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South Africa is rapidly obliterating its cultural resources and indigenous values. Particularly, this is the case in rural South Africa where manifestations of socio-economic declensions are evident. However, a number of the policies that are meant to enhance rural development lack a cohesive strategy that is based on culture-based theoretical frameworks. The paper argues that the conspicuous disregard to address rural development and its concomitant socio-economic challenges in the Revised White Paper on Arts, Culture, and Heritage, 2017, by the Department of Arts and Culture (DAC), now (DSAC); poses a great threat to sustainable rural development [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

South Africa is signatory to international protocols that secure migrant rights to healthcare. Its national health policy prohibits discrimination. Pregnant women and children under six years ostensibly enjoy access to free healthcare, irrespective of migration status. What is clear “on paper,” however, becomes considerably more opaque when experienced by those who do not “have papers.” We explore this in Giyani, South Africa, an important migrant destination. Despite a progressive healthcare policy and immigrant rights regime, migrant women’s lack of proper documentation precludes them in practice from accessing state-provided reproductive healthcare. The result is twofold. Women who are entitled to public healthcare prefer to make use of private healthcare, despite the costs, and they make recourse to a range of extra-state relations for healthcare. We focus on one unexpected consequence: that the same healthcare providers who have formally refused access to state institutions may be available to migrants through personal networks, such as in churches. Here, medical care is seen as taking place in a religious register. The difference between what is “on paper” and “what papers migrants have” is critical but may be mediated by access to other realms of the social. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The primary objective of this research was to evaluate long-term user acceptability of menstrual cups in a student population in South Africa. A cohort of female students aged 18–24 years attending 10 further education institutions including 22 campus sites in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, were offered menstrual cups after receiving education and training in their use. The students were followed for up to 12 months to assess menstrual cup acceptability, user experiences and continuation. A total of 509 students were enrolled. Disposable pads were the primary menstrual hygiene product used in the 3 months prior to the baseline interview (95.5%, n = 486), and 8.1% (n = 41) of students reported that they had used toilet paper or newspapers. Of the 463 (91%) students interviewed at 1 month follow-up, 86% reported that they had tried to use the menstrual cup. There was mixed reporting on ease of insertion and removal on first use. Of those who attempted use, half (49.5%, n = 197) reported that inserting the menstrual cup on first use was very easy or quite easy. Of those who did not find it easy, 80% reported that two to three insertions were required to achieve comfort. A maximum of five insertions was mentioned to achieve comfort. The majority who had used the cup (>90%) reported they would continue to use it at each follow-up visit. The menstrual cup was well accepted among this student population and should be considered as a cost-effective and environmentally sustainable option in menstrual health management initiatives in South Africa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper uses the South African objects in the National Numismatic Collection of the Smithsonian to tell a new material history of money in South Africa. In other parts of the continent, research about the currencies in use and how these changed over time have offered a new perspective on the impact of colonialism, commercialization, and the rise of state capacity. South Africa, and southern Africa more generally, has remained on the periphery of these debates. This paper begins to fill this gap. It shows that even in Africa's most financially developed region, the process of establishing a stable national currency was long and halting, reflecting struggles over South Africa's relationship with the global economy and the rise and fall of apartheid. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The compression strength of a corrugated board box is a direct measure of its stacking strength. The edgewise compression strength of corrugated board is the major contributor to the box stacking strength. This relation can be further extended to the critical strength properties of paper substrates. It was, therefore, the aim of this study to establish predictive mathematical correlations between corrugated board and paper compression properties after exposure to certain climate conditions. This would allow packaging technologists in the field to select adequate paper substrates, with certain strength characteristics, to manufacture corrugated board with the necessary compression strength for achieving a desired carton performance for certain climate conditions. The results of this study were used to determine the linear regression constants in the Maltenfort model by correlating the measured board edgewise compression strength (ECT) with the predicted strength, using the paper components' compression strengths, measured with the short-span compression test (SCT) and the ring crush test (RCT) methods. The obtained predictive mathematical models were as follows: ECT = 0.6982 (SCTL1 + SCTL2 + SCTL3 + α1SCTF1 + α2SCTF2) and ECT = 1.028 (RCTL1 + RCTL2 + RCTL3 + α1RCTF1 + α2RCTF2). The obtained models showed very high coefficients of determination (R²SCT = 0.9758, R²RCT = 0.9625), which confirmed that they can be used successfully to predict the compression strength of corrugated board, using the measured paper compression strength (SCT or RCT) after exposure to constant climatic conditions. The results also indicated that the obtained plant-specific predictive mathematical models compared well to the overall linear models and that no major difference existed between the plants' capabilities to convert the paper compression strength into corrugated board edgewise crush strength. This suggested that a single set of predictive mathematical models can be utilised with a good degree of confidence in the South African corrugating industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In-clinic follow-up to assess completion of medical abortion is no longer a requirement according to World Health Organization guidance, provided adequate counselling is given. However, timely recognition of ongoing pregnancy, complications or incomplete abortion, which require treatment, is important. As part of a larger trial, this study aimed to establish whether women having a medical abortion could self-assess whether their abortion was complete using an automated, interactive questionnaire on their mobile phones. All 469 participants received standard abortion care and all returnees filled in a self-assessment on paper at clinic follow-up 2–3 weeks later. The 234 women allocated to receive the phone messages were also asked to do a mobile phone assessment at home ten days post-misoprostol. Completion of the mobile assessment was tracked by computer and all completed assessments, paper and mobile, were compared to providers’ assessments