Search

Background: Violence against women (VAW) research is a sensitive topic, which has been conducted mainly using face-to-face methods. The COVID-19 pandemic lockdown and restrictions on movement presented an opportunity to conduct VAW research using remote methods. We discuss how we adapted methods, reflect on lessons learned, and make recommendations highlighting key considerations when conducting remote research on a sensitive topic of VAW. Methods: We designed and conducted an exploratory qualitative study using remote methods with 18 men and 19 women, aged 18 years and older, who lived with their partner or spouse during lockdown in South Africa. The aim of the study was to explore experiences of COVID-19 lockdown, and its link to women and children's experiences of violence in the homes. Data presented in this paper draws from researchers' reflections drawn from debriefing sessions during the research process, and from participants' interview transcripts. Findings: Remote recruitment of participants took longer than anticipated, and we had to re-advertise the study. We could not ensure safety and privacy during interviews. Regardless of all the safety and privacy measures we put in place during the research process, some participants had an adult person present in the room during interviews, and the researchers had no control over interruptions. Rapport was difficult to establish without an in-person connection, which limited disclosure about violence experience (amongst women) and perpetration (amongst men). Conclusions: Given the methodological and ethical challenges which limited disclosure of VAW remotely, we conclude that telephone interviews used in our study impacted on the quality of study data. Therefore, we do not recommend VAW research to be conducted remotely, unless it is essential and participants are already known to the interviewer and trust has been established. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyses the effect of fiscal redistribution on regional income inequality in South Africa using the spatial models. Yearly provincial-level data on different spending categories are considered for the period from 2014 to 2018. The study uses various spatial panel specifications to control for both spatial dependence and heterogeneity among provinces. When factor incomes and market prices are controlled for, empirical results indicate that local inequality spills over to neighbouring provinces. Particularly, a basic point increase in local income inequality contributes about 0.14 to 0.158-point increase in income inequality of neighbouring provinces. Furthermore, provincial spending allocation to social development grant and education spurs regional income inequality while expenses receipt on health, infrastructure, and conditional grants exhibit mitigating effects on provincial income inequality. These findings suggest that health, infrastructure, and conditional grants are key sectors to prioritize in the government's efforts to reduce income inequality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

International comparative measures show that South Africa has extremely low standards in reading. A variety of programmes aimed at boosting reading have been developed, however, the effectiveness of these programmes is unclear. Prior reviews of effective reading instruction practices have focused almost exclusively on learners whose first language and language of instruction is English. This paper reviews evidence from 17 intervention studies which focused on the teaching of reading comprehension in the distinctive multilingual context of South Africa. Although in line with prior reviews, we found some evidence that reading strategy instruction including vocabulary development are features of successful interventions alongside effective teacher education and resourcing of reading. These findings remained inconclusive due to variability in the quality of research, considerable methodological variations of the studies and the limited number of studies. Research in this field requires a more rigorous scientific approach to improve the evidence base. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Taxonomic description of new and little known Indigofera species from South Africa. • Four new Indigofera species, one new variety and two little known species are described. • One established taxon is raised to specific status and described with a new name. • An earlier name is found which has priority over an established species name. • All taxa are associated with the Pondoland Centre of Endemism, ranging to surrounding floristic areas. This second paper describes and clarifies new and poorly known Indigofera species, belonging to sect. Pinnatae (E.Mey.) Harv., from the Pondoland Centre of Endemism and associated neighbouring areas in the Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal provinces, South Africa. Five new species (one with two infraspecific taxa) are recognized: Indigofera abbottii Schrire and K.W.Grieve , I. hillburttii Schrire and K.W.Grieve , I. tysonii Schrire and K.W.Grieve , I. herrstreyi Schrire and K.W.Grieve var. herrstreyi and I. herrstreyi var. helodes K.W.Grieve and Schrire, and I. ngwenyana Schrire and K.W.Grieve. Descriptions are provided for the poorly known I. corniculata E.Mey. and I. gerrardiana Harv., taxa rarely taken up in the literature and both having been mostly synonymised under I. dregeana E.Mey. that occurs outside the area of the present study. The name I. tenuissima E.Mey. was found to be the earliest, correct, name for the widespread species I. longipes N.E.Br. ex Baker f., leaving the coastal Zululand taxon – currently named I. tenuissima E.Mey. – requiring further evaluation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The proliferation of cloud computing and the introduction of Web technologies and the significant development in the digital technologies led to the connectivity of states and nations (developed and developing countries) worldwide in which global network provide platform for the connection. Digital forensics is a field of computer security that uses software applications and standard guidelines which support the extraction of evidences from any computer appliances which are perfectly enough for the court of law to use and make a judgment based on the authenticity and objectivity of the information obtained. This work aims to study the importance of digital forensics in cyber security and its impact on developing countries and shows the tremendous growth of cyber threats and attacks in them. A systematic survey method was used for research papers in this field. As a consequence, researchers have called for the need to develop digital forensics skills in South Africa through university programs, have associated training courses, and evaluate the extent to which the current cyber security awareness initiatives address cyber security threats and risks. In most parts of the world today, especially in developing countries where computers and other digital devices are used daily on the Internet for excessive fraudulent activities, this will help eliminate and minimize computer-related crimes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Bible translated into South Africa's indigenous languages has a colonial history. For the Vhavenḓa people, the 1936 and 1998 Bible translations are revered as icons that hold a privileged position. However, this paper argues that these two translations should be seen as colonial language tools that do not serve the culture of the Vhavenḓa people. Instead, they can be viewed as weapons against them. These translations distorted the Tshivenḓa language by imposing distorted and foreign concepts of God, thereby rendering the Vhavenḓa people to have been without knowledge of God. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With mega state housing projects needing large land parcels and that are often located in the periphery, this paper investigates what impact relocating residents to Golden Gardens housing development has had on the quality of life and their financial wellbeing. Using primary data obtained from residents living in the Golden Gardens housing development, the findings show that respondents' access to and quality of physical and social facilities, such as refuse services, water, and electricity, has improved. Respondents were also unanimous that staying in their Golden Gardens homes has significantly improved their security. However, many residents currently living in Golden Gardens used to live closer to work and social activities than they do now, which means that they used to spend less each month on transport than they do now. The high-commuting cost has increased household expenses, meaning that the respondents' financial wellbeing has been negatively impacted. These results imply yet unmet long-term objectives of human settlements as envisaged in various government policies and programmes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we argue using smart technologies beyond the grid disrupts the access and use of existing energy sources, with profound impacts on everyday social life. We show how off‐grid smart energy solutions constitute their own politics when considering existing conceptualisations of urban infrastructures in geography and the social sciences. To expose its politics, or "micropolitics", we consider how tensions occur at the interface between infrastructures, where there are additions and modifications. We draw on an empirical example of Qandu‐Qandu, an informal settlement in South Africa, to highlight how the placement, technical capabilities, and flexible financing options associated with off‐grid solar energy create micropolitics with profound implications for everyday life. To conclude, we reflect on the value of using disruptions for understanding and enhancing equity in off‐grid settings, contributing to the broader sustainability transitions narrative, and its "liveliness". [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper addresses the current debates, anxieties, and perceptions around the idea of scholarly artistic research within doctoral studies, internationally and in South Africa. A common point of contention, both in South Africa and in the international arena, is the reluctance within institutional structures and external bodies to accept artmaking as research and the creative production or artifact as a legitimate component of the research output. Creative practice is permissible at the doctoral level of study but usually research or new knowledge that emerges from such practice is evaluated and analyzed through the lens of textual research. The unwillingness to qualify practice as autonomous research is coupled with its awkward positioning in the humanities as a kind of study secondary to and distinct from that associated with scientific research methodology. This discussion engages with policies, developments, debates, and discourse around practice-based doctoral study in South African and globally, with the hope of presenting a comprehensive overview of the current state of doctoral level artistic research. Moreover, in drawing on international discourse and precedents the study proposes some guidelines, parameters and methodological approaches that can contribute to the understanding and development of doctoral artistic research in South Africa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous philosophical work on distrust in science has argued that understanding public distrust in science and scientific interventions requires that we pay careful attention not only to epistemic considerations (that is, beliefs about science), but also to values, and the emotional contexts in which assessments of scientific credibility are made. This is likely to be a truncated list of relevant factors for understanding trust/distrust, but these are certainly key areas of concern. The aim of this paper is not to further innumerate the list of relevant factors. Rather, it is to map the ways that these key areas (beliefs, values, and emotions) are related to each other. These are not distinct categories, but rather they interact, making our picture of distrust more complicated than we might otherwise imagine. This discussion will take place in the context of resistance to medical interventions. Notably, Ebola interventions in West Africa, HIV/AIDS testing in South Africa, and vaccines across the world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Renewable energy sources are seen as a sustainable solution to the problem of global energy security. Among the renewable energy sources, wave energy has great prospects for development in a few countries, including South Africa. However, South Africa's wave energy projects are still underinvested in practice compared to wind energy and solar PV. This paper investigates several questions related to the influence of both quantitative and qualitative factors on the effectiveness of wave energy projects (WEPs) and the appropriate placement for WEP in South Africa. For this purpose, a novel two-phase framework novel two-phase data envelopment analysis (DEA) supporting integrated multiple criteria decision-making (MCDM) framework is proposed. The first phase aims to identify potential locations for WEPs and calculate the technical advantage of these locations using the DEA model. In the second phase, other qualitative criteria, which affect the sustainable development of WEPs, are identified. Based on expert surveys, potential locations are analyzed and ranked by a novel integrated MCDM approach called OPA-EDAS. In the proposed approach, the advantages of the Ordinal Priority Approach (OPA) are utilized to simultaneously determine the weight of the criteria and prioritize the alternatives. However, the results of OPA depend on the priorities of the experts participating in the assessment. Therefore, this study attempted to overcome that by integrating the EDAS technique to assess the expertise. Furthermore, the DEA model is applied to increase the objectivity of the results. In addition, the robustness of the study's findings is validated by comparing the location with upcoming WEPs in South Africa. The result shows that the coast of Cape Nature Walker Bay has the most effectiveness for South Africa's WEPs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In his writings, Bernard Magubane theorizes racial capitalism but without necessarily invoking the term. Instead, he frequently refers to "the political economy of race and class" in the South African society. First, Magubane traces the roots of capitalism and racism in South Africa back to European expansionism. Second, he grapples with dispossession during the colonial period and calls it "the fact of conquest". This period was a significant prelude to apartheid capitalism and racism. Third, having analyzed these forms of domination, he argues that black people in South Africa would be liberated through the insurrection of the working people. Magubane's main contribution is his use of historical analysis to understand the next move by imperialism and its impact on the interaction of race and class and the struggle for liberation. Magubane seeks to develop a clear theoretical framework to understand the nature of the South African society. In this paper, I will attempt to illustrate Magubane's contribution to Marxist thought based on his study of South Africa's racially hierarchical political economy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Low-resource settings are often less capable of responding to and implementing available quality research evidence for public healthcare practice and policy development due to various factors. In most low-resource settings, limited empirical evidence is available to help deal with localised factors that contribute to low public health research uptake, particularly from the perspective of key research stakeholders. Methods: Although the study initially employed a two-phase exploratory sequential approach, this paper focuses on the results generated from a quantitative approach. Considering the determining factors that affect research uptake in the context of low-resource settings, a measuring instrument was developed and its reliability and validity were assessed using an exploratory factor analysis approach. Results: A total of 212 respondents, according to their job roles and titles, were identified as researchers, front-line workers, programme managers, and directors/senior managers of higher learning institutions, indicating that the three constructs applied in the questionnaire, namely (1) individual factors, (2) organisational factors, and (3) research characteristics, demonstrated relatively high reliability with a Cronbach's alpha of greater than 0.791. Conclusion: The study concludes that the instrument can potentially be used to measure factors that affect research uptake in low-resource settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

