Situation In South Africa Research Articles

Analysing the Onus Issue in Dismissals Emanating from the Enforcement of Unilateral Changes to Conditions of Employment

The main objective of this article is to analyse the issue of onus emanating from the enforcement of unilateral changes to conditions of employment. At the heart of the controversy that has faced the Labour Appeal Court was how to interpret dismissals that appear to be based on operational requirements, and yet at the same time, such dismissals also appear to have the effect of compelling an employee to accept a demand in respect of a matter of mutual interest between the employer and the employee.The core section in the Labour Relations Act 66 of 1995 relating to disputes of this nature is section 187(1)(c) of the Act, and the central enquiry to such disputes is whether they are automatically unfair or operationally justifiable. The fine line that determines whether a dismissal is acceptable or not merits an analysis of the overall onus that faces an employer and employee. This analysis is the focus of the article, which deals predominantly with procedural issues. The issue relating to the promotion of collective bargaining will be assessed against the right to dismiss, based on an analysis of the situation in South Africa, and a brief comparison with the situations in the United Kingdom and Canada. Thereafter, recommendations are made to the South African legislature.KEYWORDS: Employee; onus; dismissals; unilateral; changes; conditions; employment

Determinants of Childhood Mortality in South Africa: Using Categorical Data Modeling

KEYWO RDS Socio-economic Development. Environmental Ha zards. Sensitive Index.Health-related. Anti-natal Check-ups. Maximum Likelihood Estimation ABSTRACT Childhood mortality is of great interest to social scientists and policy makers concerned about the quality of life in less developed countries. Thus, the importance of the study of childhood mortalit y cannot be exaggerated. The levels of infant and child mortality are the two sensitive and widely used indicators of socio- economic development. The childhood mortality rate is a refined and sensitive index of the total cultural milieu of a community or a country. It reflects among other things, the state of public health and hygiene, the environmental sanitation, cultural mores about feeding and clothing, socio-economic development, and above all, the people's attitude towards the dignity and value of human life itself. It is the simple statistical index which conveys the idea of whether environmental hazards are controlled effectively or not, in developing countries, especially in Africa. The childhood mortality situation in South Africa has been investigated in this research using South African Demographic and Health Survey II data. About ten socio-economic, demographic, environmental and heal th- related variables were analyzed using categorical data modeling (catmod) analysis. On the basis of the analysis, the study concludes that education of parents, marital status as well as the occupation of mother, the survival of the penultimate child, duration of breastfeeding, anti-natal check-ups and availability of toilets in the residence are the determinants of childhood mortality in South Africa.

Modelling the feasibility of retrofitting hydropower to existing South African dams

An investigation was carried out with the primary objective of ascertaining whether it is possible to develop a model for determining the feasibility of retrofitting hydropower to existing dams in South Africa. The need for such a model is primarily due to the growing importance of small-scale hydropower projects resulting from the global shift towards renewable energy and the South African energy crisis, the increased price of energy and the introduction of feed-in tariffs for renewables. The model is intended for engineers, typically working on behalf of a client who would like a simple first order assessment of feasibility. It therefore takes all technical, environmental, social and financial considerations into account in order to provide a recommendation on whether or not a project would be feasible.Achieving the primary objective required an in-depth study of the theory and literature related to the current electricity situation in South Africa as well as all the different components and considerations of hydropower projects. This theoretical knowledge could then be utilised to develop a computer model which combines the most important considerations into a cohesive whole in order to make a recommendation on feasibility. The accuracy and applicability of the model could then be ascertained through testing, using actual case studies in South Africa. Three test cases were utilised which yielded positive results. A number of difficulties were encountered. These related mainly to the development of an accurate means for pricing the different components primarily due to a lack of response from suppliers. Such issues were solved through the use of theoretical formulas and studies which provided good results. Ultimately, a model was developed which includes financial, environmental and social considerations and provides values that are accurate enough as an initial tool in determining whether or not to continue with a retrofitted hydropower project.Keywords: hydropower, retrofitting, feasibility

