Van Niekerk Research Articles

You Equals Not-I: Avowal, Disavowal, and Second-Person Narration in Marlene van Niekerk’s Agaat

ABSTRACT This article examines the second-person narrative mode in Marlene van Niekerk’s Agaat. Its function is explained by situating the novel within that niche known as the “you-text.” But the generic function must also be accounted for within the thematic tensions of the novel, specifically those oscillations of avowal and disavowal. So a second concern is this: how does the novel speak back to narrative theory? How does its “compulsion to tell the truth” – shadowed by South Africa’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission – trouble, expand or extend the typologies used to talk about texts where “you” consolidates narrator and narratee? Considering this consolidation as part of what might be called a narratology of the self, I suggest that Agaat’s “you” can be seen as further collapsing the roles of confessor and penitent. Such collapse reinforces the interiority of Milla’s self-addressed excoriations, since it mirrors the doubled consciousness of Protestant confession. But it also inaugurates a new type of address – the “implied you” – which turns on the reader as much as on the novel’s protagonist.

Secondary strikes and their proportional impact on both the primary and secondary employer

The right to strike is protected in terms of section 23(2)(c) of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996 (the Constitution). The Labour Relations Act 66 of 1995 (the LRA) regulates this right in terms of its section 64. The LRA defines a strike in section 213 and goes further to provide for a secondary strike (also known as a "sympathy strike") in section 66. Given the concept of secondary strike as provided for in the LRA, an ordinary strike is usually referred to as a "primary strike" (Du Toit, Godfrey, Cooper, Giles, Cohen, Conradie and Steenkamp Labour Relations Law: A Comprehensive Guide 6ed (2015) 361; Van Niekerk, Smit (eds), Christianson, McGregor and van Eck Law@work (2019) 465). A primary strike is by employees who have a dispute with their employer, which relates to "matters of mutual interest or terms and conditions of employment" (Manamela "Matters of mutual interest for purposes of a strike - Vanachem Vanadium Products (Pty) Ltd v National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa 2014 9 BLLR 923 (LC)" 2015 Obiter 791-800; NUMSA obo Members v SAA 2017 38 ILJ 1994 (LAC)). These employees engage in strike action to pursue their demands or grievances which are directed against their employer (Grogan Collective Labour Law 3ed (2019) 292). A secondary strike is by employees in support of other employees who are engaged in a strike against their employer. Employees of the secondary employer therefore support striking employees of the primary employer, even though they have no material interest in the matter that gives rise to the primary strike. This is based on the assumption that if a business is connected to another one, then if employees of the former engage in strike action, the strike will have an impact on the functioning of the latter, which will be forced to accede to demands by its employees.

An ethics of responsibility and the origin of morality

This article investigates the nature of an ‘Ethics of Responsibility’ (ER) as well as its significance for the broader research project dealt with, namely ‘Morality in History’. The article starts off with a conceptual analysis of the notions of ‘morality’ and ‘ethics’, followed by an exposition of Alasdair MacIntyre’s formulation of the ‘anomaly’ of current-day moral theory. This leads to a comprehensive analysis of MacIntyre’s argument as to why the Enlightenment project was, according to him, doomed to failure and a return to Aristotle is essentially called for. Consequently, the approach known as the ER is introduced, drawing on the work of Hans Jonas, Emmanuel Levinas, Richard Niehbur, Richard Bernstein, William Schweiker and Aristotle. The following concepts are analysed and integrated into the framework of the ER, namely accountability (Schwecker), reciprocity (Levinas), fallibility (Van Niekerk), futurity (Jonas), the dialectic between normativity and applications (Bernstein) and phronesis (Aristotle).Intradisciplinary and/or interdisciplinary implications: The article argues that the theoretical model of an ‘ethics of responsibility’ contributes significantly to reflection on the ‘origins of morality’. The ‘anomaly’ of current-day moral theory is analysed This is followed by a comprehensive exposition of the ER. This model of ethical conceptualisation bestows even more clarity on the intra- and interdisciplinary implications of the article, as a model is developed, drawing on the work of Jonas, Levinas, Schweiker and others, that utilises the insights of Aristotle and thereby transcends the approaches to moral reasoning of Modernity.

