Authorities In South Africa Research Articles

Review of soil form and wetness indicators for wetland delineation in South Africa

Wetland delineation in South Africa incorporates soil form and soil wetness indicators, requiring formal soil classification and description of soil redox morphology. The current wetland definition used administratively in South Africa focuses on saturated (hydric) soil signatures within plant root zones. Saturated soil horizons deeper than plant root zones fall outside the 50 cm criterion in the local approach as well as the accepted zone in USA literature. The field of hydropedology accommodates the classification of the various hydrologically active horizons and provides a tool for the handling of horizons with ephemeral wetness. This approach has been variably accepted by mandated authorities in South Africa. The South African soil classification system has evolved through three editions over the past 50 years while retaining the same redox morphology understanding. However, despite the concepts and context of redox morphology having been thoroughly technically adopted by soil scientists, this is not the case within the wetland research and management environment. This especially because the classification system is structured differently from other international systems, and the South African landscape is geologically ancient with mature soils, introducing challenges to resource assessment specialists who rely on international norms and approaches for wetland assessment. This paper reviews the various components of soil classification and redox morphology based on Fe and Mn minerals within the context of the South African soil classification system, the field of hydropedology and wetland delineation indicators. We provide a qualitative correlation between the various diagnostic horizons and materials in the system and their related redox morphology contexts that are relevant to wetland assessment, delineation, and protection in South Africa. This paper therefore aims to serve as a reference point for the description and correlation of various soil hydrological parameters used in formal assessments.

Road Users in Road Traffic Fatalities in South Africa: Challenges and Effective Responses

Approximately 1.3 million people die each year as a result of road traffic crashes (World Health Organization, 2022). Furthermore, road traffic injuries are the leading cause of death for children and young adults aged 5-29 years, with more than half of all road traffic deaths occurring among vulnerable road users: pedestrians, cyclists, and motorcyclists. Young people pose a significant risk on the road globally, including in South Africa, where negligent driving is prevalent, putting other road users at risk of fatalities. Road traffic fatalities are a pressing issue for road traffic authorities in South Africa, with increasing numbers of fatalities. The inability of young people to adhere to road rules contributes to this high rate of road traffic fatalities. This article focuses on the challenges associated with young road users in road traffic fatalities and employs a qualitative methodology drawing on a wide range of secondary sources. It further utilizes findings from around the world to address these challenges. The research identifies key steps to prevent road traffic fatalities among young people, including strengthening law enforcement, conducting road safety awareness campaigns, combating corruption at driving license testing centers, and ensuring licenses are awarded based on competency rather than corrupt practices.

Mergers and acquisitions between online automobile-marketplace platforms: Responses by competition authorities in South Africa, Australia, and the United Kingdom

This study explores how competition authorities in three jurisdictions—South Africa, Australia, and the United Kingdom—have responded to proposed corporate mergers and acquisitions involving online intermediation platforms that provide automobile marketplaces. The article examines the notified (and ultimately prohibited) MIH eCommerce Holdings acquisition of WeBuyCars in South Africa; the notified (and authorised) Gumtree acquisition of Cox Media in Australia; and, in the UK, the notified (and authorised) eBay acquisition of Motors.co.uk. The author evaluates the competition considerations that came to the fore in each of these three cases and, based on these determinations, the competition authorities’ decisions. The article then highlights some of the complexities that digital online intermediation platforms pose for competition authorities, and some of the possible ways in which the complexities can be managed.

Exploring the involvement of tax audit experts in the early stages of tax audits

Tax compliance and evasion pose significant challenges to tax authorities in South Africa and other countries. In recent times, corporate governance issues have increasingly involved tax compliance. This study focuses on unresolved audit issues with the South African Revenue Service (SARS), expensive litigation, and lengthy arbitration with the tax Ombudsman. These issues are complicated by legal elucidations, legislative components, and regulatory frameworks. The paper aims to clarify the purpose of a tax legal audit expert at SARS in the initial phases of an audit procedure. To answer this research question, a thorough mapping review using methodical, technique-based literature evaluation was conducted. The study found that the lack of skilled tax legal audit experts hampers the effectiveness and efficiency of tax audits. Therefore, tax authorities must invest in the skills of tax legal audit experts to improve audit outcomes.