at clinic follow-up. Of the 226 women able to access the mobile phone assessment, 176 (78%) completed it; 161 of them (93%) reported it was easy to do so. Neither mobile nor paper self-assessments predicted all cases needing additional treatment at follow-up. Prediction of complete procedures was good; 71% of mobile assessments and 91% of paper assessments were accurate. We conclude that an interactive questionnaire assessing completion of medical abortion on mobile phones is feasible in the South African setting; however, it should be done later than day 10 and combined with an appropriate pregnancy test to accurately detect incomplete procedures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In-clinic follow-up to assess completion of medical abortion is no longer a requirement according to World Health Organization guidance, provided adequate counselling is given. However, timely recognition of ongoing pregnancy, complications or incomplete abortion, which require treatment, is important. As part of a larger trial, this study aimed to establish whether women having a medical abortion could self-assess whether their abortion was complete using an automated, interactive questionnaire on their mobile phones. All 469 participants received standard abortion care and all returnees filled in a self-assessment on paper at clinic follow-up 2–3 weeks later. The 234 women allocated to receive the phone messages were also asked to do a mobile phone assessment at home ten days post-misoprostol. Completion of the mobile assessment was tracked by computer and all completed assessments, paper and mobile, were compared to providers’ assessments at clinic follow-up. Of the 226 women able to access the mobile phone assessment, 176 (78%) completed it; 161 of them (93%) reported it was easy to do so. Neither mobile nor paper self-assessments predicted all cases needing additional treatment at follow-up. Prediction of complete procedures was good; 71% of mobile assessments and 91% of paper assessments were accurate. We conclude that an interactive questionnaire assessing completion of medical abortion on mobile phones is feasible in the South African setting; however, it should be done later than day 10 and combined with an appropriate pregnancy test to accurately detect incomplete procedures. RésuméSelon les directives de l’Organisation mondiale de la santé, le suivi dans le centre de santé pour s’assurer que l’avortement médicamenteux est complet n’est plus nécessaire, pourvu que des conseils adaptés soient prodigués. Néanmoins, il est important de déceler rapidement une poursuite de la grossesse, des complications ou un avortement incomplet, qui exigent un traitement. Dans le cadre d’un essai plus large, cette étude visait à déterminer si femmes ayant eu un avortement médicamenteux pouvaient évaluer elles-mêmes si leur avortement était complet, à l’aide d’un questionnaire interactif automatisé sur leur téléphone portable. Toutes les 469 participantes ont reçu des soins types liés à l’avortement et toutes les patientes revenues au centre ont rempli une autoévaluation sur papier lors du suivi dans ce centre, deux ou trois semaines plus tard. Les 234 femmes sélectionnées pour recevoir les messages téléphoniques ont aussi été invitées à faire une évaluation sur téléphone portable chez elles dix jours après la prise de misoprostol. L’achèvement de l’évaluation sur le portable a été contrôlé par ordinateur et toutes les évaluations complétées, sur papier et téléphone, ont été comparées à l’évaluation des praticiens lors du suivi dans le centre. Des 226 femmes ayant eu accès à l’évaluation sur portable, 176 (78%) l’ont complétée ; 161 d’entre elles (93%) ont indiqué que cela avait été facile. Les autoévaluations, que ce soit sur portable ou sur papier, n’ont pas prévu tous les cas nécessitant un traitement complémentaire lors du suivi. Les prédictions de la complétude de la procédure étaient bonnes : 71% des évaluations sur portable et 91% sur papier étaient exactes. Nous avons conclu qu’un questionnaire interactif évaluant la complétude de l’avortement médicamenteux sur le téléphone portable est faisable dans le contexte sud-africain ; néanmoins, il devrait être soumis plus tard que le dixième jour et associé à un test de grossesse approprié pour détecter rigoureusement les procédures incomplètes. ResumenEl seguimiento en la unidad de salud para determinar si la mujer tuvo un aborto con medicamentos completo ya no es un requisito, según la guía de la Organización Mundial de la Salud, siempre y cuando se brinde consejería adecuada. Sin embargo, es importante reconocer con prontitud la continuación del embarazo, complicaciones o aborto incompleto, que requiere tratamiento. Como parte de un ensayo clínico más extenso, este estudio tuvo como objetivo establecer si mujeres en proceso de aborto con medicamentos podrían determinar por sí mismas si tuvieron un aborto completo, utilizando un cuestionario interactivo automatizado en su teléfono móvil. Todas las 469 participantes recibieron servicios estándares de aborto y todas las que regresaron llenaron un formulario de autoevaluación durante el seguimiento en la unidad de salud 2 o 3 semanas después. A las 234 mujeres asignadas para recibir los mensajes por teléfono también se les pidió que hicieran una evaluación domiciliaria por teléfono móvil diez días post-misoprostol. La conclusión de la evaluación móvil fue seguida por computadora y todas las evaluaciones terminadas, en versión impresa y móvil, fueron comparadas con las evaluaciones de los prestadores de servicios durante el seguimiento en la unidad de salud. De las 226 mujeres que tenían acceso a su evaluación por teléfono móvil, 176 (78%) la concluyeron; 161 de ellas (93%) informaron que fue fácil de hacer. Ni la autoevaluación móvil ni la impresa previeron todos los casos que necesitaban tratamiento adicional en el seguimiento. La predicción de procedimientos completos fue buena; el 71% de las evaluaciones móviles y el 91% de las evaluaciones impresas fueron precisas. Concluimos que un cuestionario interactivo que evalúa la finalización del aborto con medicamentos por teléfono móvil es factible en Sudáfrica; sin embargo, debe hacerse después del décimo día y combinarse con una prueba de embarazo apropiada para detectar con precisión los procedimientos incompletos. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The Elands River, Mpumalanga, is an ecologically sensitive river that is constantly threatened by a variety of human activities. The influence of a pulp and paper mill on the river's macroinvertebrate assemblages was studied in March and June 2005, representing high- and low-flow seasons, respectively. Macroinvertebrates were collected from various biotopes using a standard sampling net, and were preserved and identified to family level. A range of multivariate and univariate statistical analyses was applied to assess the spatial and temporal variations in the macroinvertebrate communities. Diversity loss and dominance by a single taxon, Melanoides tuberculata, were noted directly below the mill. Other sites did not appear to be affected. Macroinvertebrate communities at all sites showed a strong seasonal variation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the ending of apartheid, the state, political parties, civil society and ordinary people in South Africa have attempted to deal with the traumatic legacies of the past to engender a common sense of nationhood. This paper examines this process of dealing with the past through the theoretical lens of