Inner-city Johannesburg Research Articles

Social networks and residential choice: Zimbabwean migrants’ experiences in Hillbrow, Johannesburg

Social networks play an important role in migration processes as they provide information about the host country to migrants prior to their departure and arrival. Studies on migrant social networks conducted in South Africa offer limited insights into how these networks influence residential patterns. They do not address why Zimbabwean migrants are concentrated in Hillbrow a neighbourhood located in the inner city of Johannesburg. Therefore, snowball sampling was used to find 11 willing Zimbabwean migrants to participate in the study. The data were collected using face-to-face semi-structured, in-depth interviews. Social networks shaped the residential choices of Zimbabwean migrants, who relied on strong ties rather than weak ties to make decisions on residing in Hillbrow. Social networks and Hillbrow's proximity to the city centre were key factors influencing migrants' residential choices. Residential choices were also shaped by contextual specificities in the neighbourhood and South Africa at large. Hillbrow emerges as Zimbabwean migrants' preferred destination that is safe from xenophobic attacks relative to townships.

“The Great Lesbian Monster Show”: GLOW’s Lesbian Forum Navigating Johannesburg, South Africa, 1991–1995

The inner city of Johannesburg, South Africa, was regarded as a relatively gay-friendly space from the 1970s into the 1990s, but much of the research that interrogates this does so from an overwhelmingly gay and male lens. In this research, I seek to disrupt the view that Johannesburg’s gay subculture was dominated by gay men, and instead seek to examine the politico-queer spaces that lesbian women occupied. Queer literature often regards gay men as the norm within academic studies. In this article, I highlight the importance of lesbian women within South African history. I place the voices and movements of lesbian women within broader ongoing research in queer southern African history. Within this larger history the voices of women are further marginalised while those of gay men are brought to the fore. In this article, I seek to correct this by examining the prominence of lesbian women with South Africa’s gay and lesbian spaces in the 1990s. In order to examine these spaces, I analyse the Lesbian Forum, a group directly linked to the Gay and Lesbian Organisation of the Witwatersrand (GLOW). In this article, I argue that the intricacies of Johannesburg was vital to allowing women in the Lesbian Forum a space to operate.

Determinants of Information about Sexual Health and High-Risk Sexual Behaviour amongst Migrant Youths in Johannesburg, South Africa

Sexual health is essential to the complete well-being of every individual, and provision of all-inclusive and superior-quality information about living a healthful sexual life is necessary for everyone in a community, especially for youths. Using data collected in 2019 from 467 male and female immigrant youths between 18 and 34 years of age who resided in a suburb of the inner city of Johannesburg, this secondary analytical study examined the determining factors of sources of information about sexual health, using condoms inconsistently, and engaging in multiple sexual relationships. Binary logistic regression and negative binomial regression models were employed to understand the relationships between explanatory variables and outcome variables. The determinants of the sources of information about sexual health were gender, educational attainment level, wealth index, and age at first sexual intercourse. Gender, age group, marital status, and migration status were the determining factors for inconsistency of condom use. Gender, migration status, marital status, age at first sexual intercourse, and having had sex while drunk were the determinants of engaging in multiple sexual relationships. Avoiding behaviours that expose individuals to sexual risks and the negative consequences of unprotected sexual activity is crucial for youths. This study shows that receiving information about sexual health from informal sources and high-risk sexual behaviour are major public health problems amongst the immigrant youths.

Strengthening Urban Informal Trading and Improving the Health of Vendors: An Integrated Management Model.

