King William's Town Research Articles

Segregation and plague: King William's Town and the plague outbreaks of 1900-1907

Studies in the history of bubonic plague in Cape Town and Port Elizabeth revealed the close connection between the Victorian obsession with sanitation and the development of urban segregation in South Africa. The response of the medical officials and local authorities in the cities was mirrored in King William's Town, where racial prejudges were compounded by the Town Council's incompetence and reluctance to incur any expenditure from its own coffers.

Education Development Officers as agents for promoting quality education at selected rural schools

Background: The quality of teaching and learning (TL) has been a concern in South Africa and has received attention from global players such as the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and the agenda of the Education for All (EFA) policy. In South Africa, quality teaching and learning (QTL) in secondary schools remains low and compromised despite the implementation of the EFA policy and the use of education development officers (EDOs).Aim: The study sought to investigate the effectiveness of EDOs in promoting QTL at selected schools in the King Williams Town (KWT) district.Setting: The units of analysis are selected schools in the KWT district in the Eastern Cape province, South Africa.Methods: The study employed an interpretivism paradigm with a case study design and a qualitative approach to investigate the role of Education Development Officers (EDOs) in supporting QTL in selected secondary schools in the King Williams Town (KWT) District, while the data was interpreted thematically from the ten participants.Results: Education development officers play a critical role in enabling School Management Teams in South Africa to achieve high-QTL. However, EDOs face a number of challenges such as a lack of human and material resources, teacher resistance, extracurricular activities, student and teacher absenteeism, programme alignment, and work overload.Conclusion: The major conclusion of the study indicates that the challenges faced by EDOs can be overcome by employing four main strategies: stakeholder engagement, leadership, monitoring and evaluation, and training.Contribution: This article has the potential to contribute to theory, concept, policy, and practice regarding the promotion of QTL in schools.

Spatial diarrheal disease risks and antibiogram diversity of diarrheagenic Escherichia coli in selected access points of the Buffalo River, South Africa.

Freshwater sources, often used for domestic and agricultural purposes in low- and middle-income countries are repositories of clinically significant bacterial pathogens. These pathogens are usually diversified in their antibiogram profiles posing public health threats. This study evaluated the spatial diarrhoeal disease risk and antibiogram diversity of diarrheagenic Escherichia coli (DEC) in four access points of the Buffalo River, Eastern Cape Province, South Africa using standard epidemiological, culture, and molecular methods. The diarrhoeal disease risk was characterised using the Monte Carlo simulation, while the antibiogram diversity was assessed using the species observed Whittaker's single alpha-diversity modelling. E. coli mean count was highest in King William's Town dam [16.0 × 102 CFU/100ml (SD: 100.0, 95% CI: 13.5 × 102 to 18.5 × 102)]. Enterohemorrhagic E. coli (stx1/stx2) was the most prevalent DEC pathotype across the study sites. A high diarrhoeal disease risk of 25.0 ×10-2 exceeding the World Health Organization's standard was recorded across the study sites. The average single and multiple antimicrobial resistance indices of the DEC to test antimicrobials were highest in the Eluxolzweni dam [0.52 (SD: 0.25, 95% CI: 0.37 to 0.67)] and King William's Town dam [0.42 (SD: 0.25, 95% CI: 0.27 to 0.57)] respectively. The prevalent antibiotic resistance genes detected were tetA, blaFOX and blaMOX plasmid-mediated AmpC, blaTEM and blaSHV extended-spectrum β-lactamases, which co-occurred across the study sites on network analysis. The phenotypic and genotypic resistance characteristics of the DEC in Maden dam (r = 0.93, p<0.00), Rooikrantz dam (r = 0.91, p<0.00), King William's Town dam (r = 0.83, p = 0.0), and Eluxolzweni dam (r = 0.91, p<0.00) were strongly correlated. At least, three phylogenetic clades of the DEC with initial steep descent alpha-diversity curves for most of the test antimicrobials were observed across the study sites, indicating high diversity. The occurrence of diversified multi drug resistant DEC with diarrhoeal disease risks in the Buffalo River substantiates the role surface water bodies play in the dissemination of drug-resistant bacterial pathogens with public health implications.

Association between Environmental Exposures and Asthma among Children in King Williams Town, South Africa.

