The interrelationship between unemployment and crime rates in South Africa

Governing through Crime in South Africa: The Politics of Race and Class in Neoliberalizing Regimes. By Gail Super. Dorchester: Ashgate, 2013. 182 pp. $98.96, cloth.In ways more similar than different, crime policies in South Africa after end of formal apartheid play out in a field where poor are not well represented and indeed where punitive penal policies absurdly reinforce inequality of society. So argues Gail Super in Governing through Crime in South Africa. Super's raw material in this well-researched book comes from her focus on official criminology-state discourses about crime and criminality (pp. 6-7). These discourses are a form of communication and are themselves performative. Using this material, Super shows how politics of race and class in post-apartheid South Africa under conditions of neo-liberalism have led to a place where criminal justice and prisons policy appear to exhibit more continuity than change-despite new democratic government led for more than twenty years now by former liberation movement, African National Congress (ANC).As a historical case study spanning late apartheid, transition, and post-apartheid South Africa, Super's work perhaps is inherently inclined toward examining continuities of new with old. While this fits with much of best recent scholarship on crime and policing in South Africa (Altbeker 2005; Hornberger 2013), others call for an emphasis on discontinuity (Steinberg 2014). In any case, Super's analysis is nuanced and careful. It is not simply old wine in new bottles. Working at messy and fertile intersection of crime and governance, Super refreshes and complicates simple distinction that sees apartheid as bad and post-apartheid as better (or perhaps just not-sobad).As even a casual reader of major newspapers in South Africa would be aware, crime and its management have become a central issue in governance of post-apartheid South Africa. Productively drawing on Foucauldian themes, one chapter follows directly on Super's previously published work on spectacle of crime in post-apartheid South Africa (Super 2010). She details how relationship between crime and politics changed as African National Congress went from a liberation movement to a ruling party. Likewise, relationship between crime and race changed as blacks moved from oppressed to governing majority-Super has less to say about gender. In new South Africa, crime has become subjected to more intensive measurement techniques but simultaneously has become an object through which governing occurs. Thus halt to publication of crime statistics directed by ANC Minister of Safety and Security in 2000 justifies Super's contention that the ANC government used denial and refusal to divulge information as a tactic of rule-just as NP [National Party] government had done before it (p. 39).Continuity also figures in discussion in Governing through Crime in South Africa about country's shift to neoliberal macroeconomic policies. Super dates start of neoliberal policies in South Africa to early 1980s, under white National Party government: a shift from racial Fordism to privatization (p. 9). Post-apartheid, Super describes how new democratic government has unexpectedly taken stances in favor of imprisonment and without mention of or attention to structural causes of crime. In this engagement with neoliberalism and its effects, Super follows Jonathan Simon in seeing not only repressive side of crime control but also its softer and enabling effects (Simon 2007).Indeed, for Super, continuities continue. Where others have depicted a shift from early post-apartheid days of community based crime prevention to a later (from late 1990s or 2000) era of getting tough, she emphasizes linkages and points of intersection in both language about criminals and in penal complex. …

Rapid urbanization and westernization have precipitated dramatic changes in the profile and prevalence of surgical diseases in sub-Saharan Africa. Disease of lifestyle is now common. We aimed to review our experience with lower-limb amputations at our surgical service in South Africa. A single-center retrospective review of a prospectively collected database was performed of all patients who underwent a lower limb amputation. Inferential and descriptive statistics were performed. Patient demographics, indication, type of amputation, and management were reviewed. The primary outcome was 30-day in-patient mortality rate. Over a 5-year period (2013-2018), 348 patients underwent lower limb amputations. The median age was 61.5years. 53.7% were diabetic and 56.3% were hypertensive. 53.2% had associated peripheral vascular disease and 8% preexisting cardiac disease. 30.7% smoked. Guillotine below-knee amputation was frequently performed (44.5% of amputations). 16.1% of these patients required a further operation. The in-hospital mortality rate was 8%. Underlying renal disease was an independent risk factor for mortality (p = 0.004). Currently, the most common indications for LLA in South Africa are diabetes mellitus and atherosclerosis. This reflects the changing pattern of disease in the country. There is a major problem with access to health care in rural areas in South Africa with significant delays in getting patients to tertiary units for evaluation by specialists. Foot care and prevention at a primary health care level is also lacking. Global improvements in the healthcare system are needed to improve LLA rates in South Africa.