Within the urban areas, especially the central business districts, informal trading is growing in large numbers, and the informal vendor's health is also at risk. Despite various frameworks developed for this industry, there are few guidance and implementation strategies on how to accomplish better-managed informal trading, mostly one that entails better occupational settings. The goal of the proposed model is to improve the working conditions for informal vendors in South Africa by redesigning the current informal trading management approach, thus ensuring a healthy workplace. An evidence-based approach was used to inform the development of this model. This paper outlines the current challenges of informal vendors in urban areas as per the quantitative health risk assessment study that was conducted in 16 markets amongst 617 informal food vendors in the inner city of Johannesburg, South Africa. The study investigated the respiratory health caused by air pollution and associated risk factors. Findings revealed a lack of infrastructure and higher exposure to air pollution, resulting in respiratory ill-health amongst outdoor vendors as compared to indoor vendors. The vendors were more exposed to particulate matter pollution in the spring and winter seasons as compared to the autumn and summer seasons. Furthermore, the upper respiratory symptoms were statistically significant to the type of work location (indoor/outdoor), type of cooking fuel, duration of work, frequency of hand hygiene, and wearing of protective equipment. An informal vendors' integrated management model that encompasses a specific informal food vendor's directorate was developed with five main components: the reviewing of informal vendors' legislation, the restructuring of designated vending or trading sites, space allocation and occupancy, vendors' training and skills development, and the sustainability of vending sites and vendors' health. The status revealed the legislation fragmentation of the informal vendors' activities. The goal of this informal vendors' "healthy workplace management model" is to inform government responses to the current challenges of the informal vendors' sector, as well as to guide policies and actions to reduce ill-health in the industry and to avoid disruptions to informal food supply chains, which are critical in the food sector. This model is explained well and documented for easier implementation in local governments. This paper contributes to the extant literature on street vendors and future management strategies of this trade.

HIV self-test reporting using mHealth platforms: A pilot study in Johannesburg, South Africa.

The main impediment to operational scale-up of HIV self-testing (HIVST) and counselling, is a dearth of information on utilisation, reporting, and linkage to care for HIV-positive individuals. To inform solutions to this issue, this study investigated the utility of self-testers reporting their results using a mobile-health (mHealth) platform, and whether seropositive users linked into care. Candidates who met the recruitment criteria across multiple sites within inner-city Johannesburg each received an HIVST kit. Using short message service (SMS) reminders (50% standard and 50% behavioural science), participants were prompted to self-report results on provided platforms. On the seventh day, users who did not make contact, were called, and surveyed via an interactive voice response system (IVRS). Multivariable regression was used in reporting by age and sex. Of the 9,505 participants, 2,467 (25.9%) participants answered any survey question, and of those, 1,933 (78.4%) were willing to self-report their HIV status. Men were more likely than women to make an inbound call (10.2% vs. 9.1%, p = 0.06) however, women were significantly more likely to self-report their test result (AOR = 1.12, 95%CI = 1.01-1.24, p = 0.025). Overall, self-reporting a test result was predicted by being younger and female. In addition, reporting HIV results was associated with age, 25-35 (AOR = 1.58, 95% CI = 1.24-2.02) and above 35 years (AOR = 2.12, 95% CI = 1.61-2.80). Out of 1,933 participants willing to report their HIV status, 314 reported a positive test, indicating a HIV prevalence of 16.2% (95% CI: 14.6%-18.0%) and of those 204 (65.0%) reported inclination to link to care. While self-reporting HIVST results via an IVRS system yielded a higher response rate, behavioural SMSs were ineffective in increasing self-reporting.

Health Risk Assessment of Informal Food Vendors: A Comparative Study in Johannesburg, South Africa.

