South African Authorities Research Articles

Assessment of a complementary curricular strategy for training South African physicians in a Cuban Medical University

One reason given by the South African government for establishing a physician training agreement with Cuba is that the ethical, humanistic and solidarity principles promoted in Cuban medical education are difficult to acquire in other settings. However, Cuba's general medical training program does not provide all skills needed by a general practitioner in South Africa: other competencies are required, such as management of general and gynecological or obstetrical surgical emergencies, administration of anesthesia and nursing procedures. As long as the desired humanistic values were assured, South African authorities have preferred to complement these competencies. Thus, since 2003, the Medical University of Villa Clara has applied a curricular strategy of 12 complementary courses to develop the requested additional skills, but results have not met expectations. Determine why the complementary curricular strategy has not been entirely successful and identify possible courses of action for improvement. A document review was conducted of the curricular strategy applied and of minutes of meetings between Cuban and South African counterparts to identify correspondence between requested professional skills and actions to develop them. In addition, South African students were surveyed and Cuban professors were interviewed in depth. Senior university administrators and key informants were also interviewed. Variables assessed were course quality and satisfaction of students and professors. Some actions originally included in the curricular strategy were not implemented and there were structural weaknesses in complementary courses, primarily in objectives, teaching strategy and evaluation. Students reported insufficient practical activities and lack of relationship between content and the health situation in South Africa. Professors were dissatisfied with student levels of motivation and ability to manage their own learning. Other influencing factors were insufficient academic management and professors' lack of knowledge about the context where these future professionals would eventually practice. Curricular strategy deficiencies detected are primarily in academic management; overcoming them could facilitate action in specific directions identified to improve the requested skill levels.

A model to determine the economic viability of water fluoridation

In view of concerns expressed by South African local authorities the aim of this study was to develop a model to determine whether water fluoridation is economically viable to reduce dental caries in South Africa. Microsoft Excel software was used to develop a model to determine economic viability of water fluoridation for 17 water providers from all nine South African provinces. Input variables for this model relate to chemical cost, labor cost, maintenance cost of infrastructure, opportunity cost, and capital depreciation. The following output variables were calculated to evaluate the cost of water fluoridation: per capita cost per year, cost-effectiveness and cost-benefit. In this model it is assumed that the introduction of community water fluoridation can reduce caries prevalence by an additional 15 percent and that the savings in cost of treatment will be equal to the average fee for a two surface restoration. Water providers included in the study serve 53.5 percent of the total population of South Africa. For all providers combined chemical cost contributes 64.5 percent to the total cost, per capita cost per year was $0.36, cost-effectiveness was calculated as $11.41 and cost-benefit of the implementation of water fluoridation was 0.34. This model confirmed that water fluoridation is an economically viable option to prevent dental caries in South African communities, as well as conclusions over the last 10 years that water fluoridation leads to significant cost savings and remains a cost-effective measure for reducing dental caries, even when the caries-preventive effectiveness is modest.

A retrospective view on the viability of water fluoridation in South Africa to prevent dental caries