Encountering Others’ Empathy Toward Oneself in Marlene van Niekerk’sAgaat

AbstractThis article examines how Milla, the Afrikaner protagonist of Marlene van Niekerk’s post-apartheid novelAgaat, engages with others’ empathy toward herself. Theorizing empathy as a multivalent engagement with others’ experiences, I argue that Milla attempts to variously invite, avoid, and manipulate others’ empathy as she negotiates the anxiety of being misunderstood, the sense of vulnerability in being understood, and the dependence of her self-image on others’ opinions. Illustrating the fraught experience of encountering empathy toward oneself—a neglected topic in studies of empathy—the novel shows that empathy is neither always welcomed nor received passively by potential empathizees. Further, I suggest, the contrast between Milla’s approaches to empathy as empathizer and empathizee ironizes her struggles by indicating her proclivity for controlling empathic interactions. Demonstrating how power relations inform empathy,Agaatcomplicates the popular notion of empathy as a straightforward gateway to reconciliation by highlighting its characters’ ambivalences about receiving empathy.

First report of Neofusicoccum australe causing dieback of honeybush in the Western Cape, South Africa.

Honeybush (Cyclopia spp.) is an indigenous, leguminous member of the Cape fynbos biome growing in the coastal winter rainfall districts of the Western and Eastern Cape Provinces of South Africa (Joubert et al. 2011). Honeybush is used for the production of herbal teas and is harvested from wild-growing and cultivated plantations (du Toit et al. 1998). Very little is known regarding diseases caused by pathogens on this indigenous plant. Only one report of twig dieback on honeybush caused by several Diaporthe Nitschke species have been reported in South Africa (Smit et al. 2021). Several honeybush producers reported poor growth and dieback in their C. subternata plantations in the Western Cape Province, South Africa. Symptoms included twig dieback, branch dieback, death of branches as well as death of entire plants. In April 2008, branches from 8-year-old cultivated plants with dieback symptoms were collected in Stellenbosch. Fungal isolations were carried out from affected material as described by Van Niekerk et al. (2004) which consistently revealed the presence of a Botryosphaeriaceae species. Two isolates were grown on water agar with sterile pine needles and incubated at 25˚C using a 12-hour day/night cycle and near-ultraviolet light. Pycnidia formed after two weeks. Morphological characteristics similar to Neofusicoccum australe (Slippers, Crous & Wingfield) Crous, Slippers & Phillips were observed (Phillips et al. 2013). Conidia were hyaline, aseptate, fusiform with subtruncate bases (16.8-)18.8-22.1(-24.6) × (4.8-)5.3-6.1(-6.4) µm (n=50). Conidiogenous cells were holoblastic, hyaline and subcylindrical to flask-shaped tapering to the apex (11-15 × 2 µm) (n=10). Colonies on potato dextrose agar were light primrose turning olivaceous grey after 7 days with a light-yellow pigment diffusing into the medium. Mycelia was moderately dense with an appressed centre mat. The identity of the isolates was further confirmed by sequencing the ribosomal RNA Internal Transcribed Spacer (ITS) and the elongation factor 1-alpha (EF-1α) gene regions using primer pairs ITS4-ITS5 (White et al. 1990) and EF1-728F-EF1-986R (Alves et al. 2008), respectively. Sequences had a 100% similarity to N. australe ex-type CMW6837 isolate (accessions AY339262 and AY339270) (Slippers et al. 2004). Two isolates (STEU6554 and STEU6557) were deposited in the culture collection at the Department of Plant Pathology at Stellenbosch University and the sequences were submitted to GenBank with accession numbers ON745603, ON745604, ON746573 and ON746574. Pathogenicity tests using the two N. australe isolates were conducted by inoculating two shoots each of three field-grown C. subternata plants with a 4mm colonised potato dextrose agar (PDA) mycelium plug of each isolate on wounds made by a 4mm cork borer (Van Niekerk et al. 2004). A third shoot was inoculated with a uncolonized PDA plug as the negative control. After 12 weeks, brown-black lesions that were significantly longer (average 55.2 mm) than the uncolonized agar plug control (16.1 mm) were observed. Lesions were observed in all three plants. Neofusicoccum australe was re-isolated (van Niekerk et al. 2004) from all inoculated shoots confirming Koch's postulates. The economic impact and damages caused by N. australe as well as its incidence and severity on honeybush in South Africa is unknown. However, the pathogen caused dieback of entire branches and death of plants indicating that it could be an important pathogen of honeybush. Additionally, N. australe is one of the most important disease-causing Botryosphaeriaceae pathogens on a wide range of economical fruit and vine crops globally (Mojeremane et al. 2020). This is the first report of N. australe as a known pathogen causing decline and dieback of C. subternata in South Africa.