According to the best of our knowledge, there are no critical studies to date about associations between the work environment and prevalence of respiratory diseases and their symptoms among urban informal vendors in South Africa. This study followed a risk assessment methodology to assess the risks associated with the occurrence of respiratory health problems among 617 indoor and outdoor market vendors in the inner city of Johannesburg, South Africa. A walkthrough survey using a checklist was conducted in 16 Markets for identification of respiratory risk factors and description of sanitary conditions. Face-to-face interviews were conducted amongst informal food vendors using a previously validated questionnaire to collect information on demographics and occupational and respiratory health. In addition, a single day area air pollution monitoring of PM2.5, SO2, NO2, CO, and CO2 was conducted in two stalls (indoor and outdoor). The Chi-squared test of association and frequency distribution were used to analyse data. Female vendors aged between 30 to 39 years dominated the trade. The results revealed that a majority of the vendors' work shifts are longer than the recommended eight hours per day (73%), six to seven days per week (90%), and most of them have been working for six to ten years (41%). Poor sanitary conditions were observed in 75% of the markets. The concentrations of air pollutants at the outdoor markets were much greater than those in the indoor markets. All air pollution concentrations were below the recommended national and international standards. The risk of outdoor vendors developing any symptoms were extremely greater than those of indoor vendors, especially cooking vendors. Upper respiratory symptoms were the highest amongst the vendors. The results demonstrated a significant association between work-related risk factors, such as type of work location, duration, type of cooking fuel or heat, vendor training, frequency of hand hygiene practice, and using of a mask, and the upper respiratory symptoms. Based on the findings, there is a need for formalization of the trade, improvement in infrastructure, respiratory health care assessments, and sustainable educational programs.

Personal PM2.5 Exposure Monitoring of Informal Cooking Vendors at Indoor and Outdoor Markets in Johannesburg, South Africa.

Air pollutants of concern include particulate matter (PM) in fine size fractions. Thus far, a few studies have been conducted to study the adverse health effects of environmental and occupational air pollutants among informal vendors in big cities in South Africa. Informal vendors in these cities may experience higher exposure to road dust, cooking fumes, and air pollution. This exposure assessment was part of a health risk assessment study of vendors. The objective of this exposure assessment was to determine the differences between outdoor and indoor informal vendors' personal PM2.5 exposures during trading hours. A walkthrough survey was conducted to map the homogeneous exposure groups (HEGs) at vendor markets for sampling purposes, and one market was selected from each of the three identified HEGs. Twenty-five informal cooked food vendors from both indoor (inside buildings) and outdoor (street or roadside vendors) markets in the inner city of Johannesburg, South Africa, participated in the study. HEG-1 were vendors from indoor stalls who used electricity and gas for cooking (10 vendors), HEG-2 was composed of informal outdoor vendors at a fenced site market who used open fire for cooking (10 vendors), and HEG-3 (5 vendors) were roadside vendors who used gas for cooking. Cooking vendors from outdoor markets recorded higher TWA concentrations than indoor market vendors. The vendors' PM2.5 concentrations ranged from <0.01 mg/m3 to 0.77 mg/m3. The mean concentrations of PM2.5 were found to be 0.12 mg/m3, and 0.18 mg/m3 for HEG-2, and HEG-3, respectively. HEG-2 recorded the highest PM2.5 TWA concentrations, followed by HEG-3 and HEG-1. All concentrations were below the South African occupational exposure limit. The findings point to the need for further research into the health risks associated with outdoor cooking vendors, particularly those who utilize open fires.

Hoop it up, Loop it back, Repeat

An inner-city Johannesburg basketball court has served as the backdrop for a decade of intertwining relationships, creating a home away from home and a secondary family for the members of this community. The fence surrounding the space serves as a threshold through which one enters a separate world, distinct from the city that surrounds. The space is reminiscent of a nostalgic hip hop basketball culture, yet also keenly local and unique. The cyclical, repetitive nature of each day at the court allows for the development of deep personal connections and communal safety within the court space. The cuts and ruptures that occur are built into the nature of the culture in the space and while disruptive, are also what allows for growth and change and deeper intertwining. These concepts are explored through conversations amongst court community members and artworks reflecting on this research. While the pivotal elements that develop this community are the people, the physical infrastructure is also key in allowing this day-to-day consistency to lay the groundwork for such a sense of home and belonging.

High prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 antibodies in pregnant women after the second wave of infections in the inner-city of Johannesburg, Gauteng Province, South Africa

ObjectivesAfter South Africa's second wave of COVID-19, this study estimated the SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence among pregnant women in inner-city Johannesburg, South Africa. MethodsIn this cross-sectional survey, 500 pregnant women who were non-COVID-19-vaccinated (aged ≥12 years) were enrolled, and demographic and clinical data were collected. Serum samples were tested using the Wantai SARS-CoV-2 spike antibody enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and Roche Elecsys® anti-SARS-CoV-2 nucleocapsid antibody assays. Seropositivity was defined as SARS-CoV-2 antibodies on either (primary) or both (secondary) assays. Univariate Poisson regression assessed risk factors associated with seropositivity. ResultsThe median age was 27.4 years, and HIV prevalence was 26.7%. SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence was 64.0% (95% confidence interval [CI]: 59.6-68.2%) on the primary and 54% (95% CI: 49.5-58.4%) on the secondary measure. Most (96.6%) women who were SARS-CoV-2-seropositive reported no symptoms. On the Roche assay, we detected lower seroprevalence among women living with HIV than women without HIV (48.9% vs 61.7%, P-value = 0.018), and especially low levels among women living with HIV with a clusters of differentiation 4 <350 cells/ml compared with women without immune suppression (22.2% vs 56.4%, prevalence rate ratio = 0.4; 95% CI: 0.2-0.9; P-value = 0.046). ConclusionPregnant women attending routine antenatal care had a high SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence after the second wave in South Africa, and most had asymptomatic infections. Seroprevalence surveys in pregnant women present a feasible method of monitoring the course of the pandemic over time.

Incentives to promote accessing HIV care and viral suppression among HIV self-screening test users who obtain a reactive result.

IntroductionAchieving viral suppression in people with HIV is crucial in ending the AIDS epidemic. Among users of HIV self-screening tests, low rates of linkage to care and early retention in care are key obstacles to achieving viral suppression. This study sought to evaluate the efficacy of financial incentives in supporting HIV case management.MethodsYoung adults within the inner city of Johannesburg, South Africa and surrounding areas who used HIV self-tests, were able to use WhatsApp to communicate with study personnel, reported a reactive or invalid result, and were confirmed to by HIV-positive were enrolled in the study. Participants were randomised to an intervention arm that received reminders and financial rewards for engaging in care, or to a control arm that received the standard of care. The primary outcome was HIV viral load at six months.ResultsAmong 2,388 HIV self-test kits that were distributed, 1757/2,388 (73,58%) recipients were able to use their phones to send photos to study personnel. 142/1,757 (8,08%) of these recipients reported reactive or invalid results. Upon confirmatory testing, 99/142 (69,71%) participants were identified as being HIV-positive and were enrolled in the study. 2 (1,41%) participants received an HIV negative result, and 41(28,87%) participants were either lost to follow-up or did not complete the confirmatory testing step. 20/99 (20,2%) from the intervention arm and 18/99 (18,18%) from the control arm completed the study (i.e., attended a 6 month follow up and participated in the exit interview). 29/99 (29,29%) were virally suppressed by at 6 months. Of those achieving viral suppression 15 (51,72%) were from the intervention arm.ConclusionFinancial incentives and reminders were not effective in promoting engagement with HIV care and viral suppression in this setting.

A Study Protocol to Assess the Respiratory Health Risks and Impacts amongst Informal Street Food Vendors in the Inner City of Johannesburg, South Africa.