post-colonialism, focusing, in particular, on attempts to establish historical truth and collective memory for black women, who have often been most marginalised by colonialism and apartheid and excluded from dominant accounts of history. It argues that if black women are denied a presence and agency in the construction of collective memory, their belonging and citizenship is consequently mediated in the process of nation building. It considers how exclusionary and discriminating patterns are reproduced through attempts to construct national memory-archives, focusing on the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC). It then explores the measures being taken to create a more inclusive process of restoring collective memory. In particular, it discusses the importance and possibilities of creating a postcolonial archive, where the voices and texts of historically marginalised people can be incorporated into national projects of remembering and notions of belonging. The paper focuses specifically on recent attempts to archive black women's pictorial and written testimony in a memory cloths programme. It concludes that representations of the past by women are a valuable tool in tracing the ways in which the legacy of their belonging and social standing shapes their contemporary citizenship. The radical potential of postcolonial archives lies in the fact that they can work against more sanitised representations of contemporary South Africa and towards the requirements for social justice (especially for black women) that are embodied within, but were arguably not met by, the TRC and broader nation building processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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

This article contributes to the growing literature on technological upgrading along global value chains, by focusing on the adoption of automation and digital technologies at different functional stages of the automotive value chain. It explores the constant tension that firms in emerging economies face between linking up to international trade and ensuring the upgrading of indigenous firms, which depends on the relationship between lead international firms' operations and capabilities at the local level. Drawing on extensive qualitative research in South Africa, including 39 interviews and observations at the shopfloor level, this paper examines the determinants for automation and digital technologies adoption. The finding extends existing knowledge of technological upgrading along global value chains, by examining both final assemblers and lower-tier suppliers. Four production specific drivers are identified: volume, quality, material-led adoption, and ergonomics. This paper suggests policymakers should consider sector heterogeneity and specific sector-technology combinations when designing policies to sustain digitalization and production upgrade. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article highlights "Discussion Paper 109" of the South African Law Reform Commission, which concerns the subject of privacy and data protection. The discussion paper reflects information accumulated up the end of August 2005. The objective of the paper is to investigate all aspects regarding the protection of the right to privacy of a person with specific reference to the process of his of her personal information by the State of other Persons.

This article serves to introduce a short story by Bloke Modisane found among the papers of the late Colin Legum, which are housed in the manuscripts department of University of Cape Town Libraries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Railways played a crucial role in building the modern South African nation during the early decades of the Twentieth Century. After 1910, the SAR&H became not only the white state's primary means of building the economic independence of the newly-formed Union, but also its sole agency for promoting tourism, settlement and investment. The many thousands of images of the South African landscape it commissioned and distributed at home and abroad in various formats and contexts were a key to this promotion. The synergistic relationship that developed between this photographic array and the transformation of the lived space by the SAR&H's lines and services helped construct an imaginary geography of emergent nationhood. This paper explores how this joint social spatialisation by travel and landscape representation underscored the discourse of a modern, non-partisan white national identity during these politically-formative years. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examined the brutal tactics used by security forces in the early days of the COVID-19 lockdown in South Africa. Key questions raised relate to the philosophical (dis)connectedness of their actions. The paper posits that the way in which some police and soldiers conducted themselves in black communities is reminiscent of colonial-apartheid hermeneutics. Their conduct, devoid of Ubuntu, relegates the culprits to "mere symbols with no substance," in a deeply conditioned state of mental subjugation. Though black, the culprits remain largely unAfrikan in thought. The paper concludes that training for security forces needs to inculcate philosophies of Afrikanism. Furthermore, the paper highlights key lessons to be embraced. Recommendations made include the professionalisation of the security forces, enabling public dialogue, and bringing the culprits to book faster to restore the image of the country, the government, and the security agencies. This paper used a qualitative desktop design that applied inductive analyses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pinus patula is the softwood species most extensively planted in South Africa. However, large portions of these plantings are under threat from Sirex noctilio infestation and occasional forest fires. In this exploratory investigation, the effects of tree age, Sirex noctilio infestation and fire damage to wood from Pinus patula trees on their pulp and paper properties were evaluated. Pulp was produced using the thermomechanical pulping (TMP) process. The energy consumption required to pulp the different pulpwood materials was determined. Pulps were beaten for five different time periods to investigate the development of the fibre properties in response to increasing energy input. Paper properties such as burst, tear strength and breaking length were determined on handsheets manufactured from unbeaten and beaten pulps. Box and line plots and canonical variate analysis biplots were used to statistically analyse the data. It was found that the burst strength of paper produced from healthy trees was significantly higher than that from sirex-infested or fire damaged (burnt) trees. Similarly, the tear strength of paper from healthy and burnt trees was significantly better than from sirex-infested or young trees. No significant differences in breaking length were evident between the pulpwood materials and an increase in beating time did not lead to any improvements. From this study it can be concluded that wood from dead or dying, sirex-infested and young trees produced paper with consistently lower strength properties compared to wood obtained from healthy 12-year-old trees. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Focuses on the Centre for Development and Enterprise's (CDE) response to the White Paper on Local Government in South Africa. Negative and positive aspects of the White Paper; Key concerns regarding the paper; Recommendations of the CDE.