South Africa is experiencing a rapidly growing diabetes epidemic that threatens its healthcare system. Research on the determinants of diabetes in South Africa receives considerable attention due to the lifestyle changes accompanying South Africa's rapid urbanization since the fall of Apartheid. However, few studies have investigated how segments of the Black South African population, who continue to endure Apartheid's institutional discriminatory legacy, experience this transition. This paper explores the association between individual and area-level socioeconomic status and diabetes prevalence, awareness, treatment, and control within a sample of Black South Africans aged 45 years or older in three municipalities in KwaZulu-Natal. Cross-sectional data were collected on 3,685 participants from February 2017 to February 2018. Individual-level socioeconomic status was assessed with employment status and educational attainment. Area-level deprivation was measured using the most recent South African Multidimensional Poverty Index scores. Covariates included age, sex, BMI, and hypertension diagnosis. The prevalence of diabetes was 23% (n = 830). Of those, 769 were aware of their diagnosis, 629 were receiving treatment, and 404 had their diabetes controlled. Compared to those with no formal education, Black South Africans with some high school education had increased diabetes prevalence, and those who had completed high school had lower prevalence of treatment receipt. Employment status was negatively associated with diabetes prevalence. Black South Africans living in more deprived wards had lower diabetes prevalence, and those residing in wards that became more deprived from 2001 to 2011 had a higher prevalence diabetes, as well as diabetic control. Results from this study can assist policymakers and practitioners in identifying modifiable risk factors for diabetes among Black South Africans to intervene on. Potential community-based interventions include those focused on patient empowerment and linkages to care. Such interventions should act in concert with policy changes, such as expanding the existing sugar-sweetened beverage tax. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

University social responsibility is an intrinsic discourse in South Africa. Universities grapple with their identities relating to learning, teaching, research and community engagement. This paper explores how the drive for transformation particularly at universities of technology has promoted a culture of social responsibility among student and staff agents. Two universities were considered in the analysis of existing norms and understanding how institutions integrate the culture of social responsibility while adhering to mandates of creating knowledge societies. This study provides recommendations that could be endorsed as policy to develop innovative developmental strategies and enact new social responsibility partnerships within university spaces. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Teacher quality in primary schools in South Africa is a serious concern, and how best to prepare teachers in initial teacher education—with regard to mathematics—remains an open and vexing question. There is a confluence of challenges facing the mathematics education community in South Africa: poor conceptual understanding of mathematics amongst teachers; poor attainment in Primary Teacher Education mathematics tests at both first and fourth year levels; and few initial teacher education programmes having evidence of improving knowledge for teaching mathematics. In addition, few lecturers in initial teacher education make explicit the theoretical tenets informing their course design for mathematics. In response to the latter challenge, this paper makes explicit the design choices made in the Emergent Number Sense first year mathematics module in Bachelor of Education degrees, used across six universities in South Africa. It then theorises the choice to commence the B.Ed mathematics programmes with two pathways into number knowledge: (1) a counting pathway, making use of discrete objects or events which can be quantified by counting in ones; and (2) a measurement pathway, making use of continuous extents which can be quantified by introducing a unit of measurement. Each has a distinct metaphor, strategy for the reification of the 10 and supporting representation. This offers the lecturers using the course in their own design trials, and initial teacher educators beyond the Maths4Primary Teachers collective, a conceptual framework for this design choice, which can now be critiqued and further improved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Evidence in South Africa of poor performance on word problems points to particular challenges among learners relating to difficulties with, on the one hand, making sense of mathematical word problems and, on the other, moving beyond inefficient counting based calculation methods. While many studies in mathematics education in South Africa have tended to focus on one or the other issue, in this paper our focus is on a coding model that brings both interpretation of word problems and calculation into view simultaneously. This coding model was devised to capture and summarise learner work on solving additive relations word problems across pre-, post- and delayed post-tests around an intervention focused on improving additive word problem-solving. The coding model allowed for initial quantitative summarising of learner responses in ways that facilitated the tracking of shifts in learners' interpretations of the problem, their calculations and answers, while also pointing to salient avenues for more in-depth qualitative analysis. We argue through the analysis that the coding scheme afforded a holistic view of the profiles of learners' engagement across the three tests, thus opening a path away from the tendency towards the single-focus of analyses of word problems seen in many prior studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research on mathematical equivalence, and to some extent, on number structure in early grade mathematics, has shown that most students at primary and secondary levels understand these concepts instrumentally rather than relationally. The study reported in this paper uses a design research approach to explore both mathematical equivalence and number structure in a primary pre-service teacher education programme at a university in South Africa and reports on an intervention strategy intended to culminate in developing design principles comprising guidelines for the effective teaching of number structure and mathematics equivalence in primary pre-service teacher education programmes. The mixed method study comprises 70 first-year primary pre-service teachers (PSTs) and a teacher educator. The PSTs wrote pre- and post-tests, and were interviewed following the pre-test. Skemp's notion of relational and instrumental understanding guided the design of the intervention and the analysis of the data. The results from the study indicates that PSTs' understanding of the notion of equivalence is similar to what has been reported for students in schools, and that there were some learning gains in the post-test results. Based on the findings from the study in general, some emergent design principles are proposed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We report on a qualitative study that engaged learners in understanding their experiences of school-related gender-based violence in and around their school toilets in a township high school in South Africa. The study used photovoice to address the research question. In this paper, we do a close reading of the photovoice images produced by the participants to uncover the meanings they communicate. In their images, participants presented school toilets as geographies of gender-based violence and microaggression, for example, with negative messages written on the walls. In particular, the images presented toilets as spaces where boys (mostly) perpetrate various forms of heterosexist violence and sexual harassment against girls. Paradoxically, some images presented the school toilets as spaces where some learners seek refuge or safety from the violence and microaggression they experienced in and around the school. The findings point to the need for gender-transformative interventions that target various spaces in and around the school, including school toilets, and that seek to develop these spaces as clean, safe, and inclusive physical and social environments for all children. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Participation in activities of daily living (ADL), education, leisure and play in children living with cerebral palsy (CP) may be affected by various factors, as outlined in the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health Framework (ICF). The aim of this study was to describe the participation patterns of a group of these children. Objectives: This study aimed to describe participation patterns in ADL, education, leisure and play activities of children living with CP in Modimolle. Method: An exploratory-descriptive qualitative (EDQ) study design was used. A researcher-constructed bio-demographic data sheet and a semi-structured interview schedule were used to collect data from the primary caregivers of children (5–17 years) living with CP in Modimolle. Interviews were transcribed verbatim, translated from Sepedi to English and analysed using the content analysis approach and NVivo software. Results: The findings of this study indicated that children living with CP in Modimolle require set-up and assistance to participate in various ADL such as self-care, family and community activities. They also participate in formal and informal educational programmes as well as active and passive leisure and play activities. However, at the moment, they have limited opportunities to participate because of resource constraints and inaccessible infrastructure. Conclusion: Although children with CP in Modimolle perform some ADL, and participate in educational, leisure and play activities, they are not fully integrated into their community. Legislative support and policy implementation are required to improve participation and integration of children living with CP. Further studies on community-specific integrative strategies to enhance participation among children living with disabilities are recommended. Contribution: This paper provides valuable information on the participation patterns of children with CP living in a rural area of South Africa. The findings can assist with development and implementation of community-specific, integrative health and social care strategies to enhance participation among children living with disabilities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Accurate crop mapping is of great significance for crop yield forecasting, agricultural productivity development and agricultural management. Thanks to its all-time and all-weather capability, integrating multi-temporal synthetic aperture radar (SAR) for crop mapping has become essential and challenging task in remote sensing. In recent years, deep learning (DL) has demonstrated excellent crop mapping accuracy to interpret crop dynamics. However, existing DL-based methods tend to be incapable of capturing spatial and temporal features at different scales simultaneously, and this often leads to severe mis-classification due to the complex and heterogeneous distribution of crops and diverse phenological patterns. In this paper, we propose a novel spatio-temporal multi-level attention method, named as STMA, for crop mapping using time-series SAR imagery in an end-to-end fashion to increase the capability of crop phenology retrieval. Specifically, the multi-level attention mechanism is designed to aggregate multi-scale spatio-temporal representations on crops via cascaded spatio-temporal self-attention (STSA) and multi-scale cross-attention (MCA) modalities. To ensure a fine extraction of multi-granularity features, a learnable spatial attention position encoding is proposed to adaptively generate the position priors to facilitate multi-level attention learning. Experimental results on Brandenburg Sentinel-1 dataset, public PASTIS-R dataset and South Africa dataset demonstrated that STMA can achieve state-of-the-art performance in crop mapping tasks, with the accuracy of 96.54% in the Brandenburg Sentinel-1 dataset, 86.77% in the PASTIS-R dataset and 83.37% in the South Africa dataset, validating its effectiveness and superiority. Further comparison of spatio-temporal generalization capability reflected its excellent performance in spatio-temporal modeling on different crops and scenarios. This research provides a viable and intelligent spatio-temporal framework for large-area crop mapping using time-series SAR imagery in complex agricultural systems. The Brandenburg Sentinel-1 dataset and the STMA code will be publicly available at https://github.com/hanzhu97702/ISPRS_STMA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Across the Jewish world religious polarization is gaining momentum. At the secular end of the spectrum people are switching away from religion while at the religious pole fertility levels are high. This trend is evident among South African Jewry; data from the 2019 Jewish Community Survey of South Africa (N = 4193) show that the community is becoming polarized, and the traditional center ground is collapsing. However, unlike many other Jewish communities today, switching toward more religious subgroups than the one in which one was raised is more common in South Africa than switching away from them. This tendency is most pronounced among people born in the 1960s and 1970s. A similar trend characterizes South African non-Jews. We argue that coming of age in a period of profound political and social instability explains the increased likelihood of switching toward religion. The effect is more marked among Jews due to distinct communal characteristics and history that provided the optimal conditions for switching towards a more religious lifestyle. This paper highlights the necessity of examining internal processes that are unique to the Jewish community alongside broader developments to improve our understanding of religious polarization among Jews. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Adolescence and young adulthood are important periods of transition and therefore for action and intervention to ensure future sexual and reproductive health (SRH). Caregiver-adolescent communication about sex and sexuality is a protective factor for SRH, but there are often barriers to this. Adults’ perspectives are limited within the literature but important as they should lead this process. This paper uses exploratory qualitative data from indepth interviews with 40 purposively sampled community stakeholders and key informants to explore their insights into the perceived, experienced or expected challenges adults’ experience when having these conversations within a high HIV prevalence, South African context. Findings suggest that respondents recognised the value of communication and were generally willing to try it. However, they identified barriers such as fear, discomfort and limited knowledge and perceived capacity to do so. They show that in high prevalence contexts adults grapple with their own personal risks, behaviours and fears that may affect their ability to have these conversations. This demonstrates the need to equip caregivers with the confidence and ability to communicate about sex and HIV, alongside managing their own complex risks and situations to overcome barriers. It is also necessary to shift the negative framing of adolescents and sex. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The use of drugs amongst adolescents and youth has become a global phenomenon and South Africa is no exception. This paper aims to explore the familial contexts and childhood experiences leading up to the drug-taking pathways of young drug users. A qualitative approach was utilized to gather demographic from a purposive sample of 41 young (14–19 years) drug users, at five drug treatment centres in the Western Cape of South Africa. Additionally, participants could agree to participate in an in-depth interview or to provide a written life history account. A thematic data analysis was applied, and the results uncovered a range of family-related risk factors such as family structure (single motherhood and absent fatherhood), and other negative family functioning and practices such as troubled parent-child relationships, poor family communication/interactions, parental/family substance abuse, and conflict-ridden, stressful and often violent and abusive family situations. The findings suggest that prevention initiatives should focus on strengthening family functioning by reducing high conflict, stress, violent and abusive family situations, as well as aim to enhance the caregiver-child relationship. Prevention strategies should encourage live-in and non-live-in fathers to be actively involved in the lives of their children and should aim to reduce parental/caregiver substance abuse. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As our understanding of the process of resilience has become more culturally and contextually grounded, researchers have had to seek innovative ways to account for the complex, reciprocal relationship between the many systems that influence young people's capacity to thrive. This paper briefly traces the history of a more contextualized understanding of resilience and then reviews a social–ecological model to explain multisystemic resilience. A case study is then used to show how a multisystemic understanding of resilience can influence the design and implementation of resilience research. The Resilient Youth in Stressed Environments study is a longitudinal mixed methods investigation of adolescents and emerging adults in communities that depend on oil and gas industries in Canada and South Africa. These communities routinely experience stress at individual, family, and institutional levels from macroeconomic factors related to boom-and-bust economic cycles. Building on the project's methods and findings, we discuss how to create better studies of resilience which are able to capture both emic and etic accounts of positive developmental processes in ways that avoid the tendency to homogenize children's experience. Limitations to doing multisystemic resilience research are also highlighted, with special attention to the need for further innovation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