World, Class, Tragicomedy: Johannesburg, 1994

Abstract: Marlene van Niekerk's 1994 Triomf is a plaasroman , or farm novel, without the farm; it formally resembles a nostalgic pastoral genre initiated by the collapse of Southern African agricultural economy around the time of the Great Depression, but removes even the symbol of the farm as aesthetic compensation for material loss. In the process, van Niekerk composes a post-apartheid tragicomedy of a lumpenproletariat white supremacist family coming into long-belated class consciousness, an epiphany which, surprisingly, survives the novel's translations from Afrikaans to South African English to 'international' English. Crucially, this understanding is mediated by a critical tendency to appraise Triomf in the context of Faulkner and the Southern Gothic, a generic comparison which gets a lot wrong but is ultimately very revealing, less about Triomf than about the imperial world-system through which it circulates and is consecrated. Consequently, the novel stages globally what seems at first to be a parochial question: how is one supposed to imagine democratic reconciliation and integration after apartheid, when one of the classes to be reconciled lacks historical self-consciousness and has no obvious place in either the apartheid regime or the post-apartheid dispensation? By analyzing van Niekerk's novel and the institutions which consecrate it, the paper fleshes out critiques of world-literary hermeneutics, specifically for its naive handling of genre and context, and of post-apartheid 'reconciliation' under capital.

BIOCHEMICAL CHARACTERIZATION OF THE PATIENTS WITH DIHYDROLIPOAMIDE DEHYDROGENASE DEFICIENCY

In 2016 Wayde Van Niekerk, a South African athlete of mixed-race heritage won an Olympic gold medal. In South Africa, his win caused hashtags such as #proudlysouthafrican, #blackexcellence and #colouredexcellence to trend online. By and large, these hashtags index the ongoing competitive discourses regarding nationalism, race and culture in Cape Town (cf. Author, 2018).Amongst these hashtags, however, was #dalawhatyoumust, a Kaaps hashtag generally meaning to “do what needs to be done”. Unlike the aforementioned hashtags, this one seems to cross the linguistic and racial divide despite its strong associations with Coloured1 people on the Cape Flats. The seemingly effortless uptake of this hashtag by diverse South Africans suggest that it has somehow become unmoored of its ethnic and linguistic inception.We explore the use of this Kaaps hashtag as a form of translingual practice which is affect-laden and transportable across and between diverse users online and which promotes a particular “cool Capetonian” culture. Analyzing select posts from the #dalawhatyoumust thread on Facebook, we provide a nuanced look at #dalawhatyoumust as an uplifting genre which proleptically advises nameless viewers of the importance of self-actualization, determination and aspiration. Additionally, we include Goffman’s (1974) framing foundation to investigate how positivistic discourse has been rhizomatically taken up by a ‘realm’ of implicit collective users online. This research interrogates long-held ideological boundaries between Kaaps and legitimized Standard Afrikaans and standard English.We conclude with a focus on Kaaps hashtags as semiotic acts of Linguistic Citizenship (cf. Williams and Stroud, 2013) which allows for the conjoining of Kaaps with diverse audiences, complex trajectories, and an assortment of accompanying semiotics. Following Stroud (2018:3) we argue that this Kaaps hashtag has become a form of languaging that facilitates “…the building of broad affinities of speakers that cut across…divisions and borders, and that negotiate co-existence/co-habitation outside of common ground in recognition of equivocation”. In South Africa, division was the order of the day and when we explore contemporary ordinary moments posted by heterogenous users using #dalawhatyoumust (henceforth #dwym) we aim to explore the ordinariness of languaging which brings people together despite their race, linguistic background, and ethnicity, that is to say an affinity of ‘cool Capetonian’ style.

Dalawhatyoumust: Kaaps, translingualism and linguistic citizenship in Cape Town, South Africa

