Cape District Research Articles

Comparative phylogenomic patterns in the Baja California avifauna, their conservation implications, and the stages in lineage divergence

Comparative phylogeography explores the historical congruence of co-distributed species to understand the factors that led to their current genetic and phenotypic structures. Even species that span the same biogeographic barrier can exhibit different phylogeographic structures owing to differences in effective population sizes, genetic marker bias, and dispersal abilities. The Baja California peninsula and adjacent desert regions include several biogeographic barriers, including the Vizcaíno Desert and Sierra de la Laguna (Cape District), that have left phylogeographic patterns in some but not all species. We used genome-wide SNP data to test the hypothesis that the diverse phylogeographic patterns inferred from prior studies were supported. We found that mitochondrial DNA, single nuclear gene, and genome-wide SNP data show that the cactus wren and LeConte’s thrasher have a concordant historical division at or near the Vizcaíno Desert in north-central Baja California, the Gila woodpecker is at an intermediate stage of divergence, and the California gnatcatcher lacks phylogeographic structure. None of these four species are classified taxonomically in a way that captures their evolutionary history with the exception of the LeConte’s thrasher. We also analyzed mtDNA data on samples of nine other species that span the Vizcaíno Desert, with four showing no apparent division, and six additional species from the Sierra de la Laguna, all but one of which are differentiated. Reasons for contrasting phylogeographic patterns among these species should be explored further with genomic data to test the extent of concordant phylogeographic patterns. The evolutionary division at the Vizcaíno desert is well known in other vertebrate species, and our study further corroborates the extent, profound effect, and importance of this biogeographic boundary. The areas north and south of the Vizcaíno Desert, which contains considerable diversity, should be recognized as historically significant areas for conservation.

Clinical associates and access to healthcare in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa.

BackgroundClinical associates (ClinAs) were introduced into South Africa as part of the remedy for the severe shortage of healthcare workers in rural areas. Walter Sisulu University (WSU) graduated 100 ClinAs between 2011 and 2014. These ClinAs were expected to be based at district hospitals where they would work under the supervision of doctors, reduce the workload of doctors and increase access to healthcare in the Eastern Cape.AimThis study aimed to examine the role played by ClinAs in healthcare delivery in Eastern Cape district hospitals, and to determine whether the training of ClinAs adequately prepared them for this role.SettingThe study was conducted in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa amongst ClinAs who graduated from WSU between 2011 and 2014, and healthcare workers from Madzikane KaZulu Memorial Hospital.MethodsThis was an exploratory cross-sectional mixed methods study with a convergent design. Surveys and in-depth interviews were conducted amongst ClinAs, nurses, doctors and one pharmacist. Both qualitative and quantitative data were analysed and reported.ResultsClinical associates are seen to improve the workload of doctors, and to increase access to healthcare. Thirty-four percent of ClinAs were no longer contributing to healthcare in the Eastern Cape.ConclusionClinical associates are making a significant contribution to access to healthcare in the Eastern Cape. Their supervision regimen needs to be revisited and factors that contribute to the attrition of ClinAs in the Eastern Cape need to be addressed.

District-level agricultural total factor productivity for the Karoo, South Africa: 1952–2002

ABSTRACT An earlier study of district-level agricultural total factor productivity in the Western Cape province of South Africa Conradie et al. (2009a, b) is extended to include eleven Northern Cape districts that in combination make up the Karoo. Tornqvist Theil total factor productivity (TFP) indices are calculated using accounting data from 10 years of the farm census between 1949/50 and 2001/2. The Northern Cape districts experienced the same general productivity decline as those of the Western Cape’s Central Karoo. Both parts of the broader Karoo region show a similar mean rate of decline. However, the reasons for this are different, with developments in irrigation systems a major factor.