The study aimed to assess the association between environmental exposure and asthma among children between 3 and 12 years old in King Williams Town, South Africa. A quantitative case-control study was conducted at Grey Hospital to assess the association between environmental exposure and asthma among children who reside in King Williams Town. Of the total 566 study participants, 50.5% (286) had asthma while 49.5% did not. Socio-demographic factors associated with asthma in children were being within the age group 9-12 years (OR 1.74, CI 95% 1.09-2.78) and India ethnicity (OR 0.20, CI 95% 0.08-0.48). Factors associated with asthma were weight within 25-35 kg (OR 1.64, CI 95% 1.11-2.42) and BMI within 15-20 (OR 4.80, CI 95% 2.80-8.22). Environmental risk factors associated with asthma were indoor exposure to tobacco smoke from mothers of the participants (OR 5.45, CI 95% 3.08-9.65) and from fathers (OR 4.37; CI 95% 2.77-6.90). Abstaining from eating seafood appeared to be protective from developing asthma (OR 0.01; CI 95% 0.00-0.05). The study found no significant association between outdoor environmental exposures and childhood asthma. The age of participant, weight, BMI, exposure to environmental tobacco smoke (ETS), and eating seafood had significant correlations with childhood asthma. Strengthening the evaluation of children healthcare and encouraging smoking cessation among parents could reduce exposure to environmental asthma triggers among children.

A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF THE CURRICULUM DESIGN OF THE NATIONAL CURRICULUM STATEMENT (NCS) AND THE CURRICULUM AND ASSESSMENT POLICY STATEMENT (CAPS), AND MATHEMATICS UNDERACHIEVEMENT IN GRADE 12: A CASE STUDY OF SELECTED SCHOOLS IN KING WILLIAMS TOWN DISTRICT, EASTERN CAPE PROVINCE

Ponte Academic JournalAug 2022, Volume 78, Issue 8 A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF THE CURRICULUM DESIGN OF THE NATIONAL CURRICULUM STATEMENT (NCS) AND THE CURRICULUM AND ASSESSMENT POLICY STATEMENT (CAPS), AND MATHEMATICS UNDERACHIEVEMENT IN GRADE 12: A CASE STUDY OF SELECTED SCHOOLS IN KING WILLIAMS TOWN DISTRICT, EASTERN CAPE PROVINCEAuthor(s): Bonani SibandaJ. Ponte - Aug 2022 - Volume 78 - Issue 8 doi: 10.21506/j.ponte.2022.8.1 Abstract:The Mathematics pass rate has been a problem in high schools in South Africa. Many factors have been found to contribute to the high failure rate in this subject. This research seeks to address the following research question: Which CAPS Mathematics curriculum design aspects have a bearing on the underachievement in Mathematics at Grade 12 level, compared to NCS, at selected secondary schools in King Williams Town District, Eastern Cape province? Data was collected from interviews carried out with Grade 12 Mathematics educators (12 educators for CAPS and six educators for NCS) from schools in the King Williams Town District. The findings showed that Mathematics curriculum design, as well as the progression or link from primary to high school for both NCS and CAPS, was easy to integrate with other learning areas, although not all the content was covered, which disadvantaged students. It was difficult to cover all the content since the scope was too wide for both NCS and CAPS. There was no problem with the sequencing of the topics for NCS while there was a problem with the sequencing of topics in CAPS. The content of NCS differed in intensity; otherwise, topics were the same from grade to grade. This was the same for CAPS. The time allocated for both NCS and CAPS was not enough and that led to difficulties in completing the Mathematics syllabus in time. The differences between curriculum design aspects of the NCS and CAPS are insignificant. As a result, it can be concluded that the curriculum design aspects for CAPS still contribute to underachievement in Mathematics at matric level. No previous studies have compared the NCS curriculum design aspects and CAPS and their effect on underachievement in Mathematics at matric. This study addresses this gap and informs the Department of Basic Education about CAPS Mathematics curriculum design aspects and the effect of these on underachievement at matric level. Download full text:Check if you have access through your login credentials or your institution Username Password

Classroom Temperature and Learner Absenteeism in Public Primary Schools in the Eastern Cape, South Africa.