In 2016 Wayde Van Niekerk, a South African athlete of mixed-race heritage won an Olympic gold medal. In South Africa, his win caused hashtags such as #proudlysouthafrican, #blackexcellence and #colouredexcellence to trend online. By and large, these hashtags index the ongoing competitive discourses regarding nationalism, race and culture in Cape Town (cf. Author, 2018).Amongst these hashtags, however, was #dalawhatyoumust, a Kaaps hashtag generally meaning to “do what needs to be done”. Unlike the aforementioned hashtags, this one seems to cross the linguistic and racial divide despite its strong associations with Coloured11Coloured people are characterized as those of mixed descent and so was differentiated from Black and White during apartheid. This is a diverse group where heritage could stem from countries such as Britain, Netherlands, Malaysia, Madagascar, Ceylon, India, Java and other places in Africa. people on the Cape Flats. The seemingly effortless uptake of this hashtag by diverse South Africans suggest that it has somehow become unmoored of its ethnic and linguistic inception.We explore the use of this Kaaps hashtag as a form of translingual practice which is affect-laden and transportable across and between diverse users online and which promotes a particular “cool Capetonian” culture. Analyzing select posts from the #dalawhatyoumust thread on Facebook, we provide a nuanced look at #dalawhatyoumust as an uplifting genre which proleptically advises nameless viewers of the importance of self-actualization, determination and aspiration. Additionally, we include Goffman’s (1974) framing foundation to investigate how positivistic discourse has been rhizomatically taken up by a ‘realm’ of implicit collective users online. This research interrogates long-held ideological boundaries between Kaaps and legitimized Standard Afrikaans and standard English.We conclude with a focus on Kaaps hashtags as semiotic acts of Linguistic Citizenship (cf. Williams and Stroud, 2013) which allows for the conjoining of Kaaps with diverse audiences, complex trajectories, and an assortment of accompanying semiotics. Following Stroud (2018:3) we argue that this Kaaps hashtag has become a form of languaging that facilitates “…the building of broad affinities of speakers that cut across…divisions and borders, and that negotiate co-existence/co-habitation outside of common ground in recognition of equivocation”. In South Africa, division was the order of the day and when we explore contemporary ordinary moments posted by heterogenous users using #dalawhatyoumust (henceforth #dwym) we aim to explore the ordinariness of languaging which brings people together despite their race, linguistic background, and ethnicity, that is to say an affinity of ‘cool Capetonian’ style.

Globalisation of antibiotic-resistant bacteria at recurring mass gathering events

Antimicrobial resistance is associated with an estimated 4·95 million deaths annually and is currently a leading cause of death worldwide. 1 Murray CJL Ikuta KS Sharara F et al. Global burden of bacterial antimicrobial resistance in 2019: a systematic analysis. Lancet. 2022; 399: 629-655 Summary Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (867) Google Scholar Despite numerous global initiatives to control the surge of antimicrobial resistance, at the current rate of increase, annual deaths from antimicrobial resistance are estimated to rise to 10 million by 2050. This puzzling conundrum indicates that there are unknown factors that continue to increase antimicrobial resistance at a global scale and that identifying them will be crucial in controlling the ongoing antimicrobial resistance pandemic. There are also scarce data about the geographical distribution and evolution of antimicrobial resistance over time in settings outside of health-care facilities, 2 Hay SI Rao PC Dolecek C et al. Measuring and mapping the global burden of antimicrobial resistance. BMC Med. 2018; 16: 78 Crossref PubMed Scopus (89) Google Scholar , 3 Luz CF van Niekerk JM Keizer J et al. Mapping twenty years of antimicrobial resistance research trends. Artif Intell Med. 2022; 123: 102216 Crossref PubMed Scopus (4) Google Scholar and more accurate scientific evidence is required to promote optimal policies to combat antimicrobial resistance.

It Takes Two: The Importance of the Coach-Athlete Relationship

Have you wondered why coaches are often the first people athletes turn to, both when they are performing poorly and when they are winning? It is because the coach-athlete relationship is the most important relationship developed in sport. Athletes spend more time with their coaches than with any other people in their lives generally. They look up to their coaches and rely on them for technical, tactical, and personal advice. Gold medal-winning Olympic athletes like Wayde van Niekerk, Simone Biles, Michael Phelps, Laura Muir, and LeBron James have said that their coaches are the reason for their success. In this article, we will discuss what makes a successful coach-athlete relationship, describe the impact of the coach-athlete relationship on an athlete’s success, and provide tips that you and your coaches can use to develop a good working partnership.

First report of Coniella granati causing leaf spot of pomegranate (Punica granatum L.) in Hungary.