Child-friendly space are not successfully implemented in South Africa due to problems such as urbanization, development pressure, lack of qualitative open spaces and lack of policy and legislation guiding the planning and protection of such spaces. This study explores the possibility of creating qualitative, playful, educational and environmentally preserving open spaces through the creation and provision of child-friendly spaces for children within their surrounding neighbourhood. The priority within rural areas is usually focussed on providing basic facilities and infrastructure, and the provision of qualitative open spaces is often neglected. In this sense, there is no qualitative child-friendly space currently documented or successfully implemented in rural areas in South Africa. This study provides an overview on what is considered as a child-friendly space and the importance to create such spaces. The main challenges faced by rural areas in South Africa in creating child-friendly spaces are explored. Furthermore current planning approaches in providing child-friendly space in rural areas are identified and evaluated. Lastly green guidelines in creating child-friendly spaces are established.

The objects of this research are: first, to explain some of the causes of high murder rates in South Africa. Second, to refute the labelling of South Africa as the murder capital of the world. Third, exploring some alternative ways to violence resulting in deaths. The author investigated the following problems: murder done predominately by men, the inefficiency or shortcomings of the police to investigate murder successfully and lack of reports showing a drastic reduction of murders rates, possible due to lenient sanctions given by the courts. The main results of the research are: First, South Africa has been incorrectly referred to as the murder capital of the world. A label that scares would be visitors away from the country. This misleading labelling turned out to be factually incorrect according to several reports. Second, there are myriads of reasons why the death rates are very high in South Africa namely: varieties and normalization of violence; socio-economic inequalities; high youth unemployment rates; alcohol and drugs; culture of violence; easy access to firearms; lenient prison sentence; membership of gangsters; ineffective police investigation units; Mental illnesses or psychotic disorders and satanic beliefs. The area of practical use of the research: is for all citizens, directly or indirectly affected by police and safer communities. Criminal justice students in higher institutions and criminal justice practitioners, government officials, and policymakers.

The study investigated the effects of unemployment on the rate of crime in South Africa with reference to Richards Bay and Empangeni communities in Kwa-Zulu Natal Province. Unemployment is considered to be the root cause of many problems South Africa is facing today such as crime, poverty and suicide. Crime in particular, acts as a symptom of deeper socio-political issues in South Africa. Using a survey design, data was collected from a sample of 110 respondents. The respondents consisted of 60 unemployed participants, 20 experts on crime control and labour issues as well as 30 convicts. The results of the study showed that the low level of education is responsible for the high rate of unemployment and bears a direct relationship with the high rate of crime. In the light of the findings of the study, it was recommended that there is a need for educational programmes aimed at reducing vulnerability to crime and the need for special job creation projects and skills training programmes. DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2014.v5n15p519

African Vernacular Symbols of Black Intersex Children in Sinethemba Ngubane's Installations (2007-2016)

Violent crime in South Africa has remained persistently high since the end of apartheid in 1994. Almost 16,000 murders at a rate of 31.9 per 100,000 of the population in 2010/11 attest to this. Violent crime remains a concern for government and has led one independent observer to describe South Africa as ‘a country at war with itself’ ( Altbeker, 2007 ). This article argues that South African criminology has struggled to come to terms with the often brutal reality of the post-apartheid condition. Drawing on a notion first used by Young (1986) in relation to 1960s Britain, it suggests that stubbornly high rates of violent crime have given rise to an aetiological crisis in South African criminology. An analysis of the origins and nature of this crisis evident in recent writings on violent crime in South Africa is offered against the background of international debates about what criminology is for. A solution to the crisis is sought in work that connects history and biography ( Mills, 1959) to reveal the causes, meanings and uses of violence, and point the way to a more relevant post-colonial South African criminology.