Thinking about journalists’ thinking (Two)1

The first purpose of the article is to briefly highlight the global and South African relationship between society and journalism training/education. The second purpose is to take cognizance of how the changed and new media landscape has caused a so-called ‘crisis of journalism’ (meaning journalism’s loss of legitimacy and authenticity) and how this may affect journalism training. Part of this ‘crisis’, if not the essence thereof, is the almost customary and long-standing criticism against the very nature of journalism and the journalistic profession. This criticism is briefly summarized before a case is made for focusing on the intellectual development of student journalists through meta-theoretical approaches to and in journalism training and education. Such a meta-theoretical approach could place the emphasis on what makes up four of the most prominent key constructs in mass communication, namely ‘representation’, ‘dialogue’, ‘rhetoric’ and ‘meaning’. These constructs, how they relate to journalism and how they can lead to a better understanding of journalism as a human (mass) ommunication phenomenon, to a better understanding of the fundamental criticism against journalism and eventually how to deal with this criticism are briefly introduced. To illustrate the relationships between society, new media landscape, journalism and journalism training, brief case studies of the situation in South Africa are given. In terms of methodology, it should be emphasized that the article is not an empirical analysis of journalism training, but rather, a contemplative piece. As such it constitutes an opinion that in itself is debatable and hopefully will lead to further debate. The article is a continuation of the very old, and in the literature well known, if not fierce debate between skills versus theoretical (academic) training.

Die voedingsoorgang in Suid-Afrika: ’n Uitdaging vir verbeterde voeding en die verligting van armoede

Developing countries, including South Africa, are lagging behind in reaching the United Nations’ Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). These countries are at present experiencing a nutrition transition that is an outcome of economic development, urbanisation and acculturation. In this article, the nutritional situation in South Africa based on anthropometric characteristics of its population, is briefly reviewed. The vicious cycle between poverty, undernutrition and an increased vulnerability for over-nutrition and related noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) is explained and hypothesised to be a major determinant of the coexistence of under-nutrition and over-nutrition in developing countries. In South Africa the coexistence of under-nutrition and over-nutrition underlies a double burden of high morbidity and mortality from both infectious and noncommunicable diseases, which is further exacerbated by the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) pandemic. Clearly, it would be difficult to escape this intergenerational vicious circle of poverty and malnutrition, without optimising the nutritional status of all women who plan to become pregnant. There are many psychological reasons, apart from nutrition transition, why people eat more than they need to, including an inherent partiality for refined, sweet, salty and fatty foods. A conceptual framework, based on the constitutional right to food and nutrition security, is proposed to guide policy makers to plan holistic, integrated, transdisciplinary and multisectorial interventions to address under-nutrition and over-nutrition simultaneously.Individuals should be empowered, facilitated and motivated by appropriate education and training programmes and by strategies to improve socio-economic situations to be able to buy or produce food and to make healthy choices. This food environment will be created only if there is a common agenda, or even legislation, to improve the nutritional status in multisectorial and transdisciplinary programmes. The Directorate of Nutrition in the South African Department of Health has an excellent integrated nutrition strategy, but lacks the required implementation capacity. More public health nutritionists should be trained and other health professionals should be better equipped to implement nutritional interventions in all poverty alleviation and health promotion programmes.

Judah Leon Morris

Judah Leon Morris lived in South Africa, where he qualified at the age of just 21. After early training he came to London for periods of radiology training and returned...

Towards providing effective academic literacy intervention

This article focuses on the current situation in South Africa in which a number of factors related to academic literacy deleteriously affect student throughput. This has large financial implications for the country as well as tertiary institutions. Since significant numbers of students with high academic potential are at risk because of their low levels of academic literacy, all first year students at three South African universities write the Test of Academic Literacy Levels (TALL). This test can be used to assign students to appropriate support courses. An explanation illustrated by empirical data is given of the construct and the use of TALL. Preliminary conclusions in terms of the impact of the intervention are drawn as first iteration towards an in-depth longitudinal study to test the effectiveness/success of the academic literacy intervention. Finally suggestions for further research are outlined.

Levels of brominated flame retardants and other pesistent organic pollutants in breast milk samples from Limpopo province, South Africa

The non-occupational exposure to brominated flame retardants, and other persistent organic pollutants (POPs) was studied by collecting human breast milk samples from mothers residing in Thohoyandou area, a rural district in the Limpopo Province, northern part of South Africa (SA). Of all collected samples to be analysed (n = 28), those with large enough milk volumes, (n = 14) were quantified for polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) (9 congeners: BDE-28, 47, 66, 99, 100, 138, 153, 154, and 183) and hexabromocyclododecane (HBCD) on a GC equipped with dual capillary columns and dual electron-capture detectors (ECD). The levels of PBDE congeners (median sumBDE 1.3 ng/g of lipids) and of HBCD were not far from levels generally found in European studies, and this study may be the first report on the presence of PBDEs and HBCD in SA breast milk. On a congener basis, the finding of comparably high BDE-183 levels suggests a specific PBDE usage, or contamination situation in SA. Apart from BFRs, the high DDT levels found in the breast milk from this area (median and maximum sumDDT levels of about 4 600 and over 20 000 ng/g of lipids, respectively; n = 28) have earlier been reported. In addition, other POPs (PCBs, HCB and HCHs) were found in SA breast milk, at relatively low levels. To conclude, measurable levels of PBDEs and HBCD, and a specific BDE congener pattern, were found in breast milk from the Limpopo province, SA. A number of other POPs, including DDTs in high levels, were also present.