Pomegranate (Punica granatum L.), the hystoric fruit and ornamental crop native to Iran and North India is widely planted in the Mediterranean and became popular in the house gardens of northest parts of Europe (Fernandez et al. 2014) including Hungary. In August 2020 necrotic black lesions and serious defoliation were observed on 60% of 1-3 year old pomegranate trees (cv. Wonderful) in a horticultural nursery near Gödöllő, Hungary (47°36'00.9"N 19°21'26.5"E). Symptoms started as small irregular dark brown spots on the leaves, which later increased in size (2.6 ± 0.9 mm). Ultimately, the entire leaf turned yellow, defoliation resulted in damage on (6) - 8 - (15)% of the leaves. Then, black pycnidia with unicelled, elliptical to fusiform, colourless conidia (Avg. 50 conidia: 2.4 - (3.6) - 3.9 × 10.2 - (13,1) - 17.9 µm) developed on the surface. These morphological features matched those described earlier by Van Niekerk et al. (2004) and Alvarez et al. (2016) for C. granati. Conidia from pycnidia were directly transferred to potato dextrose agar (PDA) by sterile needle. The plates were incubated at 24°C in the dark. Light yellow colonies with whitish aerial mycelia and later black globose pycnidia were observed. Mass of conidia oozed from pycnidia after 15 days of incubation. Pathogenicity tests were carried out on 1-year-old potted P. granatum trees (cv. Wonderful) with 5 replicates in the greenhouse. Ten, randomly selected leaves were inoculated per plant. 7-mm mycelial plugs from the edge of 10-day-old colonies were placed directly on disinfested (2% NaOCl solution, than sterile distilled water) leaves. The plants were covered with plastic film for 3 days after inoculation (26±3°C and 87±3% relative humidity). Pathogenicity was also tested on nonwounded, surface-disinfested fruits by mycelial plugs in 3 × 3 replicates. Inoculated fruits were placed in large grass vessels for 15 days (24±2°C and 80±5% relative humidity). Uncolonized, sterile PDA plugs were used as controls in both cases. Dark brown legions developed after 9-12 days on the plants in the greenhouse. On pomegranate fruits, the fungus colonized the fruit after 7-8 days, followed by fruit rot. In some cases, after 2 weeks pycnidia developed on the skin surface. No decay were present on control leaves or fruits. The pathogen was reisolated from all infected tissues and identified as C. granati, thus fulfilling Koch's postulates. For molecular identification, total genomic DNA of the isolate was extracted from the growing margins of colonies on PDA and partial sequence of internal transcribed spacer (ITS) and translation elongation factor 1-alpha (tef1) were amplified by PCR using primers described by Alvarez et al. (2016). Sequence data of the Hungarian isolate of the ITS region (GenBank acc. no. MW581953) showed 99.8% identity (559 bp out of 560 bp) with C. granati sequences deposited in GeneBank (Acc. nos. MH860368, MH855389 and KX833582). Considering tef1 sequence of the Hungarian isolate (OM908764) obtained had complete identity with other published C. granati isolates (KX833676, KX833682). C. granati has been previously reported on pomegranate from Europe (Palou et al. 2010, Pollastro et al. 2016). Based on morphological and molecular studies, this is the first record of C. granati in Hungary. The economic importance of this disease in currently limited in Hungary due to pomegranate is rather an ornamental crop, however, the first cultivation trials have been already started. There is a risk that the spread of the pathogen began with the infected propagating material, as a result the disease may outbreak anywhere in the country.

In die gees van die Dionisiese: Marlene van Niekerk se aanhangersbrief aan Freddy Mercury

Drawing on Nietzsche’s dichotomy between the Apollonian and Dionysian principles pertaining to classic tragedy, in this article, I consider the poem “Fan mail Freddy Mercury” by Marlene van Niekerk, from Kaar (2013) from that perspective. The poem deals with the rock musician Freddy Mercury and from my reading is shown to be exemplifying the Dionysian spirit through Mercury’s movements, his performance and his vocal range. From my reading of the text it is evident that there was a strong fusion of the Apollonian and Dionysian in the life and work of Freddy Mercury. Despite his rebellious spirit and his negation of the faith of his childhood, culture dictated that he be buried in his faith. Van Niekerk, with her insight into the philosophy of Nietzsche, adds another dimension to the poem when she invokes Zarathustra, Nietzsche’s prophetic figure, to be distinguished from the historical god of the Zoroaster faith. The metaphorical language used by the poet suggests her Dionysian playfulness.