Learning through play in Grade R classrooms: Measuring practitioners’ confidence, knowledge and practice

Background: This article reports on the evaluation of a professional development programme for underqualified Grade R practitioners, many of whom work under challenging conditions. Aim: The study aimed to evaluate the practitioners’ confidence, knowledge and practice of play. Setting: The programme involved a 5-week training programme for 1000 Grade R practitioners across three Eastern Cape districts. Methods: The study included three data sources: (1) self-reported shifts in confidence and practice solicited through closed Likert-type questions, (2) responses to open-ended questions on knowledge of play and (3) lesson observations of case study practitioners, using a lesson observation protocol to distil quantitative shifts in the practice of case study practitioners ( n = 10), compared with control practitioners ( n = 4). Results: The evaluation found positive shifts in practitioners’ self-reporting on their confidence and knowledge of play. However, evidence of their knowledge of play was mixed. Practitioners offered very general conceptions of play, with specific attention on the expected ‘form’ of play. The use of materials for play, and changed classroom practice from whole class to small groups, were most strongly evident. Because it was short course of 5 weeks, lesson observations of case study practitioners were less positive, with no significant difference between treatment and control lesson observations. Conclusion: The study opens a window into the implementation of the 5-week professional development programme and the instrumentation used to reflect on practitioners’ confidence, knowledge and practice of play. The discussion reflects critically on improving the instrumentation in future for measuring shifts in practitioner confidence, knowledge and practice of play.

Ineffectiveness of meat inspection in the detection of Taenia solium cysticerci in pigs slaughtered at two abattoirs in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa.

Porcine and human cysticercosis, caused by the larval stage of tapeworm Taenia solium, is a zoonosis in southern Africa and known to be endemic in South Africa, mainly in Eastern Cape Province. No efforts to control or eradicate this parasite have been made, despite the increasing occurrence in most Eastern Cape districts, except for routine meat inspection at local abattoirs. The parasite poses a potentially serious agricultural problem, public health risk and economic loss amongst Eastern Cape smallholder pig production communities. The objective of this study was to determine the effectiveness of routine meat inspection for the detection of porcine cysticercosis in pigs from rural smallholder/subsistence production systems in Eastern Cape Province villages. The effectiveness of meat inspection, by registered meat inspectors, in the detection of pigs infected with T. solium cysts was assessed and compared with whole carcass dissection as the "gold standard" method. The commercial antigen enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (B158/B160 Ag-ELISA) kit screened all the slaughtered animals. The proportion of pigs found infected with T. solium cysts, as measured by meat inspection, was lower (5%, 9/180) than with carcass dissection (18.9%, 34/180) and B158/B60 Ag-ELISA test (21.6%, 38/176). Four out of 180 carcasses were heavily infested with T. solium cysts, evenly distributed throughout the carcasses, to a level impossible to enumerate. Of the remaining 176 carcasses, approximately 526 cysticerci, distributed at various anatomical regions of the pig, were counted during carcass dissection. Sites with higher cyst counts, such as the back and hind leg, do not form part of the normal meat inspection regime. The level of agreement (Kappa statistic) between dissection (gold standard) and meat inspection of the two districts was negative (-0.1955). There was a slight agreement in the Kappa statistic (0.0328) between dissection and B158/B60 Ag-ELISA. This study confirms that current meat inspection procedures alone are not sufficiently sensitive to detect all cases of porcine cysticercosis at the abattoirs and require modifications, or should be supplemented by other methods. A risk-based meat safety assurance system, such as HACCP, that considers specific food safety aspects before and after the abattoir (point of slaughter) should be followed. Before slaughter, aspects such as origin, husbandry practices and on-farm animal health control should be considered; after slaughter, the abattoir should inform the next entity in the supply chain of the limitations of meat inspections and the real meaning of an "Approval" stamp. New validated testing methods that can be routinely used should be developed, and government should develop policies and legislation that promotes a risk-based meat safety assurance system throughout the food supply chain.