Offers some reflections on the White Paper on Local Government in South Africa. Local government practices that restrict the ability of municipalities to become more efficient, effective and productive public authorities; Problems associated with the amalgamation of administrations; Recommendations made in the paper concerning public and private partnerships.

In the early twentieth century M.K. Gandhi articulated Satyagraha as a decentering quest for truth through everyday politics. Satyagraha privileged the "minor" or the marginalized over the dominant and everydayness and dwelling over history. In light of the contemporary criticisms of Gandhi, this paper examines Gandhian Satyagraha as a minor force that may hold him accountable for his entrenchment within dominant race and caste relations. The paper is divided into three sections devoted to "minor" matters of dwelling and ordinariness. I begin with an examination of Gandhi's politics through race and labor in South Africa, between 1896 and 1905. To understand Gandhi's racism in South Africa it is necessary to pay attention to his marginalization of social and legal narratives related to labor, agriculture, rent and places of habitation such as the hut. I then foreground Gandhi's marginalization of architecture in his discourses around Akash (the sky) and his body in 1932 and in 1942 during his incarcerations in Pune. Finally, I focus on the architecture of the huts built for him in Wardha in 1936–37 and the conflict that emerges between his conception of the social reproduction of labor as a minor voice within the self and his embrace of caste through varnashramadharma. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Considers the reappearance of the chieftaincy issue on the South African constitutional agenda and highlights some reasons for its scant treatment in the White Paper on Local Government. Chieftaincy in perspective; Evolution of the institution of chieftaincy in South Africa; Pointers for the future.

Evaluates proposals made in the White Paper on Local Government to address rural poverty in South Africa. Proposed institutional systems; Identification of the needs of the poor; Responsibility of traditional leadership; Promotion of the meaningful participation of women in public life.

The implementation and development of routine health information systems continue to provide a number of challenges for managers—the more so in developing countries where resources are scarce and human resource and technical skills limited. This article conceptualizes the interdependence between the local adaptation and appropriation of global standards, and the value that this adds to the global standard through improved quality of data. These processes reinforce one another in the creation of sustainable information systems. The article draws upon a case study of a rural hospital in South Africa. A successful change process is documented, wherein the organization, through innovative management and leadership, actively and successfully appropriated the national standard. The case study is used to highlight three main messages, namely, that standards should be able to be locally appropriated, that the creation of networks helps to support the local adaptation of standards, and that the layering of information systems is important to encourage the use of information and helps to improve data quality. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Focuses on the symposium on historical geographies of modern southern Africa held at University of Sussex, Great Britain in April 2002. Analysis of developments in tradition of historical geographies; Effect of structuralist Marxist history on historical geography.