Abstract 6239: Colposcopy referral rates in an organized cytology-based cervix screening program after receipt of multiple rounds of HPV-based screening in the FOCAL trial

Abstract Purpose: Due to the increased sensitivity but reduced specificity of HPV testing compared to cytology to detect cervical lesions, a shift from cytology to HPV-based screening will initially raise population colposcopy referrals rates, which could put a strain on the healthcare system. However, it is unclear if this increase persists past the initial round of HPV screening or if rates will subsequently decrease due to earlier detection of precancer using HPV screening, which once treated may not reoccur. Methods: Participants of the HPV FOr CervicAL Cancer (FOCAL) randomized controlled trial (N = 25,223; 2008-2016) received up to two rounds of HPV-based cervix screening during the trial before returning to the cytology-based screening program in British Columbia, Canada (BC). After trial exit, participants were followed through the provincial screening program, which collects results from all screens received in BC, to detect any referral to colposcopy. A comparison cohort from the BC general screening population was created by selecting individuals who were eligible for FOCAL but not invited to participate and pulling their screening data from the provincial registry over the same time period. Post-trial colposcopy rates, calculated per-screen (not per participant), were calculated for the FOCAL population and comparison cohort overall and for those who received one round of HPV testing, those who received two rounds, those who received a negative result on their one round of testing, and those who received two negative results on their two rounds of testing. Results: The post-trial colposcopy referral rate in the overall FOCAL population was lower than in the comparison cohort. FOCAL had 180 referrals out of 30654 screens (5.9 per 1000 screens, 95%CI: 5.1-6.8), whereas the comparison cohort had 1765/177880 (9.9/1000, 95%CI: 9.5-10.4). The rates between those who had one versus two HPV tests were similar: one test: 99/17599 (5.6/1000, 95%CI: 4.6-6.8); two tests: 100/16945 (5.9/1000, 95%CI: 4.9-7.2). Rates were much lower among those who received negative results: one negative result: 55/15551 (3.5/1000, 95%CI: 2.7-4.6); two negative results: 40/12438 (3.2/1000, 95%CI: 2.4-4.4). Conclusions: After the first round of HPV-based cervix screening, colposcopy rates may decrease potentially below that seen in a cytology-based program. To avoid a surge in colposcopy referrals that could exceed health system capacity, the introduction of HPV-based screening should be done in waves, for example by inviting a new age group each year to HPV-based screening. Citation Format: Anna Gottschlich, Jennifer J. Anderson, Lovedeep Gondara, Marette Lee, Dirk van Niekerk, Laurie W. Smith, Darrel Cook, Lily Proctor, Joy Melnikow, Gavin Stuart, Ruth E. Martin, Stuart Peacock, Eduardo L. Franco, Mel Krajden, Gina Ogilvie. Colposcopy referral rates in an organized cytology-based cervix screening program after receipt of multiple rounds of HPV-based screening in the FOCAL trial [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2022; 2022 Apr 8-13. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2022;82(12_Suppl):Abstract nr 6239.

Reading for Water

This introduction provides a wide-ranging framing for a set of essays that explores the topic “Reading for Water” in southern African literature. The introduction begins by demonstrating this method through snapshots of three seminal South African novels: Marlene van Niekerk’s Agaat (2006), A. C. Jordan’s The Wrath of the Ancestors (1980) and J. M. Coetzee’s Life & Times of Michael K (1983). This is followed by a discussion of Sarah Nuttall’s essay on Namwali Serpell’s The Old Drift, which establishes the framework for the essays that follow. These are discussed under four sections: Hydro-infrastructures, Multi-spirited Water, Bodies of Water and Wet Ontologies, and New Genealogies, New Chronotopes.

First Report of Coniella granati Associated with Dieback of Rose (Rosa sp.) in India.