Despite a Commission of Inquiry into water fluoridation recommending the fluoridation of public water supplies to the optimal fluoride concentration of 0.7 ppm, as well as regulations for the introduction of water fluoridation which compel water providers to fluoridate public water supplies, no artificially fluoridated water scheme exists in South Africa. In view of concerns expressed by South African local authorities about cost and reports urging further investigation into the effectiveness of water fluoridation, the aim of this study was to determine whether water fluoridation is still a viable option to reduce dental caries in South Africa. A model based on a cost evaluation of 44 communities in Florida, United States, and applied to South Africa was used as the basis for this study. Twenty-three input variables were used to create a computerized model which was populated with 2006 and 2011 data. Per capita cost, cost-effectiveness ratio and cost-benefit ratio were calculated as economic outputs to facilitate decision making for projected caries reductions of 15%, 30% and 50%. The average per capita cost of water fluoridation for all category water providers combined is US$0.28 in 2006 and US$0.35 in 2011, an increase of 23.2% over this period. The average cost-effectiveness for all water providers combined varies from US$3.32 for a 50% to US$11.08 for a 15% caries reduction. Despite higher cost-effective values for some cities and towns, the cost per person per year to save one Decayed, Missing or Filled Tooth (DMFT) at a projected caries reduction of at least 15% as a result of the introduction of water fluoridation, is at least 48.4% less than the cost of a two surface restoration. The average cost-benefit for all water providers combined varies from 0.1 at a 50% to 0.34 at a 15% caries reduction. For both cost-effectiveness and cost-benefit ratio better results are achieved when the projected caries reduction increases. The results of this study show that water fluoridation is still a viable option to prevent dental caries in communities in South Africa along with the reduction in the prevalence of dental caries and increases in economically driven variables.

Assessing nutrition intervention programmes that addressed malnutrition among young children in South Africa between 1994-2010

Several nutrition intervention programmes have been implemented to alleviate malnutrition among young children in South Africa. However, both nationwide studies and smaller, region-based reports show that many of these programmes have failed to improve nutritional health among the target groups. This is an overview of the most important nutrition intervention programmes implemented in post -apartheid South Africa. It is based on data sampled between 1994 and 2010, and collected from HighWire Press and MEDLINE data bases, local journals, official reports as well as experience gathered over the past two decades. Abstracts and nutrition issues related to chronic and communicable and non-communicable diseases were not included. The main aim of the implemented supplementation programmes after the Second World War was to correct states of undernutrition. However, these efforts did not benefit the disadvantaged groups, particularly the coloureds and the blacks. Following the downfall of the apartheid regime, various nutrition intervention programmes have been implemented with varying degrees of success. These include health facility-based programmes, community-based programmes as well as nutrition promotion strategies. The more holistic approach of the Integrated Nutrition Programme since 1994 is commendable, but programmes have failed to restore adequate growth rates among the impoverished children. Most likely, the failures are not as a result of inappropriate policies and strategies or lack of knowledge about relevant solutions, but rather inadequate implementation and scale of the programmes. In order to ensure a satisfactory improvement in nutritional health in South Africa, the various programmes should undergo regular evaluations to identify pitfall s and shortcomings. The fight against undernutrition and hunger, which are rooted in poverty and social inequalities, remains a major challenge for the South African health authorities. Urgent scale-up of the current nutrition intervention programmes as well as evaluation of their implementation are needed, coupled with strategies for education, skills development, job creation and poverty alleviation.

Assessment of a Complementary Curricular Strategy for Training South African Physicians in a Cuban Medical University

INTRODUCTION One reason given by the South African government for establishing a physician training agreement with Cuba is that the ethical, humanistic and solidarity principles promoted in Cuban medical education are difficult to acquire in other settings. However, Cuba’s general medical training program does not provide all skills needed by a general practitioner in South Africa: other competencies are required, such as management of general and gynecological or obstetrical surgical emergencies, administration of anesthesia and nursing procedures. As long as the desired humanistic values were assured, South African authorities have preferred to complement these competencies. Thus, since 2003, the Medical University of Villa Clara has applied a curricular strategy of 12 complementary courses to develop the requested additional skills, but results have not met expectations.

Economic impact of special interest tourism on Cape Town: A case study of the 2009 Mother City queer project