The overall unemployment rate in South Africa was impacted by the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, which led many people to resort to informal work such as street trading opportunities in big cities. However, this work is located in the same cities where air pollution is of concern. Furthermore, literature has indicated the lack of regulation of the informal trading sector as compared to the formal sector. An analytical cross-sectional study is proposed to be conducted amongst all of the informal food street vendors (indoor/inside buildings and outdoor/street pavements stalls) in the inner city of Johannesburg, South Africa. By adopting a total sampling method of 746 vendor stalls, this study’s key focus is on inhalation as an occupational exposure. In addition, the study aims to assess the respiratory risk factors amongst informal food street vendors’ stalls and their impact on vendors’ respiratory health. The risk factors to be assessed include the five common air pollutants: street vendor’s infrastructure; socioeconomic factors; personal behavior such as tobacco smoking and handwashing practices; wearing of respiratory protective equipment; and vendors’ exposure duration. The data collection will follow three phases using quantitative methods. In the pre-assessment phase, it will include a pilot study to test the walkthrough survey checklist and the respiratory symptoms and diseases questionnaire. The assessment phase includes a total of eight area samples, which will be taken in a 1-day event over four yearly seasons, as well as thirty personal samples taken in winter over an 8-h work shift. The post-assessment phase will be the development of a risk impact assessment and a risk management model. The study is essential for healthy occupational conditions as indicated in the Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) Act (no. 85 of 1993) and the Regulations governing general hygiene requirements for food premises, the transport of food, and related matters (no. R638 of 22 June 2018).

Representing Johannesburg in transformation: urban experience, imageries, and the work of art by David Koloane, Jo Ractliffe and Anthea Moys

This paper focuses on artistic engagements with urban change in Johannesburg. The guiding questions are: (1) How do artists perceive and reflect urbanity, social change, and the transition of inner-city Johannesburg within their work? (2) In what ways can artworks contribute to Southern theories and decolonial and pluriversal conceptions of the city? The paper consists of three parts. The first offers a conceptual framing of the relationship between images, imageries, and imagination and their relation to artistic representation and practice. The second part focuses on the work of David Koloane, Jo Ractliffe and Anthea Moys between the late 1990s and the early 2010s, whose artistic work relates in various ways to urban imaginaries, individual experience, and the visual representation of Johannesburg. Inspired by the concepts of cityness and invisibility (Simone), the third part of the paper discusses the interplay between individual positionality and urban experience, the role of socio-political discourses and urban imageries for the artistic expression as well as the potential of such analysis for theorizing urban life and its artistic representations from pluriversal perspectives, as suggested by proponents of decolonial theories.

A CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF THE DECISION OF THE CONSTITUTIONAL COURT* Maphango v Aengus Lifestyle Properties (Pty) Ltd 2012 (3) SA 531 (CC)

The pursuit of access to better economic opportunities such as decent jobs has resulted in an astronomic influx of people into the inner city of Johannesburg, South Africa. As a result there is a high demand for rental housing. This presents an opportunity to make profit for those who leasepremises in order to generate an income. The demand for rental housing has arguably caused the escalation of rental prices, thereby causing a shortage of affordable rental housing in the city centre. The Rental Housing Act 50 of 1999 was enacted to resolve disputes that may arise from any unfair practice or matters affecting the relationship between the landlord and his tenants in respect of the lease contract. In particular, the Rental Housing Act seeks inter alia to “create mechanisms to promote the provision of rental-housing property; promote access to adequate housing through creating mechanisms to ensure the proper functioning of the rental-housing market [and] to lay down general principles governing conflict resolution in the rental-housing sector” (Preamble to the Rental Housing Act). In terms of the Rental Housing Act, the landlord or a tenant may approach the RentalHousing Tribunal and complain about an unfair practice (s 13 of the Rental Housing Act). The Rental Housing Act defines an unfair practice as “a practice unreasonably prejudicing the rights or interests of a tenant or a landlord” (s 1 of the Rental Housing Act). Where the Tribunal, at the conclusion of the hearing, is of the view that an unfair practice exists, it may rule that the exploitative rental be discontinued. The Tribunal may also make a determination about the amount of rental that must be paid by a tenant taking into account inter alia “the need for a realistic return on investment for investors in rental housing”. The argument presented in this case is that the applicants ought to have made up their case in the court of first instance and not at the appellate stage. The paper isdivided into nine sections. Section 2 provides an overview of the facts of the case, section 3 discusses the case before the High Court, section 4 discusses the case before the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA), section 5 discusses the case in the Constitutional Court, the issues, arguments, before the court, the findings and conclusions of the court. Section 6 evaluates the parties’ submissions in light of the Rental Housing Act, the Constitution, the Gauteng Unfair Practices Regulations, and the Prevention of Illegal Eviction from and Unlawful Occupation of Land Act (PIEA) (19 of 1998). Section 7 discusses the majority judgment. Section 8 discusses the minority judgment. Section 9 is a critique of both the minority and majority judgments. The conclusion made is that the applicants should stand or fall by the arguments contained in the founding documents.