An open coding analytical model of sermons on poverty with Matthew 25:31-46 as sermon text

This article reports on the first cycle (out of three) of a grounded theory analysis of sermons on poverty with Matthew 25:31-46 as sermon text. The problem addressed in this research project has to do with the poverty situation in South Africa. The leading research question is: how do preachers deal with sermons on poverty with this text as sermon text. The goal of the first phase in this project is to develop an open coding analytical model from the sermons. Six sermons by Uniting Reformed Church preachers and six sermons by Dutch Reformed Church preachers have been analyzed. Significant sermon segments in the light of the research question were then coded in the analysis. Initial categories could then be formed as they emerged from the data, based on the open coded codes. From the categories an open coding analytical model with hypotheses has been constructed.

Affirmative action and disability in South Africa

Disability is the Cinderella of the historically disadvantaged groups targeted by affirmative action (AA) in South Africa. The Employment Equity Act identifies people with disabilities as one of the targets of the act. Government set the numerical goal as 2 per cent – a goal not yet achieved. Within the achievements so far, the trends noted for the general population of working age hold for the disabled population of working age. Proportionately, more disabled men are employed than disabled women, more disabled white people than disabled black people, and more disabled white men in the more senior positions. The focus of the paper is thus on understanding this lag in achieving the numerical quota and how to move forward. People with disabilities experience significant disadvantage in the area of employment, which, in turn, has significant repercussions on their psychological, social and economic wellbeing. It is, therefore, important to look further at the barriers that hinder the employment of people with disabilities. These include physical accessibility of the environment and information, transport, attitudes of others (e.g. employers and co-workers) and additional costs of managing one’s disability. The factors such as levels of employment, political will, policies and provision of services (eg health, welfare and employment) are those that create more context specific experiences. The lack of skills and basic education were reported by many South African disabled respondents as being a major factor in their status as unemployed. The delivery, nature and structure of the education that one receives is one of the initial formative steps determining one’s socialisation into society. There is a complex interplay between poverty, disability and social assistance programmes which can have a significant impact on the employment of and job seeking by people with disabilities. South Africa is unusual in combining high unemployment rates with good social assistance programmes. There is a strong business, social, psychological and political case in increasing employment of people with disabilities. The policy of affirmative action is good but we are not meeting the targets. The situation in South Africa is a complex interaction including a number of confounding factors – high unemployment, good social assistance, and people with disabilities with low levels of skills. Pro-active and constructive approaches need to be adopted to ensure that people with disabilities are fully included in the labour market. It is the right and good thing to do, not only for disabled people but for all people.

Macro–micro feedback links of water management in South Africa: CGE analyses of selected policy regimes

AbstractThe pressure on an already stressed water situation in South Africa is predicted to increase significantly under climate change, plans for large industrial expansion, ongoing rapid urbanization, and government programs to provide access to water to millions of previously excluded populations. This article employs a general equilibrium approach to examine the economy‐wide impacts of selected macro and water‐related policy reforms on water use and allocation, rural livelihoods, and economy at large. The analyses reveal that implicit crop‐level water quotas reduce the amount of irrigated land allocated to higher‐value horticultural crops and create higher shadow rents for production of lower‐value water‐intensive field crops, such as sugarcane and fodder. Accordingly, liberalizing local water allocation within irrigation agriculture is found to work in favor of higher‐value crops, and expand agricultural production and exports and farm employment. Allowing for water trade between irrigation and nonagricultural uses fuelled by higher competition for water from urbanization leads to greater water shadow prices for irrigation water with reduced income and employment benefits to rural households and higher gains for nonagricultural households. The analyses show difficult trade‐offs between general economic gains and higher water prices, which place serious questions on subsidizing water supply to irrigated agriculture, i.e., making irrigation subsidies much harder to justify.

Religion in education: is there yet another solution?