Inflation dynamics in South Africa: The role of public debt

Orientation: Inflation targeting requires prudent fiscal policy to achieve desired results.Motivation for the study: Since the 2007–2008 financial crisis, fiscal authorities in South Africa have implemented an aggressive fiscal stimulus that has resulted in an acceleration of public debt, accompanied by a sustained government deficit. At the same time, the economy has continued to struggle with achieving significant growth to assist the government with its ever-growing expenditure obligations.Research Purpose: This study set out to investigate the relationship between inflation dynamics and the stance of fiscal policy, with a focus on public debt, in South Africa.Method: This study employs a New Keynesian dynamic stochastic general equilibrium (NKDSGE) model with financial frictions calibrated on South African data.Main Findings: The results of this study showed that when fiscal authorities put a relatively small weight on the control of public debt, inflation significantly increases in response to economic shocks. As a result, the cost channel of monetary policy transmission dominates the demand channel even if the loan rate pass-through is complete.Practical/Managerial Implications: The results of this study highlight the importance of fiscal discipline and its potential adverse effects on monetary authorities’ ability to achieve price stability as set out in their monetary framework.Contribution/Value added: To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study to analyse inflation dynamics and public debt in South Africa using modular experiments in a structural model derived from micro-economic foundations of constrained decision-making.

Flexible pavement performance and life cycle assessment incorporating climate change impacts

Construction, maintenance and demolition of pavements are often considered the only activities impacting the environment. This paper shows that user emissions, influenced by factors such as road roughness and climate change, are also important measurements of pavement sustainability . The objective of this paper is to complete a life cycle assessment of a typical flexible pavement based on the climate change forecast by using road deterioration and user emissions analysed with the Highway Development and Management 4 (HDM-4) package. Data from South Africa were used to prove the concept. Results showed that user emissions dominate life cycle environmental impacts , and that gradual warming and drying of the atmosphere attributed to climate change is beneficial to pavement deterioration and emissions alike. Although invariably debate about the impact of climate change has negative connotations, and the reality of many negative impacts, road authorities in South Africa are fortunate that less rainfall will be beneficial.

ANALYSING CHALLENGES ASSOCIATED WITH YOUNG DRIVERS IN ROAD TRAFFIC ACCIDENTS IN SOUTH AFRICA

Ponte Academic JournalNov 2022, Volume 78, Issue 11 ANALYSING CHALLENGES ASSOCIATED WITH YOUNG DRIVERS IN ROAD TRAFFIC ACCIDENTS IN SOUTH AFRICAAuthor(s): Modipa MmakwenaJ. Ponte - Nov 2022 - Volume 78 - Issue 11 doi: 10.21506/j.ponte.2022.11.6 Abstract:Every year the lives of approximately 1.3 million people are cut short as a result of a road traffic crash, between 20 and 50 million more people suffer non-fatal injuries, with many incurring a disability as a result of their injury (World Health Organisation, 2022). Young drivers pose a high risk on the road globally even in South Africa is prevalent. Reckless and negligent driving is common among young drivers which put other road users at risk of being involved in road traffic accidents. Road traffic accidents is a burning issue for road traffic authorities in South Africa as more people are dying on the roads. The inability of young drivers to adhere to the rules of the road contribute immensely to the high rate of road traffic accidents in South Africa. This article focused on the challenges associated with young drivers in road traffic accidents. The article is based on a qualitatively rooted methodology including a wide range of primary and secondary sources. The article further draws on the findings from the world to counteract challenges associated with young drivers in road traffic accidents. The research based key steps leading to the prevention of road traffic accidents amongst young drivers. The first step related to the process of intensifying law enforcement on the road; strengthening road safety awareness campaigns; counteracting corruption at driving license testing centres (DLTC) to ensure that drivers are competent to drive on the public road. Download full text:Check if you have access through your login credentials or your institution Username Password

Local Authorities and Traditional Rulers in the Reserves of South West Africa in Middle 20th Century

The article is devoted to the participation of the traditional authorities of South-West Africa (Namibia) in the system of local self-government in the middle twentieth century. It is based on materials taken by the author from the Namibian archives and not widely introduced into scientific circulation before. As a result of legislative acts of the Government of South Africa from 1919, 1920 and 1923, new reserves were added to the 6 reserves previously created by the German authorities in South Africa, and as a result, by 1962 there were 24 of them and they made up more than 25 % of its territory. By the 1950s, a system of “native councils” was created in the reserves of the South West Africa. At the head of such councils were white officials. The white official appointed "chiefs" or “elders” who were members of the council. In addition, the council consisted of “no more than six” elected members. In the activities of such councils, an important role was played by persons who had the traditional status of power. In 1962—1963, it was proposed to combine all reserves into 10 homelands by analogy with the bantustans of South Africa. It was also proposed to incorporate representatives of the traditional elite into the administration of homelands when creating Legislative Councils there.