Dispossession as depotentiation

This paper proposes a theory of urban dispossession as depotentiation. ‘Depotentiation’, as I employ the term, indicates the diminishment of imminent capacities, affects and potentialities. I propose this formulation to both complement and critique Harvey’s dominant notion of accumulation by dispossession as the commodification of the urban commons and to contribute to conceptual developments on the stratified and affective dimensions of eviction. The evictions in my study operate in liminal urban spaces where there are no ‘commons’, but rather incomplete and fragile processes of ‘commoning’ and high levels of mobility and precarity. This paper draws on ethnographic fieldwork conducted between 2011 and 2019 in inner-city Johannesburg in unlawful and other informal occupations, frequently termed ‘bad buildings’, ‘hijacked buildings’ or ‘dark buildings’ and other low-income accommodation. These are sites of extreme precarity and liminality, endurance and potentiality, where tens of thousands of inner-city residents, South African and foreign-national, live without essential services and subject to the constant threat of eviction or deportation. Dispossession of their residents operates not only through the commodification of an urban commons but also through the diminishment of urban potentiality.

Self-Sampling for SARS-CoV-2 Diagnostic Testing by Using Nasal and Saliva Specimens: Protocol for Usability and Clinical Evaluation.

BackgroundSARS-CoV-2 is a novel coronavirus discovered in December 2019 and is currently the cause of the global COVID-19 pandemic. A critical aspect of fighting this pandemic is to obtain accurate and timely test results so that patients who have tested positive for COVID-19 can be identified and isolated to reduce the spread of the virus. Research has shown that saliva is a promising candidate for SARS-CoV-2 diagnostics because its collection is minimally invasive and can be reliably self-administered. However, little research has been conducted on saliva testing and SARS-CoV-2 self-sampling (SARS-CoV-2SS) in Sub-Saharan Africa.ObjectiveThe primary objective of this study is to comparatively evaluate the clinical sensitivity and specificity of nasal and oral samples self-collected by individuals for SARS-CoV-2 testing against a reference method involving sample collection and testing by a health care professional. The secondary objectives of this study are to evaluate the usability of nasal self-sampling and saliva self-sampling as a sample collection method for SARS-CoV-2 diagnostic testing by using failure mode and error assessment.MethodsParticipants will be recruited from the general population by using various methods, Participants will be screened progressively as they present at the clinical trial sites as well as in primary health care catchment areas in the inner city of Johannesburg, South Africa. In the event that recruitment numbers are low, we will use a mobile van to recruit participants from outlying areas of Johannesburg. We aim to enroll 250 participants into this study in approximately 6 weeks. Two sample types—a self-administered nasal swab and a self-administered saliva sample—will be collected from each participant, and a health care professional will collect a third sample by using a nasopharyngeal swab (ie, the standard reference method).ResultsThis protocol has been approved by the University of the Witwatersrand Human Research Ethics Committee on July 31, 2020 (Protocol number EzCov003). As of May 13, 2021, 120 participants have been enrolled into the study.ConclusionsSARS-CoV-2SS may offer many benefits to individuals, by allowing for initial self-identification of symptoms and collection of samples without involving third parties and potential risk of infection provided the sample can be safely processed via a collection system. The results of this study will provide preliminary data on the acceptability, feasibility, and usability of SARS-CoV-2SS among the general population for its future implementation.International Registered Report Identifier (IRRID)DERR1-10.2196/24811

Factors associated with high HIV-related stigma among commuter populations in Johannesburg, South Africa