As colleague and co-worker of Professor Bennie van der Walt, the author has been in a position for several decades now to apply some of Bennie van der Walt’s philosophical and theological insights in the field of education. Professor Van der Walt’s recent discussion and critique of secularism and of religious tolerance enables the author to analyse the educational situation in South Africa and elsewhere with particular emphasis on policies about religion in/and education. These investigations lead him to conclude that most education systems seem to resort to secular public-private and worldly-sacral dualistic policies for addressing the problem of potential religious conflict in schools. After considering the Dutch policy of (increasing) pillarisation and the South African policy of banning confessional aspects of religious education to the private spheres of citizens’ lives, he proposes a solution based on the concept of institutional religious and life-conceptual identity. This approach can also lead to religious tolerance among learners in schools (as mooted by Bennie van der Walt and others) while circumventing the pitfalls of secularism.

School language profiles: valorizing linguistic resources in heteroglossic situations in South Africa

Although South Africa is committed to a policy of linguistic diversity, the language-in-education policy is still plagued by the racialization of language issues under apartheid and, more recently, by new challenges posed by internal African migration. Drawing on the experience of a school in the Western Cape Province, this paper explores the role of language profiles in a speaker-centered approach to school language policy. Attention is paid to the ways in which the attribution of learners to clear-cut linguistic categories – in this case English and Afrikaans – and their ‘monolingualization’ within the process of literacy learning are at odds with both their everyday experiences of language and their linguistic aspirations. Using biographic and topological multimodal approaches with 13- to 15-year-old students at the school, it makes a contribution to the growing corpus of research that foregrounds the learner perspective and emphasizes emotional dimensions of literacy and language learning.

Troubling some generalisations on teacher education in the English-speaking world: the case of the Republic of Ireland

There is a great deal of talk about a crisis in teaching across the English-speaking world, about the quality of teachers leaving much to be desired, and about the quality of student outcomes dropping. This, in turn, has resulted in various aspects of teacher preparation coming under severe scrutiny. In general, disquiet has been voiced about the quality of those admitted to teacher preparation programmes, about the quality of the programmes themselves, and about the quality of those responsible for delivering them. Much of the literature in this regard emanates primarily from the US, and England and Wales, and to a lesser extent from Australia and New Zealand. While the criticisms voiced may well be valid for these contexts, one would still not be justified in uncritically generalising from them to the rest of the English-speaking world. We adopt such a 'troubling' perspective by focusing on the situation regarding secondary school teacher preparation in the Republic of Ireland. Along with being offered as a work of interest in its own right, a number of areas for consideration regarding the situation in South Africa are also outlined.

Troubling some generalisations on teacher education in the English-speaking world: the case of the Republic of Ireland

There is a great deal of talk about a crisis in teaching across the English-speaking world, about the quality of teachers leaving much to be desired, and about the quality of student outcomes dropping. This, in turn, has resulted in various aspects of teacher preparation coming under severe scrutiny. In general, disquiet has been voiced about the quality of those admitted to teacher preparation programmes, about the quality of the programmes themselves, and about the quality of those responsible for delivering them. Much of the literature in this regard emanates primarily from the US, and England and Wales, and to a lesser extent from Australia and New Zealand. While the criticisms voiced may well be valid for these contexts, one would still not be justified in uncritically generalising from them to the rest of the English-speaking world. We adopt such a 'troubling' perspective by focusing on the situation regarding secondary school teacher preparation in the Republic of Ireland. Along with being offered as a work of interest in its own right, a number of areas for consideration regarding the situation in South Africa are also outlined.

The economic situation in South Africa and health inequities

The economic situation in South Africa and health inequities

Die aard van wetgewende diskresies by die Suid-Afrikaanse uitvoerende gesag

This article focuses on the nature of legislative discretions in the hands of the executive authority of the state. Relevant concepts are analysed, followed by an exposition of the position regarding delegation of legislative authority to the executive under the previous constitutional dispensation when the country had a sovereign Parliament. This is followed by a discussion of the legal position in Germany, which shows similarities to the situation in South Africa. It appears that differences in approach to the problem exist worldwide, but one similarity is to be found in all, namely that a complete parliamentary abdication of legislative authority is always disallowed. What follows from this is that South African law seems to follow the German example regarding the delegation of legislative powers. It seems that the South African Constitutional Court considers the delegation of essential legislative authority as undesirable. Limits have to be placed on the extent of Parliament's competencies pertaining to legislative delegation. Furthermore the manner and form requirements in the Constitution must be met when legislation is adopted. This however does not occur in all instances of legislative delegation to the executive authority. When legislative delegation takes place, it is consistently done by granting the executive the authority to adopt subordinate legislation, which in any event has the same legal effect as legislation of Parliament itself. Next the Transitional Constitution of 1993 is considered against the background of relevant case law. It appears that the legal position was not changed by the promulgation of the ("final") Constitution of 1996. Empowering legislation that delegates any legislative authority must lay down guidelines providing direction regarding the exercise of the delegated authority. Delegated legislation may of course not contain substantive norms. Like the German Bundesverfassungsgericht, the South African Constitutional Court seems to require empowering legislation to lay down the content, extent and purpose of the empowering provisions before it will enjoy legal effect. This content, extent and purpose will not primarily be evident from the delegated legislation, but must be contained in the empowering legislation itself. If this is not the case, the delegation of authority will have exceeded constitutional limits. Therefore, a wide delegation of legislative authority without limitations regarding its exercise, at least as far as content, extent and purpose are concerned, will without doubt be unconstitutional.