South Africa shared with the world the warning of a new strain of SARS-CoV2, Omicron, in November 2021. As a result, many high-income countries (HICs) instituted complete travel bans on persons leaving South Africa and other neighbouring countries. These bans were unnecessary from a scientific standpoint, and they ran counter to the International Health Regulations. In short, South Africa was penalized for sharing data. Data sharing during pandemics is commonly justified by appeals to solidarity. In this paper, we argue that solidarity is, at best, an aspirational ideal to work toward but that it cannot ground an obligation to share data. Instead, low-and-middle income countries (LIMCs) should be guided by the principle of reciprocity, which states that we ought to return good for good received. Reciprocity is necessarily a conditional principle. LMICs, we argue, should only share data during future pandemics on the condition that HICs provide enforceable assurances that the benefits of data sharing will be equitably distributed and that LMICs won't be penalized for sharing information. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents an ethnographic exploration of working-class commuter cyclists on Rudolf Greyling (RG) Street in Bloemfontein, Free State, South Africa. The historical significance of this street/road is that it traversed a 'buffer zone'. In apartheid town planning, buffer zones were areas that, in the absence of physical or man-made boundaries, separated mono-racial areas designated as such under the Group Areas Act (Davies 1981). Today, these old buffer zones continue to map the distances that working people, living in low-income residential locations, cover to reach economic opportunities. For 3 weeks in the month of September 2018, we spent our mornings and evenings, walking, observing, and speaking, to the cyclists who rode along RG Street. Engaging with the stories cyclists of RG Street shared with us, we discuss how physical and metaphorical buffer zones of the past shape the experiences and concerns of working-class cyclists in the present. As much as the use of a bicycle to commute helped save money, riding along the roads decidedly not designed for cyclists exposed conditions of adversity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The importance of the arid interior of southern Africa for human evolution has come into focus in recent years. However, the current distribution of archaeological sites is limited to the southern margin of the Kalahari sediments in South Africa and to the northern part of Botswana. Surface scatters of archaeological artefacts in other parts of the Kalahari have not been studied systematically despite their potential to test human adaptation to marginal environments in the past. We developed a mobile Geographical Information System (GIS) set-up that allows us to record the archaeological potential of Botswana's southwestern Kgalagadi district in a rapid and standardised manner. This paper describes five archaeological sites identified through our survey in the wider area around the town of Tsabong. Four of these sites, as well as the majority of identified surface archaeology, belong to the Middle Stone Age based on a first assessment of their lithic typology. A pattern is emerging of particular concentration of these sites on or near quartzite outcrops that are located next to pans. Additionally, six test pits confirmed the high potential for further archaeological investigations in this area using a landscape approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In southern Africa, the Howiesons Poort is one of the earliest technocomplexes in which small blades and bladelets were systematically produced and retouched into formal tools. While the presence of small lithic artefacts in an assemblage is welldocumented, little is known about production pathways. This paper reports on the analysis of the lithic assemblage from Horizon 6/7 of Charles Keller's excavations of Montagu Cave, South Africa, to evaluate how raw material and decision-making affects the size of stone tools in Howiesons Poort assemblages. It addresses the following questions: how were small blades produced? Was it a deliberate choice or a constraint imposed by raw material availability? Results show branching modes of production for large and small blanks beginning with raw material acquisition. The independent production of small blanks is reinforced by the presence of cores on flakes in the assemblage. However, a relatively standardised core reduction process was used consistently, regardless of core size. The main technological and typological features observed in Horizon 6/7 are in line with other known Howiesons Poort assemblages. Considered as a whole, these observations highlight the consistency of Howiesons Poort blade technology and the deliberate production of small blanks and tools. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we explored how vulnerable, immunocompromised groups and caregivers of the elderly experienced and perceived the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic in South Africa. Semi-structured interviews were conducted remotely between the 5th andthe 18th of April 2020 in the three South African provinces hardest hit by Covid-19, namely Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal and the Western Cape. In total, 60 qualitative key informant interviews and one focus group discussion were conducted. Study participants expressed concerns for elderly people and people with underlying health conditions because of their increased vulnerability to Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). People living with HIV expressed an increased fear of infection following the advent of the Covid-19 pandemic in South Africa. The sidelining of healthcare services and stock-outs of medication proved to be an added concern in particular for vulnerable and immunocompromised groups. Overall, the data suggest that the fear of infection is ubiquitous for people who live in unstable environments such as overcrowded townships and informal settlements. Given the increased fears of infection brought on by the Covid-19 pandemic, the mental health of vulnerable communities and those caring for them becomes an added burden for people living in unstable environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many alien tree species were introduced into grassland ecosystems in South Africa by the commercial forestry industry for paper and timber for furniture. Over decades some of these introduced species escaped into neighbouring farms and community land. Adult trees from these alien species now provide other ecosystem services, notably fuelwood. Depending on the spatio-temporal context, many of these species can also negatively affect ecosystem services. We collected interview data from commercial and communal farmers in the upper Umzimvubu catchment in South Africa to compare farmers' knowledge and perceptions of invasive wattle species invasion and their associated ecosystem services and disservices. Fuelwood and fencing poles were the most common uses of wattle by commercial (83%; 67%) and communal (99%; 49%) farmers. On the other hand, the reduction of grass cover and loss of grazing land were the most commonly mentioned negative impacts of wattles by commercial (83%; 75%) and communal (92%; 80%) farmers. Although both groups recognise the importance of wattles in providing ecosystem services, most communal farmers perceived wattles to have more negative effects than benefits. The findings demonstrate that both farmer groups highly depend on ecosystem services and are affected by disservices of wattles. However, while large-scale commercial households favour the presence of wattles in the landscape, communal households prefer complete removal of the wattles from the landscape. This may be due to lack of locally available alternative options or inability to replace or purchase ecosystem services affected by wattles from other sources or markets like commercial