Upaya Mengembangkan Kecerdasan Musikal Melalui Permainan Persepsi Bentuk Musikal Pada Anak Kelomok B di TK Pertiwi Tanjung Juwiring Klaten

This study aims to develop musical intelligence group B children in TK Pertiwi Desa Tanjung District Juwiring Klaten Lesson Year 2012/2013 through the game of musical form perception. This research is a classroom action research (PTK). In this research, the students are group B in TK Pertiwi Desa Tanjung Kecamatan Juwiring Klaten District Lessons Year 2012/2013 as many as 18 children, consist of 12 men and 6 women. This research was conducted in two cycles each cycle consisting of planning stage, action stage, observation, reflection. Children's musical intelligence data was collected through observation methods, and documentation. Data analysis technique used is descriptive qualitative with interactive analysis consisting of data reduction, datapresentation, and conclusion of analysis result. Research results before the implementation of the cycle obtained results of 41.9%, the first cycle reached 56.4%, and the second cycle reached 80.1%. based on research that has been done can be concluded that through the game perception of musical form can improve the musical intelligence of children in kindergarten Pertiwi Village Cape District Juwiring Klaten Lesson Year 2012/2013.

The cost and utilisation patterns of a pilot sign language interpreter service for primary health care services in South Africa

BackgroundThe World Health Organisation estimates disabling hearing loss to be around 5.3%, while a study of hearing impairment and auditory pathology in Limpopo, South Africa found a prevalence of nearly 9%. Although Sign Language Interpreters (SLIs) improve the communication challenges in health care, they are unaffordable for many signing Deaf people and people with disabling hearing loss. On the other hand, there are no legal provisions in place to ensure the provision of SLIs in the health sector in most countries including South Africa. To advocate for funding of such initiatives, reliable cost estimates are essential and such data is scarce. To bridge this gap, this study estimated the costs of providing such a service within a South African District health service based on estimates obtained from a pilot-project that initiated the first South African Sign Language Interpreter (SASLI) service in health-care.MethodsThe ingredients method was used to calculate the unit cost per SASLI-assisted visit from a provider perspective. The unit costs per SASLI-assisted visit were then used in estimating the costs of scaling up this service to the District Health Services. The average annual SASLI utilisation rate per person was calculated on Stata v.12 using the projects’ registry from 2008–2013. Sensitivity analyses were carried out to determine the effect of changing the discount rate and personnel costs.ResultsAverage Sign Language Interpreter services’ utilisation rates increased from 1.66 to 3.58 per person per year, with a median of 2 visits, from 2008–2013. The cost per visit was US$189.38 in 2013 whilst the estimated costs of scaling up this service ranged from US$14.2million to US$76.5million in the Cape Metropole District. These cost estimates represented 2.3%-12.2% of the budget for the Western Cape District Health Services for 2013.ConclusionsIn the presence of Sign Language Interpreters, Deaf Sign language users utilise health care service to a similar extent as the hearing population. However, this service requires significant capital investment by government to enable access to healthcare for the Deaf.

Framing the Narrative: Ethical Relationships in Post-Apartheid South African Museums

This essay examines the narratives told through key touristic elements of Cape Town's Robben Island Museum and District Six Museum, such as guided tours and the preservation and/or recreation of space. Specifically, my argument is concerned with the kinds of ethical relationships that might emerge between a visitor/audience and the stories told within these museums. Focusing the curatorial goals of the museum in memorializing a specific history, and the kinds of stories visitors expect, I provide a phenomenological reading of these museums to argue that they lay a foundation for an ethical encounter, though the more fluid narrative of District Six Museum is ultimately more successful. Using Avishai Margalit's The Ethics of Memory and Emmanuel Levinas's face to face encounter, I analyze how these museums invite visitors to join what Margalit calls a "community of caring."

Gold and associated industrial heavy minerals in the Icy Cape District: White River to Icy Cape, Alaska, USA

Gold and associated industrial heavy minerals in the Icy Cape District: White River to Icy Cape, Alaska, USA

Support for volunteer caregivers and its influence on the quality of community home-based care in the Eastern Cape, South Africa

The factors influencing the quality of community home-based care (CHBC) were explored from the perspective of volunteer caregivers, their clients and key informants in a South African Eastern Cape district. Focus group discussions and semi-structured interviews were used to collect data on the perceptions of quality of care from 32 volunteer caregivers, 32 clients and 12 other key informants. The survey data were descriptively analyzed and the qualitative data thematically coded. The results showed that supervisor support, peer support, community support and family support of the volunteer caregivers influenced their ability to provide quality CHBC to their clients.