Tourism is undoubtedly one of the foremost industries world-wide, generating jobs, contributing to the GDP of a country and offering exciting opportunities to explore unknown attractions and destinations. South Africa is the leading tourist destination on the African continent. Niche tourism, or Special Interest Tourism (SIT), as opposed to mass tourism, has been identified by the South African tourism authorities as the preferred way of attracting high-value tourists to this country. One of the identified niche areas is gay tourism. This tourism market segment is characterised by high numbers of single persons (some in a relationship), with considerable disposable income, the so-called DINKs – double income no kids group. Cape Town, with its excellent tourist attractions and facilities, its liberal attitude to people of all walks of life, and its customs, has developed into an important gay tourism destination for South African and international visitors. Being recognised internationally as a leading gay business and holiday destination, the question now arises as to the economic worth of this SIT market segment. The annual Mother City Queer Project (MCQP), which has been held in Cape Town since 1994, was an opportunity to measure the economic impact of this niche tourism sector. To establish the economic importance of the MCQP festival, and therefore the economic contribution to the GDP of Cape Town, businesses in the Mother City, (including those which cater for gays) and especially in close proximity to the 2009 MCQP festival site, were surveyed to establish the impact on their businesses of the festival. Festinos at the festival were also questioned on various personal aspects pertaining to their economic contribution to the festival. The survey results reveal that the one-night 2009 MCQP could have contributed as much as R26 million to the Cape Town economy, a significant injection, and proof of the importance of SIT tourism – in this case gay or „pink‟ tourism.Key words: Tourism, niche tourism, special interest tourism (SIT tourism), gay tourism, economic impact, economic worth, MCQP.

Theory and practice in the use of merger remedies: Considering South African experience

There has been considerable debate internationally around the relative advantages and disadvantages of structural and behavioural remedies. In mergers which raise competition concerns, prohibition or divestiture may prevent merger efficiencies from being realised, and therefore behavioural remedies may seem attractive. However, these can prove difficult or impossible to enforce in practice. The merger approval rates of the South African competition authorities are in line with the practice of international agencies, but the number of behavioural remedies imposed is relatively high. This paper briefly considers the international literature on merger remedies before analysing South African merger decisions and making a comparison with other jurisdictions. It then presents a review of a decision made by the Tribunal in the merger between Astral Foods and National Chick in 2001, which was approved with both structural and behavioural conditions. Finally, the paper draws conclusions for the design of remedies in future.

Theory and practice in the use of merger remedies: Considering South African experience

There has been considerable debate internationally around the relative advantages and disadvantages of structural and behavioural remedies. In mergers which raise competition concerns, prohibition or divestiture may prevent merger efficiencies from being realised, and therefore behavioural remedies may seem attractive. However, these can prove difficult or impossible to enforce in practice. The merger approval rates of the South African competition authorities are in line with the practice of international agencies, but the number of behavioural remedies imposed is relatively high. This paper briefly considers the international literature on merger remedies before analysing South African merger decisions and making a comparison with other jurisdictions. It then presents a review of a decision made by the Tribunal in the merger between Astral Foods and National Chick in 2001, which was approved with both structural and behavioural conditions. Finally, the paper draws conclusions for the design of remedies in future.

Education, Sex and Leisure: Ideology, Discipline and the Construction of Race Among South African Servicemen During the Second World War

During the Second World War (1939-1945), South African military authorities employed various regimes to mould white South African soldiers as citizens of a particular type. These coincided broadly with traditions of racial statehood identified by David Goldberg, and included attempts at ideological control – through the liberal Army Education Scheme, a compulsory adult education project – as well as disciplinary interventions, which concentrated on soldiers' sexuality. The ways that ordinary soldiers responded to these divergent discourses reminds us that whiteness in a racial state was elaborated not just from above, but also below. This observation raises some cautionary points for the writing of 'post-social' history, and just as it demands that ordinary servicemen's actions, experiences and ideologies need to be related to the state and other modes of power, it reaffirms Geoff Eley's appeal for a 'new history of society'.Lines of investigation that explore attempts to educate, discipline and control white soldiers begin to challenge some of the conventional periodizations of SA history, particularly the notion that South Africa's 1940s represented an optimistic 'world of possibilities'.