Rose (Rosa sp.) is an important floricultural crop largely cultivated in the Karnataka state of southern India. A field survey conducted in Devanahalli, Bangalore rural during October, 2019 revealed rose plants (cv. Arka Pride) showing die-back symptoms with a disease incidence of 7% in an area of 30 hectare rose field. Die-back was characterized by the development of necrotic lesions that started at the tip of shoots and progressed downwards leading to the death of young shoots. Pycnidia were found on young shoots showing necrotic lesions. Die-back affected shoots (n=10) were surface sterilized with 2% NaOCl for 2 min, rinsed thrice in sterile distilled water, and plated on potato dextrose agar (PDA) medium amended with chloramphenicol (40mg/L). The plates were incubated at 28±2 °C and pure cultures were obtained by hyphal tipping. Fungal colonies with white aerial mycelia along with pycnidia were observed on eight samples. Colony growth rate was at 4.2 ± 0.4 mm/day with an average colony diameter of 47.2 ± 3.8 mm after 7 days (12/12 h light and dark period). Pycnidia were solitary and globose. Conidia were hyaline, single celled ellipsoid to fusiform, measured 12.4 - 16.78 × 3.2 - 5.1 μm (n=50). Based on cultural and morphological features, the fungus was identified as Coniella granati (Van Niekerk et al., 2004; Mahadevakumar et al., 2019) (Figure S1). Further, two representative isolates (NLD-2021-1 & NLD-2021-2) were used for molecular identification based on barcoding of ITS-rDNA, LSU and tef1 regions amplified using primer pairs described in Alvarez et al., 2016. PCR amplified products were sequenced and the consensus sequence were analyzed through BLASTn search which showed ITS (NLD-2021-1: 611/611bp - MH860368 & NLD-2021-2: 573/573bp - KU147239), LSU (NLD-2021-1: 783/906bp - MH872113 & NLD-2021-2: 844/1172bp - KX833400) and tef1 (NLD-2021-1 & NLD-2021-2: 548/548bp -KX833682) sequences shared 100% sequence similarity with C. granati respectively. The nucleotide sequences were deposited in GenBank with the accession numbers ITS: MW898436, MW898437; LSU: MZ895475, MZ895476 and tef1 MW916275, MW916276 respectively. The phylogenetic tree constructed based on combined ITS-LSU-tef1 loci confirmed that the sequences shared a common clade with C. granati (Figure S2). Further, pathogenicity tests were conducted on conducted twice on healthy rose plants (Arka Pride; 60 days old after grafting) maintained in a greenhouse at 28±2°C and 70% relative humidity. Whole plant inoculation was followed by spraying the conidial suspension (10ml / plant) of C. granati (NLD-2021-1) (3 × 106 conidia/ml, amended with Tween20 at 2%) on 15 plants. A total of 10 healthy plants inoculated with sterile distilled water amended with Tween20 at 2% served as control. Inoculated plants were covered with polythene bags for 48 h to maintain relative humidity. Die-back symptoms were observed on young shoots after 15-18 days of post inoculation (DPI), and control plants remained disease free after 15 DPI. The pathogen was re-isolated on PDA from 10 diseased plants and identity was confirmed through morphological methods. Coniella granati is an important phytopathogen known to cause die-back and twig blight of pomegranate globally and other economically important crops (Cintora-Martinez et al. 2017). No reports are available on the association of C. granati with dieback of rose (Farr & Rossman, 2021), which should help in developing appropriate disease management strategies.

Writing, Interpreting Fiction in South Africa: The Last 30 Years

Responding to the theme of this issue, ‘The Last 30 Years: Looking Back, Going Forward’, the article assesses the work of several writers of fiction who have garnered attention in both South African-based literary journals and literary journals abroad: Vladislavić, Wicomb, Van Niekerk, Krog, Mda, and, under the grouping ‘“A Tumultuous Urbanism”, and More’, Mhlongo, Mpe, Duiker, Galgut, Beukes, and Matlwa as well as others of briefer reference. The fiction is considered in relation to the predominant interpretative frame of the last thirty years: namely, the ‘postcolonial’.

A philosophical discussion on death and the meaning of life

A philosophical discussion on death and the meaning of life

ARRESTS WITHOUT WARRANT: THE SCA BRINGS CLARITY Minister of Safety and Security v Sekhoto 2011 1 SACR 315 (SCA); [2011] 2 All SA 157 (SCA)

Section 40(1) of the Criminal Procedure Act 51 of 1977 provides for a number of different instances where a peace officer may effect an arrest without an arrest warrant. A perusal of the reported case law pertaining to the lawfulness of arrests without warrant reveals that section 40(1)(b) of the Act, in particular, has received much attention from the courts. In terms of this subsection a peace officer may arrest without warrant any person whom he reasonably suspects of having committed an offence referred to in Schedule 1, other than the offence of escaping from lawful custody. It is settled law that any deprivation of freedom is regarded as prima facie unlawful. The arrestor therefore bears the onus of proving that the arrest was justified. The following jurisdictional facts must be present for a peace officer to rely on the defence created by section 40(1)(b) of the Criminal Procedure Act in cases, where it is alleged that the arrest was unlawful: (i) the arrestor must be a peace officer; (ii) the arrestor must entertain a suspicion; (iii) the suspicion must be that the suspect committed an offence in Schedule 1; and (iv) the suspicion must rest on reasonable grounds. For a discussion of the differenttypes of jurisdictional facts provided for in section 40(1) see Watney. In Louw v Minister of Safety and Security Bertelsman J held, with reference to the right to personal liberty, that arresting officers are under a constitutional obligation to consider whether there are no less invasive options to bring the suspect to court than the drastic measure of arrest, thereby effectively requiring a further jurisdictional fact for successful reliance by a peace officer on the provisions of section 40(1). If a reasonable apprehension exists that the suspect will abscond, or fail to appear in court if a warrant is first obtained for his or her arrest, or awritten notice or summons to appear in court is obtained, then the arrest would be constitutionally untenable and unlawful. Bertelsman J relied on academic opinion and an obiter remark made by De Vos J in Ralekwa v Minister of Safety and Security and held that the approach in Tsose v Minister of Justice that there is no rule that requires the milder method of bringing a person to court if it would be as effective as arrest, could no longer be acceptable in a constitutional dispensation. This approach was followed in a number of reported High Court judgments but not approved of in Charles v Minister of Safety and Security. In Minister of Safety and Security v Van Niekerk the Constitutional Court found it not to be in the interests of justice on the facts of the case before it to pronounce on the constitutional tenability of the approach in Tsose, but nevertheless held that the constitutionality of an arrest will be dependent upon its factual circumstances. Watney succinctly discusses some of the abovementioned developments. However, on 19 November 2010 the Supreme Court of Appeal in Minister of Safety and Security v Sekhoto (2011 1 SACR 315 (SCA), also reported in [2011] 2 All SA 157 (SCA)) held that the approach of the different high courts requiring a further jurisdictional fact for the lawfulness of an arrest did nothave proper regard for the principles in terms of which statutes must be interpreted in the light of the Bill of Rights and that they have conflated the issue of jurisdictional facts with the issue of discretion. This lucid judgment brings clarity to the issue of the lawfulness of arrests without warrant.