Children spend a significant proportion of their time at school and in school buildings. A healthy learning environment that supports children should be thermally conducive for learning and working. Here, we aimed to study the relations between indoor classroom temperatures and learner absenteeism as a proxy for children’s health and well-being. This one-year prospective study that spanned two calendar years (from June 2017 to May 2018) entailed measurement of indoor classroom temperature and relative humidity, calculated as apparent temperature (Tapp) and collection of daily absenteeism records for each classroom in schools in and around King Williams Town, Eastern Cape province, South Africa. Classroom characteristics were collected using a standardized observation checklist. Mean indoor classroom temperature ranged from 11 to 30 °C, while mean outdoor temperature ranged from 6 °C to 31 °C during the sample period. Indoor classroom temperatures typically exceeded outdoor temperatures by 5 °C for 90% of the study period. While multiple factors may influence absenteeism, we found absenteeism was highest at low indoor classroom Tapp (i.e., below 15 °C). Absenteeism decreased as indoor Tapp increased to about 25 °C before showing another increase in absenteeism. Classroom characteristics differed among schools. Analyses of indoor classroom temperature and absenteeism in relation to classroom characteristics showed few statistically significant relations—although not exceptionally strong ones—likely because of the multiple factors that influence absenteeism. However, given the possible relationship between indoor temperature and absenteeism, there is a learning imperative to consider thermal comfort as a fundamental element of school planning and design. Furthermore, additional research on factors besides temperature that affect learner absenteeism is needed, especially in rural areas.

Study Protocol to Determine Association between Environmental Triggers and Asthma among Children in King Williams Town.

Asthma affects over 330 million people worldwide, with relatively higher disease burdens in Australia, New Zealand, Africa, the Middle East, and South America. The symptoms associated with asthma were reported to be prevalent in children from the period of 1993 to 2013, in many low- and middle-income countries, due to changes in environmental conditions, such as domestic lifestyle, and urban and industrial developments. (1) Background: Several studies have also shown that children are prone to a severe type of asthma, because of their narrow respiratory airways and susceptibility to irritation from environmental agents. This study aimed to assess the association between environmental exposure and asthma among children in King Williams Town, South Africa. (2) Methodology: This study adopted a cross-sectional design method, with an estimated sample size of 262 participants. The eligible study participants were enrolled while attending Grey hospital in King Williams Town, for asthma management. Information will be collected from eligible, stable participants, on asthma treatment, through in-person interviewing in 2021. A semi-structured questionnaire will be administered to the participants. However, as a result of the prevailing COVID-19 pandemic, data may be abstracted from the asthma medical record of the eligible participants. Multivariate regression will be utilized, to describe the correlation between the variables, and the odds ratio will be calculated as well. (3) Discussion and conclusion: The study will objectively identify the local environmental agents that are associated with asthma among children in King Williams Town, in order to reprioritize treatment and preventative strategies. Ethical approval was obtained from the Research Ethics Committee, Faculty of Health Sciences at the University of Johannesburg.

COVID-19 pandemic and the South African township economy

This paper aims to assess the relationship between COVID-19 pandemic and the South African township economy in King William’s town, South Africa. The research methodology utilized a descriptive cross-sectional (survey) design. The population included micro and small business owners and or managers in King Williams Town, South Africa. Random sampling technique was used to sample 210 participants. The data were collected from owners/managers of micro and small businesses using a questionnaire method. The average age of the participant was 29 years (SD = 1.12), 37.6% were males while 62.4% were females. The findings of this study revealed the impact of the pandemic on micro and small businesses in the township area and that COVID-19 pandemic negatively affected micro and small business performance. The study therefore concludes that South Africa's lockdown measures introduced to contain the virus have had a significant economic impact on the township economy, particularly on micro and small businesses, which account for the majority of the township economy.

Covid-19 Pandemic in South Africa: An Exploration on Citizen Adherence to Protocols and Communication

This paper sought to explore the general public’s response to the national communications about COVID-19 in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa. A qualitative research strategy was utilised to conduct fieldwork in Scenery Park Phase 1 and 2 locations in Buffalo City Metropolitan Municipality in King Williams town CBD, and Alice town CBD in the Eastern Cape Province, South Africa to understand the context of the participants. Exploratory and descriptive approaches were used in this study. Data collection was cross-sectional as information was gathered once through face-to-face interviews with purposively selected 30 community members and leaders, 10 from each location. The findings indicated that, dissemination of information about COVID-19 was ineffective and inadequate for little was done to address the illiterate population. The study recommends the training and development of crisis leadership competencies as a proactive measure. The study also recommends spirited awareness campaigns ahead of an impending disaster to fully educate and empower the masses.