ABSTRACT Stigma remains an important barrier to seeking and staying in care among individuals infected with Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV). Despite continued widespread information, education and communication campaigns to raise awareness about the infection. The aim of the study was to identify factors related to HIV stigma among a commuter population in the inner-city Johannesburg. A self-administered closed-ended questionnaire was loaded onto personal tablet computers during a community outreach campaign. The outcome was measured by asking the respondents to rate their perceptions of stigma as ‘high or low’. About 1146 participants were enrolled in the study of which 585 (51.0%) reported high stigma levels. Overall, being married/cohabiting (Adjusted Prevalence Ratio (APR): 1.14 95%CI: 1.02–1.28), divorced (APR: 1.38 95%CI: 1.07–1.78), were associated with high levels of stigma; while being aware of HCT services (APR: 0.85 95%CI: 0.75–0.97) and employment status (APR: 0.78 95%CI: 0.71–0.87) were less likely associated with a high level of stigma. High HIV stigma still exists among those affected in our communities. Enhancement of health promotion intervention and reinforcing the benefits of knowing HIV status is essential to mitigate factors shown to influence stigma in the commuter population. Such an approach would help overcome stigma, an obstacle for expanding access to HIV testing and counselling.

Pieter Roos Park and public dwelling: displacement in an inner-city Johannesburg public space network

Pieter Roos Park and public dwelling: displacement in an inner-city Johannesburg public space network

Evaluating the effect of maternal mHealth text messages on uptake of maternal and child health care services in South Africa: a multicentre cohort intervention study

BackgroundThere are high expectations that mobile health (mHealth) strategies will increase uptake of health care services, especially in resource strained settings. Our study aimed to evaluate effects of an mHealth intervention on uptake of maternal health services. MethodsThis was an intervention cohort study conducted at six public antenatal and postnatal care clinics in inner-city Johannesburg, South Africa. The intervention consisted of twice-weekly informative and pregnancy stage-based maternal health information text messages sent to women during pregnancy until their child was one year of age. The intervention arm of 87 mother-infant pairs was compared to a control arm of 90 pairs. Univariate and multivariate analyses were used to compare the probability of the outcome between the two groups.ResultsIntervention participants had higher odds of attending all government-recommended antenatal and postnatal visits, all recommended first year vaccinations (OR: 3.2, 95% CI 1.63–6.31) and had higher odds of attending at least the recommended four antenatal visits (OR: 3.21, 95% CI 1.73–5.98).ConclusionWe show an improvement in achieving complete maternal-infant continuum of care, providing evidence of a positive impact of informative maternal mHealth messages sent to pregnant women and new mothers.Trial registration ISRCTN, ISRCTN41772986. Registered 13 February 2019—Retrospectively registered, https://www.isrctn.com/ISRCTN41772986

Racial burdens, translations, and chance

Racial burdens, translations, and chance

‘Dark’ cities: The role of interdisciplinary work in learning and supporting marginal city spaces

This article considers Harold Johnson’s (Hariwe) 2014–2016 research project on ‘Dark City’, an informal vertical settlement in inner-city Johannesburg, as offering a productive arts-orientated, interdisciplinary study of and proposal for planning and design interventions in informally occupied urban spaces. Hariwe used his architectural skills to ‘reverse design’ the building according to its daily use by residents. Collaborators Jono Wood and Dirk Chalmers followed a similar research process with ‘Dark City’, using their own modalities of photography and film. The three exhibited at the Circa Gallery in Rosebank, Johannesburg in 2016, constructing an immersive simulation of the ‘Dark City’ environment to set their drawings, photographs and films within. This article uses the lenses of performance and performativity to argue for the research and creative processes of The ‘Dark City’ project as slowing down time, layering spaces across time and location and creating a sensual, immersive experience. These three effects serve to bring into view and experience the circumstances of ‘Dark City’, the kinds of inequalities at work in Johannesburg that produce such spaces and to propose design responses for spatial justice.