A review of South African literature on crime confirms the lack of a study that considers the impact of migration on the crime rate in the country. The high levels of crime in South Africa aside, additional motivation behind the study has been the increasing rhetoric in media and by politicians insinuating the prominent role of foreign immigrants in the high crime levels of the country. While this is the first attempt to study this relationship in the South African context, it also stands apart from existing studies undertaken in the developed countries by accounting for both internal migrants as well as foreign immigrants. Further, the study claims the use of multi‐level regression estimations as an improvement from the existing studies on the issue by accounting for variance clustering across different spatial levels. In all the estimated models, internal migrant ratio came out as being positively and significantly related to crime rates across five different crime categories, with the sole exception of sexual crime rate. There was no evidence of foreign immigrant ratio impacting on crime rate in any of the crimes analysed except crime relating to property. Further, income inequality and sex ratio figure as determining factors across most types of crime in South Africa.

lIgIntroduction.l/Ig Traditional birth attendants (TBAs) are still frequently utilised in rural areas in South Africa, even when mothers have access to formal health care facilities. Studies reveal that utilisation of TBAs can be beneficial in some contexts, with support and supervision from the Western health sector. lbrglIgAim.l/Ig To evaluate a training programme for TBAs on HIV / AIDS and safe delivery. lbrglIgMethod.l/Ig The study used a pre-post training evaluation design of 50 TBAs in two primary health care clinic areas in rural South Africa. lbrglIgResults.l/Ig Most TBAs had some knowledge of risk signs during pregnancy. At follow-up assessment HIV / AIDS knowledge had significantly increased and HIV risk practices when assisting during a delivery had significantly decreased. Most TBAs were involved in HIV/sexually transmitted infection (STI) management such as risk assessment, risk reduction counselling, distribution of condoms, community education and home-based care. After the training significantly more TBAs conducted prenatal check-ups, assessed the baby's position in the uterus and took the mother's and baby's pulse, and fewer TBAs conducted abnormal or complicated deliveries. lbrglIgConclusion.l/Ig Training of TBAs can increase their knowledge, improve their attitudes and reduce risk practices. TBAs need skilled and equipped available support to carry out basic preventive measures in the obstetric patient, anticipate and identify obstetric complications, administer nevirapine prophylaxis, and make appropriate and timely referrals backed up with efficient referral mechanisms to reduce maternal morbidity and mortality.

This study investigated the impact of parental financial socialisation on financial attitude of young black African adults in rural and low-income area in South Africa through quantitative research approach, survey design and self-administered questionnaire. Data was collected from young black African adults in Fetakgomo Tubatse and Intsika Yethu local municipalities, low-income and rural areas in South Africa. Multiple regression analysis was used to test the relationship between parental financial behaviour, parental financial monitoring, parental financial discussion, parental financial communication, and parental financial teaching with financial attitude. The results showed that parental financial communication and parental financial teaching had a significant positive relationship with financial attitude. While parental financial behaviour, parental financial monitoring and parental financial discussion had no significant positive relationship with financial attitude. Therefore, the overall results indicated that parental financial socialisation has no impact on financial attitude of young black African adults in rural and low-income area in South Africa. This study provided recommendations to parents, young black African adults, financial educators, financial services institutions, financial counsellors and the government.

This study investigated the impact of parental financial socialisation on financial decision-making of young black African adults in rural and low-income area in South Africa. Data was collected through self-administered questionnaire from 423 young black African adults in Fetakgomo Tubatse and Intsika Yethu local municipalities, low-income and rural areas in South Africa. Multiple regression analysis was used to test the relationship between parental financial behaviour, parental financial monitoring, parental financial discussion, parental financial communication, and parental financial teaching with financial decision-making. The results indicated that parental financial communication had a significant positive relationship with financial decision-making. While parental financial behaviour, parental financial monitoring, parental financial discussion, and parental financial teaching had no positive relationship with financial decision-making. Therefore, the overall results indicated that parental financial socialisation has no impact on financial decision-making of young black African adults in rural and low-income area in South Africa. This study provided recommendations to parents, young black African adults, financial educators, financial services institutions, and financial counsellors.