Ambiguities of xenophobia in a border town: inner city informal traders and Ekasi shopkeepers in the city of East London, South Africa

ABSTRACT This paper explores the livelihoods, experiences and identities of immigrant informal traders and shopkeepers in the Buffalo City Metropolitan area, which encompasses the centres of East London, Mdantsane and King Williams Town. We primarily use a socio-spatial perspective to analyse informal activity, and offer a particular perspective on how informality has encouraged a type of ‘informal citizenry’ among traders. We argue that informal trading has a very particular history in the region, and that East London’s notoriety as a ‘border city’ and a regional frontier has created a fractured space, which is best expressed through the experiences of migrants and entrepreneurs. We point out that informality is a driver of economic empowerment and equality among traders, but also of xenophobia and difference.

Occurrence of selected endocrine disrupting compounds in the eastern cape province of South Africa

Endocrine-disrupting compounds are attracting attention worldwide because of their effects on living things in the environment. Ten endocrine disrupting compounds: 4-nonylphenol, 2,4-dichlorophenol, estrone, 17β-estradiol, bisphenol A, 4-tert-octylphenol, triclosan, atrazine, imidazole and 1,2,4-triazole were investigated in four rivers and wastewater treatment plants in this study. Rivers were sampled at upstream, midstream and downstream reaches, while the influent and effluent samples of wastewater were collected from treatment plants near the receiving rivers. Sample waters were freeze-dried followed by extraction of the organic content and purification by solid-phase extraction. Concentrations of the compounds in the samples were determined with ultra-high performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry. The instrument was operated in the positive electrospray ionization (ESI) mode. The results showed that these compounds are present in the samples with nonylphenol > dichlorophenol > bisphenol A > triclosan > octylphenol > imidazole > atrazine > triazole > estrone > estradiol. Nonylphenol has its highest concentration of 6.72 μg/L in King Williams Town wastewater influent and 2.55 μg/L in midstream Bloukrans River. Dichlorophenol has its highest concentration in Alice wastewater influent with 2.20 μg/L, while it was 0.737 μg/L in midstream Bloukrans River. Uitenhage wastewater effluent has bisphenol A concentration of 1.684 μg/L while it was 0.477 μg/L in the downstream samples of the Bloukrans River. Generally, the upstream samples of the rivers had lesser concentrations of the compounds. The wastewater treatment plants were not able to achieve total removal of the compounds in the wastewater while runoffs and wastes dump from the cities contributed to the concentrations of the compounds in the rivers.

Teaching English as a social practice: A practical guide

Pressured into learning by rote, learners appear to fail to benefit on the joys and delights of literacy, such as initiating discussions with the teacher in class, developing critical or analytical attitudes to items around them and discovering the inter-connectedness of texts that might have been gained through reading. Since several teachers appeared to be uncertain about making their learners’ needs a focus of instruction, poetry in this study, proved to be an answer. This study focussed on how English can be taught as a social practice through a literacy process view at Devos Malan’s high school learners in King Williams Town, in the Province of the Eastern Cape in South Africa. The study employed Atwell’s Reading Workshop to collect data. The study is qualitative and interpretive. This study proposed to concentrate on three remedies of the reading workshop: Reading a book of choice with time to read in class in a chosen school; intrinsic motivation; a literacy process view and environment/ecology and; reading and sharing poetry. Foucault’s Critical Discourse Analysis as a theoretical framework, informed this study. The study reveals that no other genre can equal teaching poetry concerning diction, precise vivid words, the importance of a first-person voice, the value of all parts of speech, the beauty of figurative language and the necessity of punctuation and proper grammar.