Hegemonie en mag: 'n Normatiewe besinning in die lig van 'n gevallestudie Hegemony and power: A normative reflection as elucidated by a case study

Hegemonie en mag: 'n Normatiewe besinning in die lig van 'n gevallestudie Hegemony and power: A normative reflection as elucidated by a case study

Business Roundup

BUSINESS Business Roundup ShareShare onFacebookTwitterWechatLinked InRedditEmail C&EN, 2021, 99 (44), p 19December 6, 2021Cite this:C&EN 99, 44, 19AbstractChemours has completed the sale of its sodium cyanide business to the Czech Republic firm Draslovka Holding for $521 million. However, antitrust authorities in South Africa have blocked Sasol’s plan to sell its cyanide business to Draslovka. HotSpot Therapeutics has raised $100 million in series C financing, bringing its total funding to $190 million. The biotech firm is targeting regulatory sites on proteins that it calls “natural hotspots” for allosteric drugs. Ineos Styrolution and Recycling Technologies will build a pilot plant in Swindon, England, to test Recycling’s polystyrene depolymerization process. It uses a fluidized bed reactor, which the partners say is easily scalable for larger plants. Evonik Industries is investing in Revivo BioSystems, a Singapore-based developer of alternatives to animal tests for skin-care products. The start-up uses microfluidics to make organ-on-a-chip systems that model live skin with cultured human skin or human skin samples. Bridgestone will close three of itsView: PDF | Full Text HTML

Traditional Authority in South Africa: Reconstruction and Resistance in the Eastern Cape

This article examines two contradictory conceptions of customary law, as either fundamentally democratic or autocratic, and their impact on the constant reconstruction of and resistance to chiefly authority in modern-day South Africa. In the last 15 years or so South Africa has witnessed a strong legislative agenda to centralise the power of senior traditional leaders. The new traditional authority laws’ ahistorical, authoritarian understanding of customary law – as something to be defined and imposed on rural communities by senior traditional leaders – is directly opposed to the Constitutional Court’s interpretation of customary law as something to be determined with reference to practice from and acceptance by the people whose customary law is under consideration. This article studies the net result of these contradictory processes on local contestations over chiefly power in the Eastern Cape. It displays the state’s concerted efforts to impose a model of traditional authority that empowers senior traditional leaders, even in contexts where local communities strongly contest this model, arguing that it contravenes their custom and history, as well as their democratic rights. The article highlights the enduring legacy of apartheid constructions, and the powerful role of contemporary governments in their recreation. New laws are an important tool in this process. They entrench an apartheid model of traditional leaders and minimise rural democracy. It is only with serious efforts of community mobilisation and legal education and support that local communities can successfully access the courts to challenge the actions taken by an alliance of chiefs and state. Ultimately, our analysis highlights an understudied link between the functioning and legitimacy of chiefs in democratic states and the autocratic or democratic conception of the customary law underlying the powers of such chiefs.

Finding Roles in Unseen Places: Government Action Conferring Roles on Traditional Authorities in South Africa

Chapter 12 of the South African Constitution opens the door for traditional leadership institutions to exercise a public role at the local level of government. The wording of this chapter was subject to contestation before the Constitution came into force, and its interpretation has been debated since. What does it mean for traditional authorities to have a constitutionally recognised role in South Africa, and what should be the extent of their powers? While these debates continue, the South African parliament continues to develop new laws that determine traditional authorities’ role in relation to specific government functions, including land administration and dispute resolution. Parliamentary processes thus create new opportunities for public debates about traditional authorities’ place within South Africa. At the same time, government has continued to provide roles for traditional authorities through parallel processes that have largely gone unnoticed by the public. This article attempts to explore the scope of these unseen roles and lay the foundation for assessing whether they could withstand constitutional scrutiny. In a context where traditional authorities are paid by government but not held to the same standards of accountability as government officials, what are the inherent dangers in providing these roles to traditional authorities and how can accountability be ensured?

The Indian Approach to Criminal Justice: The Role of Traditional Courts as Alternative Dispute Resolution Mechanisms

South Africa and India both struggle with a high crime rate and case backlogs in the mainstream courts. Both countries have a pluralistic system where state law consists of formal law and customary law. Both have mainstream and traditional courts following dispute resolution based on traditional values and principles. The panchayat system in India is comparable to traditional authorities in South Africa. The panchayat system performs judicial-like functions, and traditional courts operate at informal (nyaya panchayat) and formal (gram nyayalayas) levels in the rural areas. The lok adalat system is an alternative dispute resolution mechanism employed by the Indian government to address the high crime rate and court backlogs. Statistics reveal that these alternative justice mechanisms based on traditional values and principles have successfully cleared some backlogs. South Africa is in the process of adopting legislation on traditional courts, and it is envisaged that the Traditional Courts Bill [B1-2017] will soon be transformed into law. In reconsidering traditional courts’ role in the South African criminal justice system, it is worthwhile to explore what the Indian government has been doing in this regard. The main aim is to analyse the Indian approach to criminal justice regarding dispute resolution examples based on traditional laws, namely the panchayat system (nyaya panchayats and gram nyayalayas) and also lok adalats in a comparative context.