This paper profiles research on housing policy in Africa and evaluates its scale and quality. Using databases developed from Scopus, we reviewed papers on housing policy research from 1989 to 2018, in Africa and in South Africa in particular. We found a steady increase in the number of papers. The disciplines that have contributed most are geography, health-related disciplines, planning, development studies and economics, in that order, and there has been a shift towards disciplines with a more applied focus. Most researchers had not been involved in housing policy research for very long, apart from some in South Africa. We did not find strong research links between the rest of Africa and South Africa. A large proportion of researchers in the rest of Africa were affiliated to institutions outside Africa, unlike South Africa, which had more local affiliation. We argue that, despite room for improvement, it is understandable that the research mainly reflects the housing reality on the ground rather than analysing it theoretically, given the need to draw African governments' notice to the continent's severe housing problems and the need to develop implementable African housing policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With increased pressure to publish, academics are pursuing creative ways to achieve enhanced research outputs. One such process is the publication-based thesis (PBT) for both masters and PhD candidates, rather than monographs. While this process is not novel in the sciences, it has not been widely applied by economic and management schools, particularly in South Africa. Despite the apparently limited institutional guidelines and policies, some academics have pursued an article-based thesis writing process. Doing so has several consequences of special interest for supervisors and candidates. This research set out to identify the impediments to the PBT process, so as to guide future consideration by academics. This is an auto-ethnographic study by one senior academic with experience in both masters and PhD supervision, who has embarked on the PBT process purposively, and reflects on a deliberate choice to change from standard monograph thesis writing to the PBT approach. Member-checking interviews with 12 senior academics in management sciences (some supporting and others not supporting PBT) to some extent validated the generalizability of the liabilities expressed here as concerns. I conclude with a conceptual framework containing the experienced and envisaged realities of PBT writing. The aim of the framework is to assist and warn newcomers to the process with guidelines for considering the associated impediments. Five main liabilities that may ‘bind’ progress, covering 13 antecedents to consider, were identified. The findings led to improved understanding by contextualizing the issues underlying the PBT supervision process, giving structure and meaning to possible solutions to overcoming the liabilities. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Inclusive education is a fundamental right of all students. Despite international policy initiatives, educational exclusion is pervasive, especially in the Global South, and disproportionately affects disabled students. Barriers to inclusive education have been itemised in the literature, but in this conceptual paper that offers a novel perspective on the topic, we argue for a complexity approach to understand its evolution. Using a qualitative deductive content analysis of South African laws, policies, reports and scholarly literature, we explore three path dependencies from colonial/apartheid times that lock the country into historical patterns of categorisation and segregated schooling. These operate alongside the emergence of new and inclusive practices by actors at a system-wide and local level, made possible by inputs into the policy ecology. South Africa represents a complex, contradictory educational environment that confounds the expectation of linear progression towards greater inclusivity. Instead of identifying barriers to inclusive education, we argue for a nuanced understanding of the imbrications of historical investments and drivers of inequality, with policy possibilities and the impetus for transformation among system actors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research and experimental development (R&D) is an important driver of economic growth and productivity. Gross expenditure on domestic R&D (GERD) is a country's total expenditure on R&D performed by all sectors of the economy. South Africa's GERD as a percentage of its GDP (GERD/GDP) remains below government targets and has stagnated over the past decade, largely due to declining business sector R&D. This paper aims to identify the drivers of firm-level R&D intensity, defined as the firm's R&D expenditure as a percentage of turnover. It is the first South African study to examine both micro- and macro-economic drivers of firm R&D, with a paucity of literature on this topic for middle-income countries. Using the South African National R&D Survey data, the study utilized the Generalized Method of Moments (GMM) model and found that public financial support for firms, smaller firm-size, firm-level collaboration, political stability, foreign direct investment, and public R&D investment are positively associated with firm R&D intensity. The results highlight the importance of public financial support for smaller firms and investments in higher education and research institutions in promoting firm-level R&D, thereby providing useful policy insights for boosting business sector and economy-wide R&D expenditure and reaching national GERD/GDP targets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Teachers in South Africa are under great pressure from the state to improve their qualifications, one of the state`s strategies for improving education standards The pressure u felt more acutely by black teachers who were previously allowed to teach with lower qualifications than their white counterparts In-service teachers, irrespective of their age or length of experience, are required to obtain the school leavers' certificate post hoc to earn a salary commensurate with their duties Their duties are heavy the pupil-teacher ratio is about 451, and teachers teach between 42 and 50 periods a week, without many basic facilities Consequently, many teachers are neglecting their pupils to concentrate on their studies The call for qualifications can be viewed as a component of the South African state`a reform initiative, and, as such, is yet another cosmetic amelioration of black people`s status because it does not address their needs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT The article takes a radical democratic starting point arguing the importance of the rural focus of research as a corrective to excessive emphasis on urbanism. Civil society is weak and autonomous public spheres hardly exist outside urban areas. But the author argues that the social and cultural resources that are present in the Southern African villages are both interesting and promising elements for future change. More research and more work will help develop a genuin 'rural public sphere'. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper examines the effect of the sharp reallocation of business R&D expenditure from experimental research to applied research, since the global financial crisis, on the productivity of the South African national system of innovation (NSI). Business R&D expenditure declined sharply, without reversal, which suggests structural change. The paper applies linear regression models to data on trademarks and patents obtained from the World Intellectual Property Office and business R&D expenditure obtained from the Human Sciences Research Council, South Africa, for the period 2004-2018. The paper finds that reallocation of R&D expenditure from experimental to applied research had detrimental effects on the productivity of the NSI. Counterfactually, reallocation of R&D spending from experimental research to basic research had positive effects on innovation performance. The paper also establishes structural change in the innovation-business R&D spending regime. Policymakers, through tax incentives and nudging, should incentivise reallocation of business R&D spending towards basic research, while adjusting downwards the allocation to experimental and applied research until they reach their optimal levels. Discovery of structural change in the innovation-business R&D expenditure regime, the identification of sub-optimality in business R&D spending allocation, and identifying distorted incentive structures, all bring new knowledge to scholarship on the national system of innovation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Newlands Rugby Stadium in Cape Town is the oldest rugby stadium in South Africa and the second oldest rugby stadium