Nitrate removal with reverse osmosis in a rural area in South Africa

The Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) is the fourth major industrial event since the 1980s. This event affected everyone and changed the world. It's a dilemma in a world where the wealthy are advancing but the poor are falling behind, especially in rural areas. In a third-world country with a rural majority, like South Africa, many black people will be disadvantaged by the 4IR. The 4IR has implications for people in rural areas. The rich make up the economy of the first world, whilst the third world is largely rural. Rural areas frequently lag in development. For instance, mobile phone coverage is patchy in many rural areas while being available in suburban and semi-suburban areas. The 4IR, which is technology-based, has socio-economic effects on those who live in rural areas. Rural communities are unable to function in a 4IR world, so they are not profiting from it. One of the implications of the 4IR is job loss and an increased unemployment rate due to a deficiency of necessary and potential technical skills. Thus, this article intends to explore the proliferation of the 4IR and its implications on rural areas in South Africa. To realize this, the authors employed a qualitative research approach in the form of a document review. The economics theory of Asymmetric Information (AI) was applied to support the argument and ground of this article. The AI theory was established by George Akerlof, Michael Spence, and Joseph Stiglitz in the 1970s. The AI theory enables those with information to make wise judgments while those without are at a constant disadvantage. In terms of participation, rural communities will be excluded, not through their fault, but due to technological advances. The study concludes by highlighting the implications of the 4IR in rural areas. One of the implications found in this article is increased inequality. Recommendation: To ensure that all citizens have access to information on an equal basis, it is necessary for the government and business to work toward restoring economic competitiveness and improving the quality of governance. The disclosure of information and increased openness on information can help to narrow the information gap that exists between those who are informed (urban) and those who are not informed (rural) residents.

This paper examines the economic viability of stand-alone, household-sized renewable energy technologies, namely wind generator and solar photovoltaic (PV) for application in remote and rural areas of South Africa. Three reference technologies are chosen. These are two solar PV systems for solar conditions and one wind turbine. It is found for all regions that levelized costs of PV energy are lower than the cost of energy from gasoline gen-set, and are cost-competitive with grid extension, especially for areas with low load density and low number of households to be electrified. Regarding wind energy, the viability is dependent on the location due to the wide variation of wind resource to topography. However, in locations with proper resources, wind energy is even more cost-competitive than solar PV. Thus, the use of either wind generator or solar PV is economically feasible in rural villages and remote areas of South Africa. Policy recommendations for promoting the market development of renewable energy technologies are discussed in the final section of the paper.

Abstract. The issue concerning growth-youth unemployment nexus has not been verified with respect to upper middle-income countries (UMIC) in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). The importance of this paper is to ascertain the relationship between economic growth and youth unemployment based on panel and individual countries data in term of annual series data from 1991 to 2017. To achieve the objective of this paper, data were sourced from the World Bank development indicators, for GDP growth rate and youth unemployment rate. Several statistical and econometric tests were conducted, the results obtained revealed that the average GDP-growth rate was 6.36% while youth unemployment rate was 32.30% for UMIC in SSA. The individual countries statistics indicated that Gabon has the highest GDP-growth rate of 21.01% while the highest youth unemployment rate was in South Africa with 47.30%. The lowest GDP-growth rate was observed in South Africa while the lowest youth unemployment was observed in Equatorial Guinea with 11.69%. The empirical results indicated that there exists a long-run and positive relationship between the variables of GDP-growth rate and youth unemployment rate in UMIC in SSA and that Okun’s law is not applicable in these countries. Based on the results obtained statistically it revealed high rate of youth unemployment and low rate of GDP-growth within the period of study, hence this paper suggest that individual countries in the UMIC in SSA should implement youth employment scheme in order to reduce the level of unemployment with respect to this age cohort. Creation of jobs for youth will help to reduce the economic and social costs associated with youth unemployment especially in countries like South Arica, Namibia, Botswana and Gabon. The UMIC in SSA are encouraged to boost their level of economic activities through investment in order to stimulate employment of young-able body persons in UMIC in SSA. Keywords. Economic growth, Youth unemployment, Upper middle-income countries, Sub-Saharan Africa, Okuns’s coefficient. JEL. O40, O57, J64.