Beyond Foot-Dragging: A Reflection on the Reluctance of South Africa’s National Prosecution Authority to Prosecute Apartheid Crimes in Post-Transitional Justice

To this day, apartheid is still regarded as one of the most heinous crimes to have affected humankind. The brutality of the apartheid system and its impact not only left devastating effects in the minds of the black majority who were affected by the system, but also drew international attention. This prompted the United Nations Security Council to pass drastic resolutions to try and end the apartheid system. It is important to highlight that apartheid crime was committed at the behest of the-then National Party government at the expense of the black majority. The attainment of democratic rule in 1994 also saw the emergence of the need for transitional justice. However, after 25 years of foot-dragging, the National Prosecution Authority in South Africa has still not been fully committed to prosecute apartheid atrocities. This article examines the crime of apartheid and the impact of the transitional justice process in South Africa. The article further reflects on the National Prosecution Authority’s reluctance to prosecute crimes of apartheid and examines the final report of the People’s Tribunal on Economic Crimes in South Africa.

Medicine shortages and challenges with the procurement process among public sector hospitals in South Africa; findings and implications

BackgroundMedicine shortages are a complex global challenge affecting all countries. This includes South Africa where ongoing medicine shortages are a concern among public sector hospitals as South Africa strives for universal access to healthcare. The objectives of this research were to highlight challenges in the current pharmaceutical procurement process for public sector hospitals. Subsequently, suggest potential ways forward based on the findings as the authorities in South Africa seek to improve the procurement process.MethodQualitative in-depth interviews were conducted with 10 pharmacy managers in public sector hospitals in the Gauteng Province, South Africa. A thematic content analysis was performed, with transcripts coded by two of the authors. Coding was discussed until consensus was reached. Categories were developed and grouped into themes.ResultsThe ‘Procurement process’ emerged from the data as the overarching theme, rooted in three main themes: (i) The buy-out process that was used to procure medicines from suppliers other than the contracted ones; (ii) Suppliers not performing thereby contributing to medicine shortages in the hospitals; and (iii) Challenges such as the inaccuracy of the electronic inventory management system used in the hospitals.ConclusionsEffective management of contracts of suppliers by the Provincial Department of Health is crucial to ensure accessibility and availability of essential medicines to all citizens of South Africa. Ongoing monitoring and support for the future use of computerised inventory management systems is important to reduce medicine shortages, and this is being followed up.

What effect do local political elites have on infant and child death? Elected and chiefly authority in South Africa.

Under what conditions do local political elites in new democracies promote citizen health? To address the question, this paper advances hypotheses grounded in prominent political science debates and assesses them against comprehensive, granular data from the most recent South African national census. The evidence rejects the hypotheses that relatively great partisan competition and relatively great popular participation boost local population health. The evidence provides conditional support for the hypotheses that local health outcomes are enhanced in municipalities where the national ruling party commands relatively great citizen backing and where hereditary chiefs are strong. In particular, where local strongholds of the national ruling party coincide with strong chiefly authority, the predicted probability of infant and under-five death over all households is reduced, as is the predicted probability of infant and under-five death among majority Black African households, holding other things equal. In these nuanced ways, the actors holding power at the local level matter for the survival of babies and children in South Africa. The paper contributes to scholarship on institutions in new democracies, chiefly authority, the conditions for infant and under-five survival, and the political determinants of health. In doing so, it demonstrates the value of drilling down to the local level to probe the political determinants of population health.

Intersection of Migration and Local Governance: Lessons on Methods and Research Design

A recent study interrogating the ways in which municipal authorities in South Africa are governing their mobile communities demonstrated that there is potential for both conceptual innovation and methodological rigor when integrating the cross-cutting systems of migration and local governance. However, this integration also posed a number of challenges that were apparent both during the data collection phase, as well as when the diagnostic tool was designed. The process of implementing this research raised methodological and conceptual questions about how these two areas of work intersect. This paper aims to reflect not on the results of the study itself, but on the methodological process issues that can lay a foundation for a better understanding of how to study the intersection of two interdisciplinary fields. This research took place in five South African municipalities in Limpopo, Gauteng, and Mpumalanga, selected because they reflect a broad spectrum of migration dynamics and demographic patterns. An institutional ethnography approach was drawn on, which included mixed methods fieldwork with document review, key stakeholder interviews, focus groups, and community mapping took place in all five municipalities, taking an inductive approach to developing a diagnostic tool, which was applied retrospectively based on the data gathered. This paper found that resolving a number of divergent conceptual issues is important to effectively interpret results around the intersection of the cross-cutting fields of governance and migration. This methodological reflection is important on its own, but it will also help ensure that future initiatives around strengthening local governance, or making systems more responsive to the needs of migrants, are on solid conceptual, methodological, and practical ground.