in the world. This paper explores the social and cultural consequences of the imminent demolition of the Newlands Rugby Stadium. Most research on stadia in South Africa have focused on the hosting of sports-mega events. This analysis goes beyond a descriptive examination of the tangible heritage of the stadium and focuses on the meaning and intangible heritage the stadium holds in the everyday lives of those who frequent it. With the advent of rampant commercialisation and globalisation of rugby, the Newlands Rugby Stadium itself has become expendable and a sporting space with fleeting qualities. This development highlights the importance of exploring the intangible heritage associated with this site. The study is informed by the notion of 'Topophilia' and associated heritage dynamics. This paper is based on the author's observations at the stadium during Super Rugby and Test matches, interviews with fans, and vendors, and the lived experience of going to the stadium over a ten-year period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The majority of children in mainstream (no fee, poorly resourced, African language dominant) public schools in South Africa fall significantly behind curricular norms in mathematics by Grade 3; the early learning gap grows across time. The provision of quality instructional materials is a well-recognised component of effective strategies to improve early grade mathematics in low- and middle-income contexts. However, there has been little explication of what constitutes quality instructional materials, nor long-term design work to contribute theory to this instructional design challenge. Across 15 years, the author has been working in an education design hub with teacher educators and teachers in the rural Eastern Cape, with the goal of improving early grade mathematics. The gains in mathematics performance have been among the most significant reported in research literature. This paper presents the design principles emerging from the work. Engaging the theoretical layers discussed by diSessa and Cobb, the paper contributes to design theory by emphasising the relationship between explicit instructional assumptions and design principles, integrating four ontological categories (motive, pedagogy, language use and mathematical meaning-making). Since 2011, the Department of Basic Education has provided learner workbooks to support teaching and learning in foundation phase mathematics at system scale. It is hoped that this paper will contribute to the ongoing development of this vital national resource. The paper makes explicit instructional assumptions and design principles (available for critique, adaptation, and refinement), and provides a more nuanced framework through which to assess and improve materials across time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper considers the African communal ethic of Ubuntu as it is understood in the South African context. Its background and context and the various interpretations of this lived ethic in society and academia will be explored. According to Ubuntu, what is good is constituted by how one relates to others (affirming others, empathising, etc.). It is not an ethic that is purely governed by laws and the outcomes of actions. This paper considers the detrimental effect of gangsterism on prisoners' personal and social development in South African prisons and illustrates how the solidarity and identity of prisoners is merely an illusion that misguidedly resembles communal harmony or Ubuntu. Specifically, after pointing out how indigenous values in South Africa tend to prescribe honouring harmonious relationships, this paper will reveal how this approach to morality affects the way one understands prison conditions, prison relations and criminal justice. It advances that the values of Ubuntu have the potential to aid in prisoner rehabilitation and help prisoners stand against gang life in prison. This paper will suggest that the harmony found in Ubuntu has implications different from gang conformity. Lacking the space to systematically defend harmony as a fundamental value, it nonetheless urges theorists not to disregard it when considering prison transformation in South Africa. The intention of this study is not to demonstrate that Ubuntu is superior to the more popular Western moral theories in South Africa, but rather to tease out the implications of one plausible interpretation of Ubuntu and apply it to prison communities in South Africa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the university, industry and government (UIG) research and development (R&D) collaborations that academia in South African higher education institutions (HEIs) with clothing-related programmes engage in. In the research on which the paper is based, Fashion, Consumer Science, Textiles and Clothing Management academia were purposively sampled to gather data regarding the UIG R&D collaborations. Data collection was conducted through an online questionnaire. Descriptive statistics were employed to analyze data and present results in figures and graphs. Findings show that majority surveyed academia had never been involved in UIG R&D collaborations with any government levels, the clothing, textiles, leather and footwear (CTLF) industry or other clothing related organizations. The paper concludes that the ability of surveyed academia to produce 'relevant' new knowledge may be limited due to under developed UIG R&D collaborations. The likelihood of the surveyed clothing-related programmes producing graduates with 'relevant skills' for a changing world may also be negatively impacted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate change continues to exacerbate social and economic development challenges in local communities the world over. This paper advances a human development approach to climate resilience innovations, showing how local innovation initiatives can be conduits for increased equity, agency, efficiency and sustainability vis-à-vis effective responses to climate impacts. Based on a scoping review of literature (journal articles, books, theses, occasional papers etc.), and through a discussion of four case studies focused on technological and institutional innovations in selected rural South African communities, a major finding is that local innovation initiatives vis-à-vis livelihoods are laden with opportunities for improved social, economic and ecological well-being. Appreciating and supporting these local innovations will open up viable and transformative pathways towards effectively responding to the impacts of climate change and variability. The paper contributes to an interdisciplinary integration of innovation and climate change research by exploring climate resilience through a transformative human development lens. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Eucalyptus grandisis predominantly cultivated in the humid, warmer temperate, subtropical regions in South Africa for pulp and paper production because of its rapid growth and desirable wood properties. With forestry expanding into mid-altitude drier and warmer, or drier and colder sites, the growth ofE. grandishas been compromised by unsuitable growing conditions and, therefore, the search to identify reasonably well-performing species/provenances for such sites has extended to summer rainfall provenances ofE. cypellocarpafor pulp and paper production. Seed collected from New South Wales, Australia, comprising provenances from Hanging Rock, Nullo Mountain, Wingello State Forests and Kaputar Mountain National Park was established in provenance/progeny trials on three sites in South Africa (Windy Gap, Petrusvlei and Speenkoppies). Trials were planted at 1 667 stems ha−1, in single-row plots of six trees, with four replications in one balanced and two unbalanced lattice designs. Commercial seed of other eucalypts and clones was used as controls. Diameter at breast height and height were measured at 96 months at Windy Gap, and 72 months at both Petrusvlei and Speenkoppies. Basal areas and volumes were derived from these measurements. There were distinct family and provenance differences for growth at the different sites, with the Hanging Rock provenance generally performing well across all sites. A genotype × environment interaction was present between two sites, as indicated by low Type B correlations of 0.47 and 0.53 for basal area and volume, respectively. This indicated that different populations ofE. cypellocarpashould be developed for the cold and warm sites. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Geographical information systems (GIS) were phased into the geography curriculum of South African schools from 2006-2008 as part of the National Curriculum Statement (NCS) for grades 10-12. Since its introduction, GIS education in schools across the country has been met with a number of challenges including the cost of purchasing the hardware and software required to elucidate the basic concepts of GIS to learners. This article examines the introduction of GIS education in schools in South Africa. The development and distribution of a paper-based GIS educational package for resource-poor schools in the country is also highlighted. Preliminary educator and learner evaluations of the paper-based GIS package are discussed and the broader learning opportunities and benefits associated with flexible teaching mechanisms are examined. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper will re-visit the origins and early use in South African curriculum writing of the concept of 'coherence'; it will go on to show how Suellen Shay and her colleagues fleshed out the concept and created an instrument for its empirical analysis; it will then step back and examine the contribution and some problems that were brought to light; examine briefly how Shay's later work continued to wrestle with the notion of 'practice', particularly in light of curricula that were judged to display conceptual coherence; and will suggest one possible solution in the seminal paper by Bernstein (2000). Finally, the paper will reflect on two implicit definitions of 'curriculum', a 'strict' one and an 'extended' one and suggest why they should be distinguished. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Globalisation and changes to the world economy have brought new challenges and opportunities for many industries, including the sawmill industry. This has led to a need to evaluate the competitiveness of South Africa's sawmilling industry by studying the factors affecting competitiveness in other sawmill industries. The review evaluated published research on sawmill industry competitiveness to identify and address the research gaps in the literature. The systematic literature review implemented a PRISMA protocol. Sankey diagrams showed the relationships between the factors driving change and those affecting competitiveness. The results showed that most factors affecting and driving industry competitiveness were similar. The reviewed papers pointed to the availability of wood, formation of clusters, policy implications, level of innovation and employment conditions as the factors affecting industry competitiveness. The research findings corresponded to some of the early ideas presented by Michael Porter on industry competitiveness. The research will guide future research on the South African sawmill industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explains the ambitions of Africa's first independent nonprofit school of architecture—the School of Explorative Architecture—in light of the decoloniality ideas that were galvanized by the Rhodes Must Fall protests at the University of Cape Town in 2015. The paper describes the School's three modes of teaching and learning architecture, namely the thing (professional competencies of designing a building), the shadow of the thing (theorized and critical thinking around buildings and architecture), and the painted shadow of the thing (creative acts engaging architecture in ideas and critical thinking). The paper explains the nuances of teaching and learning architecture in the South African context and the importance of teaching professional competencies while surfacing 'other' conditions through the painted shadow. The paper ends by asking if a radical spatial alterity—the folding of the thing, the shadow, and the painted shadow into each other—is possible. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to their high vulnerability, mountain communities are adversely affected by climate change and variability causing significant challenges to their livelihood strategies. The objective of this paper is to examine the perceptions of local households in the Eastern Free State Region of South Africa regarding how climate change impacts their livelihoods. A multistage sampling procedure was used to select 400 respondents on whom a semi-structured household questionnaire survey was administered to gather information about the impacts of climate change on rural livelihoods. Sixty-seven percent of the agriculture-based mountain households reported declining water quality and quantity as the most significant impact, while 48%, 33%, 38% and 68% considered crop loss, reduced crop yields, animal diseases, and livestock mortality as the most significant impacts, respectively. Agriculture-based mountain households also cited climate-related socio-economic impacts- higher prices, farm and non-farm income loss, and increased labour as impacts of climate change. These findings reveal that the impacts of climate change effects on on-farm and off-farm activities can be contextualised according to households' primary livelihood activities. The paper concludes that understanding the mountain communities' perceptions about climate change impacts on their livelihoods could be useful for identifying context-specific adaptation strategies applicable to these communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Keeping in mind the recent COVID-19 pandemic, this paper builds on a study that examined how a major twentieth century South African newspaper utilised outbreaks of bubonic plague to propagate racial stereotypes in Johannesburg. The data were gathered from the Rand Daily Mail archive database and analysed thematically. Recent years have seen the emergence of new disciplines, such as historical pragmatics, along with calls for historians to move beyond collecting documentation into textual analysis. Thus, the researchers reanalysed selected data using systemic functional grammar to discover how the communicative intention was achieved. The research follows a descriptive qualitative method. It was found that the newspaper played a major role in the promotion of racial segregation. However, at times its reporting was nuanced. Understanding how past media made use of events and discourses to influence the public and achieve political goals can serve to inform the present and illuminate the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Technology-based interventions in healthcare are often anticipated to improve the quality of healthcare services. These expectations are based on a perceived belief in the ability of technology to alleviate some of the challenges associated with manual, paper-based healthcare service delivery. As a result, the drive to implement healthcare technology has gained significant traction in recent years. Unfortunately, the implementation efforts of most health-related technologies have been tainted with several challenges such as fragmentation, lack of interoperability, and co-ordination. As a result, data management and health-related information dissemination across various levels of healthcare systems have been jeopardized. The objective of this study is to identify context-based factors that influence healthcare information systems (IS) implementation in resource-constrained public hospitals. The emphasis is on the public healthcare landscape in South Africa. A qualitative methodological approach was employed. Semi-structured interviews with purposively sampled participants in a public healthcare hospital provided primary data. The findings indicate that factors such as implementation of policies, planning and support strategies, and analysis of healthcare IS's fitness for purpose in healthcare workflows processes influence successful healthcare IS implementation. Addressing these factors is critical if public healthcare hospitals are to realise fully the transformative potential of technology-based interventions. The contributions made in this paper may be useful to the relevant government bodies, policymakers and other stakeholders interested in advancing adequate healthcare service delivery using healthcare IS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on an interdisciplinary conference organised by the Kent Institute for Advanced Studies in the Humanities in April 2004. The title of the conference, Connecting Cultures attracted an extraordinarily diverse range of papers covering subjects from Caribbean narratives to translating India, to representing terrorism, and included papers on British Asian cinema and television, narrative and memory in South Africa, post-apartheid prose writing and culture contact in Border Zones. The paper of Terence Ranger, a speaker at the conference, considers a mode of translation as he explores the dynamics of the postcolonial interactions that exist in the system of Zimbabwe asylum appeals. He assesses the usefulness of examining asylum narratives both with the grain and against the grain to debate issues surrounding postcolonial assumptions both in Zimbabwe and in Britain. The papers that follow expand on various themes of the conference, commencing with a group of papers that discuss narrative and memory in South Africa and Zimbabwe.