PAPER V PRACTICE – EXAMINING THE SCOPE AND LIMIT OF SECTION 206 OF THE LABOUR RELATIONS ACT IN PROVIDING A REMEDY FOR A NON-PARTY TO AN EXTENDED COLLECTIVE AGREEMENT

The Minister of Labour may extend collective agreements concluded in bargaining councils to non-parties to the agreements in terms of section 32 of the Labour Relations Act 66 of 1995. The extension of these agreements has long been a cumbersome debate in law and practice. While some argue in favour thereof there are many that argue against it. Non-parties can apply for exemption from thesecollective agreements, and this is seen as a due remedy, however, the process of applying for exemption can be wrought with inefficiencies. Therefore, the question must be asked whether the employer as a non-party to an extended agreement, hasany remedy to its disposal. Section 206 of the Labour Relations Act deals with the effect that a defect or irregularity in a bargaining council can have on the validity of the collective agreement concluded by said council. If the collective agreement is extended to non-parties, and there is a material defect with regard to the collective agreement, this section can provide a due remedy for the non-party, if interpreted and applied correctly. Seen as a clarification for the correct interpretation of section 206 has only recently been addressed in a judgment by Judge Van Niekerk, this article focuses on this interpretation and aims to make certain recommendations with regard to the interpretation of section 206.

Knowledge, science and rationality: In discussion with Wentzel van Huyssteen’s earlier work

The background of this research study is the ongoing debate since the late 1980s about the question of the rationality and scientific status of theology. Wentzel van Huyssteen’s seminal book Teologie as Kritiese Geloofsverantwoording has, in South Africa and abroad (after he moved to Princeton Theological Seminary), became a standard text of reference in this debate. As the book appeared, the author of this chapter has been in numerous debates with Van Huyssteen about this book. Whilst certain aspects of the book cannot but be applauded, Van Niekerk has serious questions about aspects of Van Huyssteen’s work that he raises in this chapter. The method used for writing this text is conceptual analysis; no empirical study needs to be performed for this kind of contribution. The main conclusions are as follows: 1. there are notable similarities between scientific knowledge and systematic theology. 2. It is not self-evident that in case of tension between notions of rationality operative in science and theology, it is theology that necessarily has to make serious adjustments. 3. Science does not have a monopoly over the understanding and utilisation of the idea of rationality. 4. Science is not the only correlate of truly trustworthy and reliable knowledge of reality. 5. All knowledge (including science) correlates with a variety of human interests. 6. The notion of rationality can and often does attain a meaning specifically related to the interest-directed forms of knowledge. 7. The meaning of the notion of rationality must be broadened in a way that makes it more universally applicable in all reliable terrains of knowledge. 8. The significance of philosophical hermeneutics for our understanding of a broadened notion of rationality ought to be better explored.Intradisciplinary and/or interdisciplinary implications: The contextual perspective of this article is the demonstration that the debate about the rationality of theology is well advanced, although far from conclusively resolved. A quite influential perspective in this debate – that of Wentzel van Huyssteen – is analysed and submitted to stringent critique. An alternative perspective is developed that deserves to be taken seriously in this debate.