The cost of compliance: The case of South African banks

Compliance cost is expenditure of time or money in conforming to government requirements such as regulation or legislation. In the press it is stated that the cost of compliance is much too high in South Africa. Some South African regulatory authorities agreed with this opinion. To this end, research was conducted in South Africa to establish whether these opinions are accurate. The study found that the cost of compliance with regulations was unacceptably high for South African banks. The study concluded that banks needed assistance to reduce the cost of compliance. Following the recommendations of the study, calculations indicated that the implementation of these recommendations could reduce the cost of compliance by as much as 40 per cent.

Nutritional health of young children in South Africa over the first 16 years of democracy

Objectives. Malnutrition among young children is a major health problem in post-apartheid South Africa. Despite implementation of numerous health and nutrition programmes, these extensive efforts to alleviate the situation have not been adequately reviewed. Methods. We provide an overview of various aspects of the current nutritional health status of young children. The reviewed data are from the time period 1994 - 2010, and were collected from literature databases and official reports, as well as our own experience with field research in various urban and rural parts of the country. Results. Both smaller province-based studies as well as three large nationwide surveys conclude that many young South African children have inadequate nutritional status. Rates of stunting, micronutrient deficiencies and hunger and food insecurity are all unacceptably high. Coexisting HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis add to this burden. A gradual transition to a westernised diet characterised by energy-dense food has led to a worrying increase in overweight and obesity. Conclusion. A major challenge for the South African health authorities is still the fight against childhood undernutrition and hunger, which in turn are rooted in poverty and social inequalities. The double burden of disease adds to the scale and complexity of this challenge.

Football’s tsars: proprietorship, corporatism and politics in the 2010 FIFA World Cup

This essay explores the political economy of the 2010 World Cup as it is defined by the major commercial, corporate and political forces that have come to be prevalent in the organization of the FIFA finals. It examines the interchange between international and domestic processes of sport corporatization, commercialization and general trends of sport politics, and the resultant current features of tournament preparation. It contends that the wider political economy of global sport will exercise a modulating and a potentially restraining influence on many of the objectives set by South African authorities. Pre‐event preparation is marked by the involvement of large commercial actors that hold proprietorship over the central – and most lucrative – aspects of the tournament, such as its branding, promotion and mediatisation, and the dissemination of tickets. Driven in the main by neomercantilist impulses, and the ambitions of a global class for whom the commercial stakes are very high, the 2010 World Cup is highly unlikely to yield the gains – for South African football and society – that are popularly expected from it.

The impact of inadequate wastewater treatment on the receiving water bodies – Case study: Buffalo City and Nkokonbe Municipalities of the Eastern Cape Province

The performance of four wastewater treatment plants that serve the Buffalo City (Dimbaza, East London) and Nkokonbe (Alice, Fort Beaufort) Municipal areas in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa was investigated for the removal of microbial and chemical contaminants. Statistical evidence showed a relationship between the quality of the final effluent and that of the receiving water body and the relationship was such that the better the quality of the final effluent, the better the quality of the receiving water body. The quality of both the effluents and the receiving water bodies was acceptable with respect to the temperature (mean range: 16.52 to 23.33‹C), pH (mean range: 7.79 to 8.97), chemical oxygen demand (COD) (mean range: 7 to 20 mg/.) and total suspended solids (TSS) (mean range: 161.43 to 215.67 mg/.). However, in terms of the nutrients (orthophosphate - mean range: 3.70 to 11.58 mg/. and total nitrogen - mean range: 2.90 to 6.90 mg/.) the effluents and the receiving water bodies were eutrophic. The dissolved oxygen (DO) (mean range: 3.26 to 4.57 mg/.) and the biological oxygen demand (BOD) (mean range: 14 to 24 mg/.) did not comply with the EU guidelines for the protection of the aquatic ecosystems. The general microbiological quality of the effluents discharged from all the plants did not comply with the limits set by the South African authorities in respect of pathogens such as Salmonella, Shigella, Vibrio cholera and coliphages. The effluents discharged from the Dimbaza, East London, Alice and Fort Beaufort wastewater treatment plants were identified as pollution point sources into their respective receiving water bodies (Tembisa Dam, the Nahoon and Eastern Beach which are part of the Indian Ocean; the Tyume River and the Kat River).