Resource management and environmental health service delivery regarding milk hygiene

PurposeAs the regulatory authorities for registering, monitoring and controlling milk hygiene, metropolitan municipalities (metros) and district municipalities (DMs) should boast sufficient resources and systems to properly support the compliance of milk with legislative prescriptions and health standards. This paper aims to assess the availability and efficient management of resources for environmental health services (EHS), as well as the approach followed by local government (metropolitan and district municipalities as well as provincial health departments) in allocating available resources to monitor and control the informal milk‐producing sector in South Africa.Design/methodology/approachA structured questionnaire survey was conducted, targeting the cohort of municipal health service (MHS) managers (n=52) at the various metros and DMs in South Africa. Questions focused on physical and human resource management as well as the approach followed by MHS towards milk hygiene control.FindingsAt the time of the survey it was determined that resources (financial, human and to a lesser extent transport) available for MHS to effectively monitor, control and support the informal milk‐producing sector, were insufficient. Although food control enjoys high priority in MHS, activities such as sampling, premises inspections, and health and hygiene education at milking parlours, are predominantly performed on an ad hoc basis. This approach impacts negatively on the management of available resources and the effectiveness of interventions, leading to a need for national and provincial governments, industry and relevant associations to support and strengthen the capacity of municipalities to optimally exercise their powers and perform their functions.Originality/valueThe importance of the paper lies in its quantification and description of the current MHS situation in South Africa and thereby, via quantifiable results it makes an appeal to regulatory bodies towards channelling and effective management of resources by applying project management principles and skills.

A criminological perspective on the prenatal abuse of substances during pregnancy and the link to child abuse in South Africa

The increase in drug abuse in South Africa has had major social implications in the country. Problems associated with drug dependency are poverty, unemployment, a heavier burden on the health care system, the disintegration of family systems and drug‐related crimes. Another area of concern is the link between drug abuse and child abuse. While child abuse is a crime in South Africa, the law does not consider the abuse of drugs during pregnancy as a crime and research on prenatal drug abuse as a form of child abuse is still limited. The issue of prenatal drug abuse as a crime is controversial, to say the least, since society tends to take two stances regarding the use and abuse of psychoactive substances during pregnancy. The harm reduction approach views prenatal drug abuse as a social welfare issue, whereas the punitive approach views the abuse of substances during pregnancy as a crime. Drug‐related child abuse cannot be looked at simplistically by merely assessing the physical damage sustained at birth. Harm done to the foetus may result in lifelong problems for the child. Literature on the subject indicates that drug abuse does cause harm to the foetus but that this level of harm in each case should be individualized. Some studies show that substance abuse treatment during pregnancy has been proved to be effective in both reducing the risk of drug exposure before birth and improving the drug user’s parenting skills. The paper highlights the situation in South Africa regarding the problem of drug dependency by pregnant mothers, and makes recommendations for further research on prenatal substance abuse. In addition, a call is made for the development of a drug policy dealing with drug dependency in the pregnant mother. Research is also necessary to determine whether drug policy should bring about the criminalization of substance abuse by pregnant women.

Institutionalizing Peace through Commerce: Engagement or Divestment in South African and Sudan

Peace through Commerce literature has discussed how business can engage in more responsible behavior in order to mitigate conflict risk and promote conflict resolution. However, in many conflict situations, the question arises at what point does it become impossible for a firm to remain engaged on the ground and still function as an ethical business? This article discusses the role of divestment activist groups in changing institutional norms among MNCs operating in conflict situations. Institutional norms shift from firms conducting “business as usual” without heed to conflict impact, to engagement policies promoting more responsible business practices, to divestment from conflict zones when circumstances are seen to preclude ethical business conduct. Engagement and divestment are explored as tools for discouraging unethical and promoting ethical business activity, considering conflict situations in South Africa and Sudan as case examples.