Analysing training needs of TVET teachers in South Africa: An empirical study

Context: This paper reports on a study of the progress of vocational education and training (VET) and the need for further profession-oriented training of lecturers in public, technical vocational colleges in South Africa, under the consideration of societal and political conditions.Approach: The study is based on a mixed methods approach in which an analysis of educational policy documents and a qualitative and a quantitative study with VET teachers and representatives of education authorities in South Africa are conducted.Findings: The classification of the results is conducted in line with the conditions defined by Phillips and Ochs regarding policy transfers. The following can thus be observed through the bilateral relationship between Germany and South Africa: (1) The Guiding Philosophy of the educational system is characterised by societal and political power structures. This is evident in an analysis of approved reforms within the last two decades. (2) The desired effects of “Ambitions Goals” have thus far not taken hold. Nonetheless, there is a willingness to enact reforms to continue developing vocational education, including the training and further education of lecturers that must be noted. Minimum requirements regarding lecturers’ basic qualifications have been formulated, which one in five vocational lecturers in South Africa currently cannot fulfil. (3) The Strategies formulated to implement training methods face the main problem of difficulty in implementation in colleges. (4) The Enabling Structures, i.e. the education-management-system as well as the financial and personnel support of the educational system, are widely perceived by lecturers as unsupportive, ineffective and discriminatory. This is observed, for example, when looking at the equipment used, teachers’ salaries, classroom sizes as well as the mentorship programme and further training opportunities. (5) Processes: a discrepancy exists on the level of the lecturers and the central need for further training regarding modern technologies, especially those used by foreign firms in their production in South Africa. (6) The results of the conducted study document a high variation of qualifications among TVET lecturers when it examines their teaching Techniques.Conclusions: Overall, the empirical results of the study reveal a complex structure with respect to the requirements for further training of TVET lecturers, describe central needs for further training of lecturers and deliver connectable knowledge for both the practical educational advancement of lecturer training and further education training, as well as for research in the context of the internationalisation of vocational training in South Africa.

A RISK BASED APPROACH TO HERITAGE MANAGEMENT IN SOUTH AFRICA

Abstract. The management of heritage resources within the South African context is governed by the National Heritage Resources Act, act 25 of 1999 (NHRA). This legislation calls for an integrated system of heritage management that allows for the good governance of heritage across the three tiers of government. The South African Heritage Resources Agency (SAHRA), as the national body responsible for heritage management, is mandated to compile and maintain an inventory of the national estate. The South African Heritage Resources Information System (SAHRIS) was designed to facilitate this mandate as well as provide a management platform through which the three-tiers of governance can be integrated. This vision of integrated management is however predicated on the implementation of the three-tier system of heritage management, a system which to date has not been fully implemented, with financial and human resource constraints being present at all levels. In the absence of the full implementation of this system and the limited resources available to heritage authorities, we argue that a risk based approach to heritage management will allow under resourced heritage authorities in South Africa to prioritise management actions and ensure mitigations are in place for at risk heritage resources. The aim of this paper is to position the inventory of the national estate as the key driver in the production of risk analysis models for an informed approach to heritage management.

Critical Investigation of Challenges in the Recognition of Customary Law in the Democratic South Africa

This paper identifies indirect colonial rule as an impediment towards recognition of indigenous authority in South Africa. Indigenous Africans have observed customary law from time immemorial in the pre-colonial era to govern its own people with success before the establishment of British colonial policies. Indirect rule treated indigenous tribal chiefs as political intermediaries, which has caused imbalance of the application of law. This policy was used as a mechanism from which apartheid emerged during the twentieth Century and changed African political identity landscape to favour imperialistic ideology. We explore potential alignment in the application of customary law with common law in our courts to mark the democratic dispensation in the post-colonial era. This paper aims to explore the implications of different legal systems used in democratic post-apartheid South Africa and which are influenced by the apartheid legacy and the failure to recognise African values and principles. The influence of western values resulted in the omission of Ubuntu humanist philosophy from the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1966 (Act 108 of 1996) (hereinafter referred to as “the Constitution”).