“We Offer the Whole of Africa Here!”. African Curio Traders and the Marketing of a Global African Image in Post-apart

Based on a two-year fieldwork in and around Johannesburg, this paper contends that the emergence of "African markets" in the post-apartheid urban landscapes filled the niches created by the production of commodified images of the country and, by extension, the continent. The analysis focuses on the creative process at work around the identification and multi-layered reading of a "cosmopolitan" African iden­tity by different groups of actors (South African municipal authorities, retail private actors and migrant traders). It tries to show how this process has fulfilled actors' immediate and contrasted needs but has not necessarily led to countering negative clichés on African migration in the long run. It thus tries to make use of the theoreti­cal framework of the notion of ethnic entrepreneurship in its application to the South African context. The paper documents the practices and activities of the African curio trade in South African cities, the products sold, the trade networks and the imaginaries on which the perceptions of migrants, market managers and municipal councillors rely and in turn continue to fuel. After painting the specific cultural and political context of the South African tourism industry and offering a brief overview of the dissemination of new trade and migration networks towards and within South African cities, the paper finally unpacks the imagery of Africa that is conveyed to South Africans and international publics as well as its genealogy.

Comparative characteristics of elite New Zealand and South African u/16 rugby players with reference to gamespecific skills, physical abilities and anthropometric data

Objective . A comparative study of elite New Zealand and South African u/16 rugby players with special reference to game-specific skills, physical abilities and anthropometric data. Design and settings . A battery of tests was used to obtain information concerning a group of elite New Zealand players (N=24) and two elite South African groups (N=64). Information was obtained for game-specific skills, physical abilities, and anthropometric data. Results . The New Zealand players outperformed the South African players in game-specific tests, physical abilities, and anthropometric measurements. Where the South African groups performed better than the New Zealand group, it was not practically significant. Conclusion . South African rugby authorities should be cognisant of the areas where South African u/16 rugby players were outperformed by their New Zealand counterparts, and consequently develop specific development programmes to address these shortcomings.

Cryptococcosis in Gauteng: implications for monitoring of HIV treatment programmes.

South African government authorities and non-governmental organisations have difficulty measuring the burden of disease due to HIV / AIDS, or obtaining objective evidence for effectiveness of interventions such as antiretroviral therapy (ART) to mitigate its impacts.

A management framework for training providers to improve workplace skills development

Purpose: Deputy President, Ms Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, says a skills revolution is necessary for South Africa’s (SA) skills crisis. The SA skills revolution began with the skills legislation of 1998-9 when the Departments of Labour (DOL) and Education (DOE) intended a seamless, integrated approach to rapid skills development. The National Skills Development Strategy (NSDS), the Sector Education and Training Providers (SETAs), the South African Qualifications Authorities (SAQA) and the National Qualifications Framework (NQF) were established to drive the human resource and skills development revolutionary strategy. The purpose of this paper is to present the findings of the 2001-3 research investigating an internal management framework for training providers, employers and managers to accelerate workplace skills development. Design/Methodology/Approach: An integrated, multi-method research model was employed to gather empirical evidence on skills practices. A robust quantitative survey was conducted within 600 organisations. Simultaneously, rich, descriptive data was gathered from managers and employees using a structured qualitative interview strategy. The integrated data pool was factor analysed. The research findings, conclusion and recommended framework were reported in a PhD thesis. Findings: The research findings reveal major gaps in the effectiveness of SA training providers to radically accelerate and improve workplace skills development as per national skills legislation, implementation and management criteria. Implications: If the skills revolution in SA is to succeed, training providers especially, must become less complacent, more assertive and fully equipped when participating in the skills development arena. Originality/Value: Via this research, training providers will gain critical, reflective insight into their management framework for meeting skills legislative criteria and for managing training interventions and skills projects.