Editor's Focus

Uptake and factors that affect enrolment into the prevention of mother-to-child transmission of the human immunodeficiency virus programme Delays by people living with human immunodeficiency virus/acquired immune deficiency syndrome in accessing antiretroviral therapy The prevalence of burnout and depression in medical doctors in the Cape Town Metropolitan Municipality clinics and district hospitals

The clinical evaluation of the expressive syntax of bilingual English preN.schoolers in the greater Cape Town area: suggested modificat:;ons to the 1981 LARSP profile

Introduction. The NEPI-report (1992:13) states that the national tendency of parents is to choose English as the medium of school instruction for their children. This tendency is very much present in the greater suburban area of Cape Town^'^ and particulary in the Cape Flats and District Six (McCormick 1989:149). In preparing their children for school, the parents in the Area usually try to raise their children in English from birth^. In some cases the parents are not mother tongue speakers of English, but of the local variety of Afrikaans. This results in second language English input being given to the children at home. According to McCormick (1993:66), the scenario of children acquiring English second language as their first language is thus not uncommon in the Area. The reader is referred to Appendix 1 for a brief discussion of the grammatical characteristics of the English spoken in the Area.

Farmers’ perceptions of the impact of legislation on farm workers’ wages and working conditions: an eastern cape case study

ABSTRACT The status of South African farm workers has changed significantly over the past five decades. Using data from three major surveys conducted between 1957 and 2008, an Eastern Cape district was used as a case study to assess farmers’ perceptions of the changes that had occurred, particularly as a result of legislation. Considering the changes, the impacts on the farm labour market and wage and non-wage working conditions are analysed. The legislation focused on includes the Extension of Security of Tenure Act 62 (ESTA) of 1997, the Basic Conditions of Employment Act 75 (BCEA) of 1997 and minimum wage legislation. Farmers believed legislation had both positive and negative effects, which were compounded by changes in the political and economic contexts. The case study reveals that government has a role in improving the status of farm labourers, with education and healthcare services requiring special attention. However, caution is needed to ensure that further reductions in farm employment are restricted.

South African Eastern Cape Contexts Influencing the Quality of Community Home-Based Care

This study explored the perceptions of the quality of community home-based care (CHBC) as provided by volunteer caregivers in a South African Eastern Cape district. Data on perceptions regarding quality of care were collected from 76 community informants (32 volunteer caregivers, 32 clients and 12 key informants) using focus group discussions and semi-structured interviews. The quantitative data from the survey were descriptively analyzed and the qualitative data thematically coded. The results showed that poverty, inclusive of substandard living conditions, unemployment and a lack of food security influenced the perceived quality of the CHBC.

Forgotten by the Highway: Globalisation, Adverse Incorporation and Chronic Poverty in a Commercial Farming District of South Africa

This paper presents key findings from a livelihoods survey of households in four poor neighbourhoods in the Western Cape district of Ceres, one of the centres of South Africa's deciduous fruit export industry. It explores the nature and dynamics of the persistence of poverty in the context of continued and relatively sustained economic development and growth, and considers whether the concept of 'social exclusion' can help in making sense - especially policy sense - of these dynamics. It is suggested that while focusing on 'social exclusion' certainly helps draw attention to power relations, powerlessness, and the processes that perpetuate these, coming up with workable policy responses to social exclusion requires developing a much more nuanced analysis of the social processes involved in what is perhaps more productively thought of as 'adverse incorporation'. The paper begins with a short description of Ceres and a brief introduction to the key theoretical issues. A schematic overview of social relations and inequality in Western Cape agriculture precedes a summary of some of the key policy responses developed to address poverty and inequality after the transition to democratic rule, and a sketch of some of the most important trends in the sector. This provides the background for a discussion of household livelihood activities and problems. The paper draws on quantitative surveys and semi-structured interviews with selected households, as well as on analyses and insights flowing from medium and long-term qualitative research and fieldwork on deciduous fruit production and social power relations in the area.