farmers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Programs such as the Friendly Clinic Initiative (NAFCI) accredited youth-friendly services (YFS) in South Africa have addressed issues such as HIV prevalence, sexual activity, and condom use, but they appear to have failed to significantly to reduce the incidence of pregnancy among learners who are still at school. This research sought to explore perceptions and experiences on the responsiveness of YFS in preventing unintended teenage pregnancy, from the viewpoints of teenage girls and boys in the township of Ekurhuleni (South Africa). This mixed-methods study included narratives with fifteen pregnant or teenage mothers, six focus groups, and a survey of 233 teenage boys and girls. Qualitative and quantitative data were assessed separately with thematic and descriptive analyses, respectively, and the outcomes were compared, combined, and discussed, where applicable. The findings of the study indicate that teenagers do not use the health services for prevention of unintended pregnancy and other consequences. They use the services only reactively and seem to perceive rather than experience barriers to attending any healthcare services. The study further highlights teenagers' aspirations of the services that will address their daily struggles and impact their reproductive health status. They suggest several possible non-conventional approaches that could be implemented to improve the provision of sexual and reproductive health. During the COVID-19 pandemic, there was some evidence to demonstrate that there is a place for non-conventional service provision for young people. This paper concludes that sexual reproductive health services be positioned as services that support the well-being of young people by looking at their health needs comprehensively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In South Africa, there has been a rapid adoption of solar power, particularly inverter-based solar sources, in low-voltage (LV) networks due to factors such as load shedding, rising electricity costs and greenhouse gas emissions reduction. In residential LV networks, the alignment between solar supply and energy demand is less precise, necessitating larger battery storage systems to effectively utilize solar energy. Residential areas experience peak energy demand in the morning and evening when solar irradiance is limited. As a result, substantial energy storage is important to fully utilize the potential of solar energy. However, increasing inverter-based, customer-generated power creates an imbalance in the utility supply. This is because utility LV supply transformers have three phases, while individual customers have single-phase connections and no load balancing control mechanism. This supply imbalance adversely affects the overall power quality, causing energy losses, damage to devices and other issues. To address these problems, the paper proposes a smart control approach to minimize power imbalances within utility LV supply transformers. The controller uses customer battery storage in residential areas to balance the utility transformer phases. A laboratory model was built to simulate a three-phase low-voltage network with single-phase customers, both with and without a smart controller. The results show that closely monitoring and controlling individual inverters through a central controller can significantly improve the balance of the supply network. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Intermittent Water Supply (IWS) is characterised as drinking water distribution systems that are supplied with water for less than 24 hours/day on average. The filling transition from non-supply to pressurised supply is a period of hydraulic instability that negatively impacts water quality, deteriorates infrastructure integrity and intensifies social inequalities. Understanding the factors contributing to the severity of impact from filling is vital to develop effective management strategies. This paper investigates the hydraulic phenomena induced during the short-term IWS filling period and how this behaviour can be exacerbated by elevation and other hydraulic system factors, such as velocity and pressure. Controlled laboratory experiments conducted in the UK and field studies performed in operational networks across South Africa are presented. Results demonstrate the crucial role elevation plays in the network response during the filling transition, emphasising the need for greater consideration of elevation in IWS and well-maintained air relief valves in strategic locations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Medical xenophobia of migrant (either in-migrants or immigrants) youths is an ongoing problem in contemporary South African society. Medical mistreatment by healthcare workers and social phobia from migrant youths have been attributed to major obstacles to healthcare utilization as well as health services satisfaction. This study aimed to determine the prevalence and factors contributing to health services satisfaction and medical exclusion among migrant youths in Gauteng province in South Africa. Methods: The Round 5 Gauteng City-Region Observatory (GCRO) Quality of Life (QoL) survey was conducted in 2017‒2018, a nationally representative survey piloted every two years in South Africa, was utilized in this study. A 2-year cohort study of 24,889 respondents aged 18 to 29 and a baseline data consisted of 4,872 respondents, comprising non-migrants, in-migrants and immigrants, from where 2,162 in-migrants and immigrants were utilized as the sample size. The data was analysed using descriptive statistics, Chi-Square analysis and logistic regression. Results: A total of 2,162 migrants, comprising 35.4% in-migrants and 9.0% of immigrants, from the 4,872 respondents, were included in the analysis. The prevalence of medical exclusion of in-migrant and immigrant youths were 5.5% and 4.2%, and the majority of them reported the use of public health facilities (in-migrants ‒ 84.3% vs. immigrants ‒ 87.1%). At the bivariate level, demographic (age, sex, and population group), economic (employed and any income) and health-related (no medical aid and household member with mental health) factors were significantly associated with medical exclusion (ρ≤0.05). The adjusted odds ratio showed that only female gender (AOR: 1.07, 95% CI: 0.678, 1.705), no medical aid cover (AOR: 1.23, 95% CI: 0.450, 3.362), and neither (AOR: 1.59, 95% CI: 0.606, 4.174) or dissatisfied (AOR: 4.29, 95% CI: 2.528, 7.270) were independent predictors of medical exclusion. Conclusion: Having no medical aid cover, being a female and dissatisfied, or neither satisfied nor dissatisfied with health services significantly increased the odds of medical exclusion among migrant youths. To increase healthcare utilization and ensuring adequate medical care of migrant youths, opting for medical aid insurance without increasing costs should be guaranteed. Therefore, there should be no consequences for lack of residence status or correct documentation papers when accessing healthcare services among migrant youths in South Africa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background. Research has shown that pressure in the vaginal birth process aids the infant's neurophysiological adaption to extrauterine life, including their ability to regulate their responses to diverse sensory stimuli. As pressure is absent in elective caesarean section births, we hypothesised that these children may be at higher risk for developing sensory hyperreactivity (SHR), a sensory modulation difficulty which negatively impacts on the child's engagement in their occupations. This paper reports on a study which investigated associations between birth method and SHR. Method. In this cross-sectional study, 91 children aged three and four years from various language, cultural, and socioeconomic groups were recruited and categorised based on birth method (caesarean section or vaginal birth). Caregivers of each child completed the Short Sensory Profile-2 and a demographic questionnaire. The prevalence of SHR between the birth method groups was compared. Results. The prevalence of SHR was greater in the vaginal birth group (29%) than the caesarean section group (9%). Mothers in the vaginal birth group were younger (p ≤ 0.001), of lower-income level (p = 0.003), and more likely to be single (p = 0.037). During data collection with the vaginal birth group, comprehensibility of certain items in the Short Sensory Profile-2 proved challenging for many caregivers. Conclusion. The statistically significant higher prevalence of SHR in the vaginal birth group supported a null hypothesis. However, the results are questioned due to the challenges related to data collection. Given this, the study supports the need for further investigation of how sociocultural and socioeconomic factors influence the assessment of SHR in the South African context. [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]