Introduction to ecosystem governance: focusing on Africa

The last two decades have been marked by a dramatic increase in global attention to the concept of governance, especially in relation to the effective and sustainable management of natural resources. Furthermore, South Africa has been through a rapid transition to democracy since 1994 with significant changes in government, society and within the legislative environment. Despite the highly desirable attributes of these landmark pieces of legislation, almost a decade after their promulgation South African government authorities are still struggling to implement the requirements of these Acts. An investigation by the South African CSIR into the reasons for the non-implementation indicated that an incomplete understanding of the importance of governance was a central reason for the lack of successful implementation and that the concept of “governance” had not really been fully defined or explored. Countries and regions differed in their understanding and interpretation of “governance”, whilst equally wide differences were recorded in countries that had different levels of socio-economic and political development. In an effort to unpack the so-called “black box” of governance, a group of international specialists were invited to review governance issues related to their areas of technical specialization, covering different levels of development and maturity of democracy. Each specialist was challenged to interrogate a new “Trialogue” hypothesis on governance. A selection of the manuscripts is published in this special edition of Water Policy entitled Ecosystem Governance in Africa.

A management framework for training providers to improve workplace skills development in South Africa

Deputy President, Ms Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, says a skills revolution is necessary for South Africa's (SA) skills crisis. The SA skills revolution began with the skills legislation of 1998–1999 when the Departments of Labour and Education intended a seamless, integrated approach to rapid skills development. The National Skills Development Strategy, the Sector Education and Training Providers, the South African Qualifications Authorities and the National Qualifications Framework were established to drive the human resource and skills development revolutionary strategy. The purpose of this paper is to present the findings of the 2001–2003 research investigating an internal management framework for training providers, employers and managers to accelerate workplace skills development. An integrated, multimethod research model was employed to gather empirical evidence on skills practices. A robust quantitative survey was conducted within 600 organisations. Simultaneously, rich, descriptive data were gathered f...

The collapse of the rand in 2001 and the effectiveness of exchange controls in South Africa

In an effort to furnish support for the beleaguered rand, which had fallen by roughly 12 per cent against the dollar in 2000 and 19 per cent in 2001, and direct more investments into the local economy, the South African authorities imposed a freeze on new offshore investments undertaken by South African financial institutions, a move which came into effect at the beginning of 2002. Institutional investors transferred R3, 8 billion abroad between February and December 2001. In a further effort to discourage foreign investment, the Minister of Finance in his February 2002 budget statement announced that the exemptions limit of interest and dividend income received from abroad from income tax was set at only R1000 compared with R6000 for interest income received from domestic sources. These steps to block such transfers once again raised questions whether the government's commitment to progressively phase out exchange controls in entirety was still in place at that time and these doubts were further strengthened by the comments of the Reserve Bank governor, Tito Mboweni, in his address at the annual general meeting of the bank in August 2002, when he referred to the desirability of relaxing exchange controls very gradually. The resort to tighter exchange controls had, moreover, occurred at a time when the degree of effectiveness of exchange controls had come to the fore once again. The Myburgh Commission, which had been investigating the fall of the rand in 2001, had been focusing part of its attention upon the exchange control system and whether this system could be effectively administered now that many of the regulations in the exchange control field had been simplified or abolished. The majority report of the commission in 2002 concluded that the administration of exchange controls appeared to work well and was effective, but this was a conclusion which could be seriously challenged. The purpose of this article, therefore, is to review the official moves on the exchange control front in 2001 and 2002, as well as assess the effectiveness of the exchange controls in general in an environment where significant partial relaxations in exchange controls had transpired and the rand had been a structurally weak currency. In the process it will be argued that the exchange control authorities were facing mounting difficulties in effectively administering the remaining exchange control system, which called into question the rationale for exchange controls.