector. Women, people from rural communities and people with alcohol-related problems are more likely to seek assistance at social service offices providing low threshold intervention services than from the specialist treatment sector. Conclusions: The study provides evidence that social services are a point of entry and intervention for people from underserved communities in the Western Cape. If these low-threshold services can be supported to provide good quality services, they may be an effective and efficient way of improving access to treatment in a context of limited service availability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines indigenous perspectives of democracy from inter-views with principals from 12 secondary, intermediate, and primary schools in South Africa's oldest township in the Western Cape province. Because school administrators serve as mediators between state policies and enacted school curriculum, principals' views about democracy and education's role in developing democratic citizens warrant attention. Poverty, unemployment, health, and housing remain primary social con-cerns affecting educational quality in South Africa. In such circum-stances, school leadership especially influences school climate and stu-dents' attitudes toward learning. The findings of this study - the first of its kind to explore constructions of democracy held by principals work-ing in a historically disadvantaged township outside Cape Town - pro-vide insights as to how local culture and globalizing forces influence the culturally relevant democratic education advocated by these school lead-ers in South Africa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although South Africa is committed to a policy of linguistic diversity, the language-in-education policy is still plagued by the racialization of language issues under apartheid and, more recently, by new challenges posed by internal African migration. Drawing on the experience of a school in the Western Cape Province, this paper explores the role of language profiles in a speaker-centered approach to school language policy. Attention is paid to the ways in which the attribution of learners to clear-cut linguistic categories - in this case English and Afrikaans - and their 'monolingualization' within the process of literacy learning are at odds with both their everyday experiences of language and their linguistic aspirations. Using biographic and topological multimodal approaches with 13- to 15-year-old students at the school, it makes a contribution to the growing corpus of research that foregrounds the learner perspective and emphasizes emotional dimensions of literacy and language learning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The potential of Information Communication Technologies (ICT) to enhance curriculum delivery can only be realised when the technologies have been well-appropriated in the school. This belief has led to an increase in government- or donor-funded projects aimed at providing ICTs to schools in disadvantaged communities. Previous research shows that even in cases where the technology is provided, educators are not effectively integrating such technologies in their pedagogical practices. This study aims at investigating the factors that affect the integration of ICTs in teaching and learning. The focus of this paper is on the domestication of ICTs in schools serving the disadvantaged communities in a developing country context. We employed a qualitative research approach to investigate domestication of ICT in the schools. Data for the study was gathered using in-depth interviews. Participants were drawn from randomly sampled schools in disadvantaged communities in the Western Cape. Results show that even though schools and educators appreciate the benefits of ICTs in their teaching and even though they are willing to adopt the technology, there are a number of factors that impede the integration of ICTs in teaching and learning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the appropriate level of aggregation for the construction of total factor productivity (TFP) indices. The dataset covers the magisterial districts and statistical regions of the Western Cape for the years 1952 to 2002. Over these five decades agricultural production in the Western Cape grew twice as fast as in the country as a whole but this average masks substantial regional variation. Results show that TFP growth was negative in the Karoo, moderate in the Swartland, Overberg and Southern Cape, and generally above 2% per year in the Boland and Breede River Valleys, where there is extensive irrigation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper considers a selection of Later Stone Age lithic assemblages from eight Elands Bay sites, including a large sample from Elands Bay Cave. The use of broader, more inclusive terms for Later Stone Age lithic industries in southern Africa is suggested, and subsequently supported by the Elands Bay assemblages which are shown to be atypical when compared to similarly dated assemblages from elsewhere. The Elands Bay assemblages are grouped according to their age and features, and the primary characteristics of each period are outlined. In this way the full lithic sequence for the area is described, with emphasis being placed on the transitional assemblages and the sequence of changes in raw materials, flaking techniques and formal tools that occur through time. Gross industrial change is gradual and boundaries between industries cannot readily be identified. A relatively more distinct change just after 1000 b.p. supports the assertion that herders may have populated the Cape only from about that time onwards. A new radiocarbon date from Dunefield Midden 11 provides the earliest evidence for the occurrence of pottery in the Elands Bay area at about 1780 b.p. (AD 329). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the introduction of computers in the physical science classroom of Grade 12 learners in a rural school in the Western Cape Province of South Africa and explores the perceptions held by these students given their limited exposure and experience of working with computers. The perceptions were collected by interviews conducted with both individual students and groups, and an instrument, called the Computer-Assisted Learning Environment Questionnaire (CALEQ,) that was specifically developed for the school's context. The learners' responses indicated that they considered the inclusion of computers as improving their learning, whilst clearly articulating the importance of including the computers for teaching and learning from earlier grades. A need for more computers to create opportunities to work individually was also strongly indicated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Water and water related matters are important issues in water scarce countries like the Republic of South Africa. This is especially true for the agricultural sector that relies heavily on the availability of water for irrigation to ensure a secure food supply. In South Africa, present day irrigation projects rely on government subsidies and are usually large undertakings beyond the reach of individuals or small communities. The sustainability of such large irrigation projects is still a matter of debate. A 100 years ago a different set of rules applied. Irrigation could only be achieved by hand-dug furrows that supplied water in relatively small quantities to small farming communities. This paper investigated such a small community, the Leeukloof farming community in the Western Cape Province of the Republic of South Africa. For the past 93 years this community has maintained a furrow that supplies water not only to farms bordering the Perdeberg River, which supplies the furrow with water, but also to farms not bordering the river. The authors try to reconstruct the changes in agricultural practices brought about by the furrow, methods of water extraction during each phase, as well as the development and role of the furrow system. The perception by the community of the necessity of this method of water extraction from the river system is also investigated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article is an exploration of the past, present and future of older farm workers on wine farms in the Western Cape Province in South Africa. The author shows by means of ethnographic material that life stories of older people reveal how they have overcome poverty, exploitation and violence. The aim of the paper is to answer the question of the meaning of those life stories for older people and others. The author shows that the paternalistic system on the wine farms has positive and negative aspects. It is also argued that the gap between older people and younger generations is more than a 'generation gap' and signifies the profound changes in identity of South African citizens. The present 'violence complex' on farms is situated within the workers' families. The author argues that the nature of the relationships between farm owners and older farm workers safeguard older people against violence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]