Directional trends in selected aspects of rural poverty in the Eastern Cape Province: changes during the first ten years of South African democracy

This study analysed changes in demographic, gender, basic service access and agricultural production patterns in the rural black Eastern Cape Province between 1993 and 2002 in order to offer advice for future poverty alleviation strategies. It used secondary data from national surveys and the 2001 census and stratified the Eastern Cape districts into former Transkei, former Ciskei and commercial farming district sub-regions, in accordance with the pre-1994 developmental scenarios. The results showed that the demographic and basic service access changes were positive, but that pre-existing sub-regional differences had been reinforced, indicating that the populous former Transkei was being marginalised. There has been little development for rural women, agricultural production is almost negligible and employment in commercial farming has declined. Geographically targeted interventions seem to be warranted for the demographic, gender development and basic service accessibility aspects of Eastern Cape rural poverty, but improving rural production appears to be the major challenge.

Amartya K. Sen and social exclusion

Andries Du Toit (2004) argues that the concept of social exclusion has limited use in the field of development studies, since chronic poverty is often the result of incorporation on particularly disadvantageous terms (‘adverse incorporation’) rather than any process of exclusion. Du Toit therefore advocates going beyond thinking about ‘exclusion’ and ‘inclusion’ in binary terms and looking more closely at how different kinds of power are formed and maintained. This article argues that thinking about social exclusion has already moved beyond a simple ‘included/excluded’ dichotomy, and that use of Sen's analytical framework assists researchers to tease out the complex, interconnected factors underlying chronic poverty, such as that experienced by agricultural workers in South Africa's Western Cape district of Ceres.

‘Social Exclusion’ Discourse and Chronic Poverty: A South African Case Study

AbstractThis article questions the export of ‘social exclusion’ discourse to the field of development and poverty studies. It considers the findings of ongoing research into chronic poverty in the Western Cape district of Ceres, one of the centres of the South African deciduous fruit export industry. It explores the links between the livelihood options of poor people and processes of global integration, agro‐food restructuring and the modernization of paternalist farming styles. In this context the concept of ‘social exclusion’ is of only limited utility, and has significant disadvantages. Although it has the potential to focus attention on the disabling effects of poverty, its most common usage often fails to capture how poverty can flow not only from exclusion but also from processes of integration into broader economic and social networks. The author argues that these are better captured by the notion of ‘adverse incorporation’, and calls for a more cautious approach to the modernizing myths and moralizing narratives that shape policy debates.

Die aard van persoonstoename in Calvinia en omgewing: ’n pragmatiese beskouing

The nature of personal sobriquets in Calvinia and vicinity: a pragmatic perspectiveThis contribution focuses on the usage of personal sobriquets in the Northern Cape district Calvinia. Within the framework of a pragmatic analysis the article reflects, on the one hand, on the interaction between sobriquets and other name types and, on the other hand, on the way in which the identifying function, semantic nature and grammatical behaviour of sobriquets are intertwined. Existing studies on sobriquets from diverse theoretical perspectives are incorporated supportively and/or comparatively.

The Effect of Site Preparation and Tending on the Growth ofPinus radiatain the Southern Cape: Five Year Results

SYNOPSIS This paper details the latest results of site preparation and tending experiments in Pinus radiata on regenerated sites, on both Kruisfontein Plantation in the Southern Cape District of the Western Cape Forest Region and Blueliliesbush Plantation in the Tsitsikamma Forest Region. In the Kruisfontein experiment, significant differences in height and root collar diameter were observed for both the soil cultivation and phosphogypsum treatments. The soil cultivation treatments also showed significant differences in tree survival. The Blueliliesbush experiment showed significant differences in height and root collar diameter for the weed control treatments, as well as for the seedling size treatments, but not for the soil cultivation treatments. The seedling size treatments also showed significant differences in tree survival.