Factors and effects of work-related stress and burnout on the well-being of social workers in the Eastern Cape province, South Africa

Orientation:Work-related stress and burnout among social workers are on the rise because of extensive workload, job dissatisfaction and exposure to traumatic situations. Therefore, one should determine how they impact the well-being.Research purpose: This study determined the factors and effects of work-related stress and burnout on the well-being of social workers.Motivation for the study: An alarming number of social workers show no compassion towards the clients owing to burnout. Therefore, more research is needed for social workers to enhance their purpose and work engagement.Research approach/design and method: This qualitative study was designed from an interpretivist perspective. Fourteen social workers, aged 35–59 years, from two Department of Social Development and Welfare offices (Alice and King Williams Town) selected through purposive sampling participated in the study. Data were gathered by means of focus group interviews and grounded theory was applied for data analysis.Main findings: The study results confirmed that social workers attributed their work-related stress to lack of resources such as transport, computers and inadequate emotional support from their supervisors. Thus, they demonstrated impaired personal strength and poor human relations.Practical/managerial implications: To achieve commitment and optimism, there should be recruitment of new staff and salary increase for social workers.Contribution/value-add: The study results should provide coping strategies for social workers when faced with secondary traumatic stress.

Monitoring spatial pattern of land surface thermal characteristics and urban growth: A case study of King Williams using remote sensing and GIS

The world is currently experiencing unprecedented urban growth, industrialization, and the perceived higher standard of living that is often associated with access to better infrastructure. “Surface Heat Island (SHI) is a phenomenon where urban areas experience higher surface temperatures compared to the surrounding rural areas. The presence of the SHI in urban areas in most cases has a negative impact not only on city dwellers, but also on the environment and the economy. This study aimed at evaluating SHI in King Williams Town by studying the relationship between land surface temperatures, land cover and land cover indices. The derived indices are the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) and Normalized Difference Built-up Index (NDBI), these indices were selected because they are representative of the land surface features.” This study was conducted for the King Williams Town (KWT) study area between the years 1995 and 2018, the land surface temperature was derived from Landsat ETM + high thermal band data. The findings from this study provided an idea on the correlation between satellite derived land surface temperature and the land modification, which occurred during the urbanization of King Williams Town during 23-year period between 1995 and 2018. The built-up land category proved to be the most influential or significant in the development of high land surface temperature levels, while vegetation had an opposite effect as a series of data sets illustrated that vegetated areas had a cooling effect on the surface. Water bodies in the study area had insignificant effect on the surface temperature levels while the grass lands were not as cooling as the vegetation but did provide for a cooling environment on the study area.

Occurrence of phenolic derivatives in Buffalo River of Eastern Cape South Africa: Exposure risk evaluation

Phenolic derivatives are compounds used in the production of pesticides, pharmaceutical products and several other industrial applications. These compounds are discharged into freshwater from industrial effluents, domestic sewage, urban and agricultural run-offs which leads to pollution. Water at six sampling locations along the course of Buffalo River; namely Buffalo river estuary (BRE), Mdantsane (MSN), Zwelitsha (ZW), King William's Town (KWT), Izele Town (IZ) and Maden dam (MD) in the Eastern Cape Province, South Africa, were evaluated for phenolic contamination using eleven phenolic derivatives of United State Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) priority pollutants. Samples were extracted using liquid-liquid extraction technique, derivatized with acetic anhydride and analyzed with gas chromatography mass spectrometry (GC-MS). The levels of the individual pollutants in the river water were higher in summer (< LOD to 12246 ng/L) than in autumn (< LOD to 713 ng/L). Their concentrations were found higher than the USEPA recommended limit (500 ng/L) in most of the sampling sites. The most prominent pollutant was 2-NP. However, the cancer risk assessment values and hazard quotient were below USEPA maximum limits of 10−6 and 1, respectively. Conclusively, the concentrations of these organic pollutants could be a threat to public health and should be managed to be below the recommended limit though the present levels are unlikely to cause cancer to both human and wildlife.

Distribution of polychlorinated biphenyl along the course of the Buffalo River, Eastern Cape Province, South Africa, and possible health risks