Post-doctoral research fellowships (PDRF) in South Africa often require the fellow to produce a particular number of publications each year. Many of the PDRFs, however, find publishing a challenge. In response to this, a project was established to support, encourage and enable PDRFs based in South African universities to publish in this special issue of Critical Arts. During the course of the project, contacts were made and events attended which resulted in a broader understanding of the precarious situation in which many PDRFs find themselves. This overview provides a brief insight into the project, the outcomes and lessons learned. The papers included in the special issue are also introduced. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Current literature on Eritrean national identity has been dominated by debates on its function as a unifying and homogenising civic identity in a context of a multi-ethnic, multi-religious and multi-clan national context. Little is known, however, about how an Eritrean national identity is mobilised among Eritreans living in racially organised host societies. This paper addresses this lacuna by examining how Eritrean refugees living in a racially classified South African host society self-identified. The focus of analysis for this paper was how an Eritrean national identity was mobilised by some participants in the face of experiencing racial classification. Some individuals defined themselves as 'Eritrean' to resist their classification as 'Black' in everyday life. I argue that beyond functioning as a homogenising and unifying civic identity, an Eritrean national identity functioned as a bulwark against ascribed racial classification in a race-conscious South African host society, [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the early stage of business, which is where most new ventures fail, many entrepreneurs experience discrepancies between their entrepreneurial expectations and business realities. These discrepancies referred to by this paper as an entrepreneurial gap (EG) are, therefore, among other factors, professed to be responsible for the high attrition rate of emerging ventures in South Africa. An oversight in this area of EG, despite the provision of most required resources, may still lead to business failure. This paper argues that there is more yet to be comprehended regarding early-stage business success, concerning the entrepreneur component. The purpose of this paper was to recognize and classify factors responsible for establishing entrepreneurial gaps with the intent to improve the level of preparedness among emerging entrepreneurs. A qualitative approach with in-depth interviews was employed in the data collection. ATLAS ti 8 was used to unpack factors that instigate entrepreneurial gaps while posing challenges to emerging entrepreneurs in the early stage of business. The groups identified were: entrepreneur management, familism and personal management. The findings provide information that is credible to improving the level of preparedness among emerging entrepreneurs, and could be used by mentors, coaches and relevant support structures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the impact of fiscal consolidation in different states on domestic government debt in South Africa. The government budget constraint theoretical framework and Markov-switching dynamic regression (MSDR) from 1979 to 2022. The contribution of this paper is to examine fiscal consolidation on domestic government debt in different states using measures of fiscal consolidation that account for time-varying elasticity in the cyclical adjusted primary balance (CAPB). The U-shape is found which indicates that fiscal consolidation is effective in reducing domestic government debt at a low level. However, as domestic government debt reaches a high-level fiscal consolidation becomes detrimental and further increase domestic government. Given the result, it recommended that South Africa use less fiscal consolidation in the effort to reduce domestic government debt. Fiscal authorities need to use government expenditure in the productive sector of the economy that will bring about an increase in revenue rather than an increase in the tax rate as advocated in the fiscal consolidation policy. Moreover, develop a tax system that generates optimal tax revenue with adjustment of the tax rates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the threshold impact of government debt on economic growth in the presence of fiscal consolidation in South Africa from 1979 to 2022. The autoregressive threshold regime (TAR) model and two-stage least squares (2SLS) are used. The contribution of the paper is on the estimation of the threshold of government debt using the first difference, dummy variables, and the TAR in the presence of fiscal consolidation in South Africa. The TAR provides evidence with the consideration of fiscal consolidation, there is evidence of the U-shape impact of domestic government debt on gross domestic product per person. At a high threshold, there is evidence of an S-shape impact on gross domestic product per person when there is a range threshold. Overall high domestic government debt harms gross product per person and results in fiscal consolidation not being able to stimulate gross domestic product per person. It is recommended for fiscal authorities to not use fiscal consolidation when the domestic government debt is above 60% in South Africa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]