This paper explores two orphaned girls' accounts of victimization and vulnerability to child sexual abuse in their family homes. Interviews with these girls revealed a trend of neglect, adversity and processes of adultification which involved accounts of sexual abuse within their family homes. According to the data, the participants are vulnerable and they experience victimization as they are routinely sexually abused by older male relatives and non‐related men and boys inside their family homes – where they are supposed to feel safe and protected. We argue that these two young girls' experiences need to be understood as consequences of the prevailing cultures of toxic heteropatriarchal masculinities which have produced and normalized the distribution of male power over girls. The kinds of interventions required to address toxic masculinities and to insulate orphan girls from sexual abuse and neglect are also discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Documented skeletal collections are valuable resources for anthropological studies aimed at reconstruction of the biological profile and examination of osteological trauma and pathology. The Free State Collection for Anthropological Research is a new, contemporary skeletal collection, based in central South Africa that has become available for such studies. This paper aims to provide an overview of the collection to encourage its future use in national and international research. The collection currently contains 64 female and 122 male skeletons of individuals that have died in the Free State province since the year 2000. Black individuals constitute 94.6% of the collection. Age-at-death ranges between 19 and 86 years, with an overall mean of 40 years. Year-of-birth ranges from 1927 to 1991. Tuberculosis (22.6%) and influenza/pneumonia (20.4%) are the most common cause of death for these individuals. Although the current demographic profile of the collection is skewed, new individuals are continuously being added. The collection offers several opportunities for anthropological research. The relatively young age-at-death and contemporary nature of the collection make it a useful tool for validation of existing methods for estimations of components of the biological profile. It can also be used in conjunction with other collections for the development of new methods for age and sex estimation and studies of trauma and disease manifestation of the skeleton. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: Four species of plague locust, namely the brown locust, the African migratory locust, the red locust, and the southern African desert locust, have threatened agricultural production in South Africa for centuries. The history of the plague invasions of the red locust and African migratory locust into South Africa are described, as well as the rare local outbreaks of the southern African desert locust in the Kalahari Desert region. The dynamics of the locally produced outbreaks of the African migratory locust in the cereal crop environment on the Highveld are discussed in detail. However, the brown locust is by far the most economically important locust species in South Africa, with a very high frequency of outbreaks occurring in the semi-arid Karoo region. After synthetic insecticides became available in 1945, most of the outbreaks were contained within the Karoo following vigorous control campaigns with only short-lived escapes of swarms into grain production areas outside the Karoo and into surrounding countries. However, the large-scale plague eruptions of the brown locust are almost impossible to stop with the resources currently available to the South African locust control organization, and the threat that the brown locust poses to food security in southern Africa is very real. The current paper provides a detailed review of the historical outbreaks of each of the four plague locust species found in South Africa, namely the brown locust, the African migratory locust, the red locust, and the southern African desert locust. The history and dynamics of the plague infestations and the major local outbreaks are summarized. The typical patterns of the outbreaks of the different species are described, and the threat of these locusts to agriculture in South Africa is defined. The brown locust produces regular outbreaks in the semi-arid Karoo, with large-scale eruptions of plague proportions occurring about once per decade. Patterns of outbreaks often repeat themselves, but the sheer size of the plague outbreaks is almost impossible to stop, and the brown locust has the potential to threaten food security throughout southern Africa. The African migratory locust produces outbreaks in some of the main maize and wheat cropping areas where it is difficult to control. This locust has taken advantage of the man-made crop environment to produce an extra generation per year that was not previously possible in the original grasslands. The coastal area of KwaZulu Natal Province in South Africa was a prime reception and breeding area for plague invasions of the red locust in the past, and the country, therefore, relies on the successful control of outbreaks in east and central Africa to prevent the recurrence of the plague invasions. The southern African desert locust occurs in the Kalahari Desert area, and outbreaks requiring chemical control are rare. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The prevailing global competitive environment requires continuous improvement approaches that integrate the entire organisation, from strategic management to operational performance. World class manufacturing (WCM) is a continuous improvement strategy that defines the logic, rigour, and detail of how organisations can achieve sustainable operational performance and customer satisfaction improvements. The paper investigates the factors influencing the successful implementation and sustaining of WCM in the South African manufacturing industry. A qualitative descriptive approach is employed to probe the views and opinions of WCM practitioners in a global manufacturing company with a footprint in South Africa and in other African countries, who were enrolled via purposeful sampling. The findings revealed that management commitment significantly influences achieving a successful WCM system. Furthermore, running WCM as a system could mitigate noticeable barriers identified in this study. The study could substantially enhance industrial engineering practice by revealing aspects to consider when implementing and running a WCM system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

South Africa's infrastructure has faced a barrage of security attacks that has led to the promulgation of the Critical Infrastructure Protection Act (CIPA) No. 8 of 2019. Residual risk (i.e., that which remains after the threats have been mitigated) must be assessed for the critical infrastructure security system as part of the total security system design. One area that requires attention is access control. This paper demonstrates how to approach such a design, with a particular focus on the effectiveness of the access control system and how to choose the biometric or digital key (such as access cards) system. The approach starts by defining access control events that in turn are used to define access control effectiveness in respect of the probability of invalid access and of anomaly detection. The theoretically derived results are validated by a simulation. Based on these models, guidance is provided for the design of access control for critical infrastructure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Science journalism faces an issue that is part of a bigger picture of media change. The economic pressures which have seen shrinking resources available for reporting news are contrasted by the relentless rise of corporate communication and public relations. Institutional science communication has become a booming industry, operating, at least partially, by bypassing the traditional roles of journalists. To interrogate how science journalists perceive the impact of these changes on their professional roles, as well as how they navigate relationships with scientists and institutional science communicators, we conducted in-depth interviews with experienced South African science journalists. Our paper summarises the results of this study, including how journalists perceive changes in their professional identities and responsibilities. We analyse the interview data and explore the extent to which science journalists perceive themselves as "cheerleaders" for science, in contrast to critical investigators tasked with holding science and scientists to account, as well as how they operate in a world of well-endowed corporate science communication. We situate these interview findings against the theoretical background of boundary work and recent discussions about the blurring boundaries between science journalism and science communication. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we explore the afterlife of naked body protests through an examination of interview and archival data from women who participated in various naked protests in South Africa. We engage the emotional outcomes that follow African women's naked protests. We read black women's naked body protests through the theoretical lenses of refusal and the affective economies of shame and psychic distress. By examining a data corpus of 16 interviews, archival video, podcasts and written content emanating from South Africa, we explore what occurs after naked protests. The experiences endured by the women protestors range from negative affects such as shaming to humiliation by protestors' communities and psychological distress. The findings suggest that refusal is not counter to women's experiences of psychological distress and shame – they co-exist. We demonstrate how affects travel in affective economies and stick to bodies in ways that disperse bad feelings and create productive openings for freedom. Finally, we contend that the affective afterlife of naked protests might be understood as an ongoing theorisation of the body long after the event of the actual protest. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reviews South Africa’s efforts to realise the right to water from a welfare policy perspective. ‘Free basic water’ (FBW), initially a water sector policy, was later recognised to be part of the country’s wider social protection framework. However, while the principle of providing poor households with free basic services has been sustained, FBW has not provided reliable access for many of its intended beneficiaries. Analysis of the policy, implementation and performance of the programme identifies unresolved policy tensions between welfare objectives and other government priorities, reflected in the choice of targeted rather than universal welfare strategies. It is concluded that these welfare policy tensions have weakened the outcomes of the free basic water policy which are more usually blamed on operational and institutional failures. While the FBW principle is generally accepted, practical performance is often weak. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While there is growing interest in the literature and policy circles regarding the performance of cooperatives in South Africa, no study has yet synthesised the body of knowledge on how to assess cooperative performance in the country. This paper aims to fill this gap by examining the literature on the performance of cooperatives in post-apartheid South Africa, based on a scoping review of 20 studies published between 1994 and 2021. Most of the reviewed studies adopted a qualitative approach, lacked a clear definition of cooperative performance and standardised metrics/criteria for assessing cooperative performance. The studies often relied on view of study participants to determine the performance of cooperatives. Moreover, the reviewed studies often framed the performance of cooperatives from an economic viewpoint. Clear definition of cooperatives, the development of robust indicators for assessing their performance and greater emphasis on quantitative studies on the performance of cooperatives in South Africa beyond economic and financial indicators is needed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Early childhood development (ECD) access and quality inequalities can manifest as school and labour market outcomes that are persistently unequal by race, gender and geography. Using the General Household Survey 2019 and Early Childhood Development Census 2009–2014 data, we find that household socio-economic status, proximity to ECD centres and the mother’s educational attainment are positively associated with ECD enrolment. Having an economically inactive or unemployed adult in the household is negatively associated with enrolment rates. This paper also evaluates the programme gains (value added) of five ECD programmes in the large-scale cross-sectional the Early Learning Outcomes Measure study. We find gains that are surprisingly large, considering that these programmes served mainly poorer children, and because contact time per week for three of the programmes was only 2½ to 8 hours. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While objective class dynamics have received much attention in South Africa, less is known about the subjective social positions individuals place themselves in. For example, in a highly unequal society like South Africa, some individuals would overestimate (inflate) or underestimate (deflate) their social position compared to their objective class position. This paper aims to provide further information on status inconsistency in South Africa by assessing some of the socioeconomic determinants of bias perceptions. Using International Social Survey Programme (ISSP) data and a multinomial probit model, the results show that education and race play a significant role in influencing the biased perceptions of individuals in South Africa. For example, individuals with higher education levels have a stronger tendency to deflate their social position, while Coloreds, Indians/Asians, and whites tend to inflate their social positions more than Africans. The results indicate the vital role of race and education in determining status inconsistencies in a society that is still suffering from high levels of racial and education inequality due to the lingering legacy of apartheid. The results provide a better understanding to policymakers and government on the dynamics behind social status perceptions in South Africa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper applies the rule of law test to emergency regulations adopted to combat a national disaster in South Africa. A declaration of a national state of disaster, such as a pandemic, triggers emergency powers which enable the executive to mitigate the disaster, assist and protect the public, provide relief, and protect property. However, emergency powers provide a pretext for the executive to limit constitutional rights and to curtail the enjoyment of freedoms. These unprecedented powers also pose a risk of arbitrary exercise of public power, which can only be prevented if the promulgation, administration and enforcement of emergency regulations conform to the principles of legality, rationality and proportionality. These principles are understood as tenets of the rule of law in South Africa. They require a strong commitment to respect, protect and promote human rights at a time when they are most vulnerable to violation by the State. Given the role of the judiciary in the maintenance of the rule of law, and the litigation against the emergency regulations adopted in response to the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, this paper also discusses the ensuing case law to illustrate the practical application of the rule of law test to a national disaster. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The regulation of drones is a huge challenge for most countries around the world. The regulation and application processes are as much a challenge in South Africa as they are elsewhere. The number of drones is growing at a rapid pace, and there is a need to improve the current status to benefit from the technology. The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the South African drone industry and to propose recommendations to enhance drone technology in South Africa. The research design applied in this paper was qualitative. Data was collected by interviewing drone operators who were interested in participating in this study. This was done to understand the drone approval process in South Africa and the perceptions of drone operators. The results indicated that commercial drone operators are being negatively impacted by the drone approval structure in South Africa and that it is holding the industry back. Key factors affecting the existing drone approval structure were identified and used to propose the strategies for improvement. The findings in this study could assist stakeholders in the South African drone industry to make effective decisions and to formulate policies that would promote the technological growth of the industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]