Humans and wildlife are vulnerable to the toxicity of semi-volatile and persistent organic pollutants such as polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). Neither the distribution of these pollutants nor their seasonal variation has ever been determined in the Buffalo River. Thus, the occurrence and concentration of 19 PCBs was assessed in King William’s Town (KWT), Izele (IZ), Zwelitsha (ZW), Maden (MD), Mdantsane (MSN) and Buffalo River estuary (BRE), all on the Buffalo River in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa. Water samples were subjected to liquid-liquid extraction for PCBs, after which the compounds were separated and quantified on gas chromatography with electron capture detection. The PCBs differ in concentration from below detection limit (BDL) to 482 ng·L−1 in summer and BDL to 2 383 ng·L−1 in autumn. While the order of congeners increases during the summer from KWT &gt; IZ &gt; ZW &gt; MD &gt; MSN &gt; BRE, the distribution in autumn followed the order BRE &gt; IZ &gt; ZW &gt; KWT &gt; MSN &gt; MD. The total levels of PCBs at all the sites during summer were below the World Health Organization (WHO) permissible level of 500 ng·L−1 recommended for humans, but were exceeded at all the sampling sites in autumn except at MD. The evaluated risk with respect to cancer was lower than the acceptable threshold (10-6), whereas hazard quotients were slightly higher than the maximum threshold (of 1) stated by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA). The compounds are known to be toxic to humans and animals. The results appear to show that the exposure levels of the compounds were safe for humans and animals. Further studies are recommended in order to make a definitive conclusion.

Are we teaching critical digital literacy? Grade 9 learners’ practices of digital communication

South Africa’s communication landscape has changed and is still changing because many previously disadvantaged areas have benefitted from the construction of roads, provision of electricity and installation of satellites. As a result, many previously disadvantaged learners have access to digital media in their homes. In this article, we argue that the immersion of many learners in digital media at home advances literacy achievement. Drawing on insights from cultural historical activity theory and multimodal social semiotics, we discuss the nature of learners’ digital resources at home and how these resources could be meaningfully and critically used to advance literacy. Data were collected from Grade 9 learners in two King Williams Town schools in the form of questionnaires, focus group discussions, informal Facebook-Messenger conversations, one-on-one interviews with teachers and lesson observations. The analysis of data shows that many learners in this study are becoming digitally literate, irrespective of their socio-economic status or rural–urban location. However, digital literacy does not seem to be used as a base to advance literacy as advocated in the new curriculum and assessment policy statements.

Motivation and attitude of grade nine learners towards mathematics in King Williams Town Education District, South Africa

Successive governments of post-apartheid South African have sought to address the problems of learners in Mathematics by introducing various pro-active measures. However, these efforts by governments have not yielded the desired results in Mathematics. King William’s Town Education District is not immune to this poor performance of learners in Mathematics. This study therefore sought to find out the motivation and attitude of grade Nine learners towards Mathematics in the District. Three hundred and sixty grade Nine learners were selected for the study. A structured questionnaire was adopted as a research instrument in collecting data from the learners. The study showed that, learners lack motivation from their educators to study Mathematics and this adversely affects their attitude towards the subject. Mathematics educators were recommended to provide extrinsic motivations such as praises, gifts, to learners during Mathematics lessons. Scholarship to well performing students in Mathematics, feedback and Visitation of learners at home by their Mathematics educators should also be encouraged. On the other hand, learners must develop a positive attitude towards Mathematics. They must love the subject and make consistent efforts of studying Mathematics every day.Keywords: Educators, King William’s Town Education District, Learners, Mathematics, Motivation

Physical motor competences of severely mentally challenged children in King William's Town, South Africa

Physical motor competences of severely mentally challenged children in King William's Town, South Africa

The Lumko Music Department and Cultural Heritage

Until the 1960s music in the African language Catholic churches in southern Africa was confined to European (or European style) tunes set to African language texts. The music used suited neither the languages of the people nor their spiritual and emotional needs. Some church leaders, such as Archbishop Hurley of Durban, wished to see a change for the better. Certain missionaries tried to do something about it, in particular Oswald Hirmer and Fritz Lobinger, Bavarian missionaries working in the Xhosa area. The author had done music studies, and in his work in Zwelitsha parish, near King Williams Town, had used some of the music resulting from the work of Hirmer and Lobinger. The two missionaries gave him the chance to start a project for creating new church music in African styles by working with local church members in different areas. This went so well that the author was taken onto the staff of Lumko Pastoral Institute, with Hirmer and Lobinger. Over the period 1979 to 1989 the author was able to promote and record new church music in many languages in South Africa and its neighbours, plus a great deal of the traditional music of the region. In 1996 Anselm Prior, then director of Lumko, returned all the field recording originals to the author, giving him the opportunity to put together a significant contribution to the preserved music heritage of Southern Africa, including African traditional music and church music. The article is a report on the project and its results.