List of Titles

‘This sea of darkness, craziness and opportunity’: students experiences of depression and social identities at a South African university

- Craig, Ashleigh

Authors: Craig, Ashleigh
Date: 2020
Subjects: Depression, Mental -- South Africa -- Makhanda , Depression in adolescence -- South Africa -- Makhanda , College students -- Mental health -- South Africa -- Makhanda , Group identity -- South Africa -- Makhanda , Phenomenological psychology , Education, Higher -- Social aspects -- South Africa , Rhodes University
Language: English
Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/118632 , vital:34655
Description: This study explores how the interaction between depression and social identities is experienced by South African university students. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with eight students at Rhodes University who have had depressive experiences and analysed using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis. The following five superordinate themes emerged out of the data: 1) the self looking in, 2) the self looking out, 3) the misunderstood self, 4) the student self and 5) the loss of self. Findings showed that students’ depression is significantly influenced by their social identities, which are experienced as multi-faceted and ever-changing within the university context. The related therapeutic implications are also discussed.
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Date Issued: 2020

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Assessing the impact of the expanded Global Gag Rule in South Africa

- du Plessis, Ulandi, Sofika, Dumisa, Macleod, Catriona I, Mthethwa, Thobile

Authors: du Plessis, Ulandi , Sofika, Dumisa , Macleod, Catriona I , Mthethwa, Thobile
Date: 2019
Subjects: To be catalogued
Language: English
Type: text , report
Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/434306 , vital:73047 , ISBN Report , https://www.ru.ac.za/media/rhodesuniversity/content/criticalstudiesinsexualitiesandreproduction/documents/IWHC_Report.pdf
Description: South Africa has one of the most progressive abortion laws in the world and as the constitution states, South Africans also have “the right to make deci-sions concerning reproduction”(Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996). Alongside being a free service, this should seemingly translate into accessible country-wide abortion services. However, less than one in ten public clinics actually perform abortions (Amnesty International, 2017). One of the main reasons for this has been the failure, on the part of the Depart-ment of Health, to regulate conscientious objection, ie the right of a healthcare worker to refuse to provide a service against which they are mor-ally opposed. Another reason is a lack of resources, in terms of both health professionals and finances, which manifest particularly in rural areas. As a result, women who are considering abortion either turn to illegal providers whose advertisements are scattered around towns, or towards private ser-vice providers such as Marie Stopes. Both options are usually costly, espe-cially to poor women. And illegal backstreet abortions often result in sepsis and infection. Recent data on abortion services in South Africa indicate that between 2016 and 2017, 20% of all abortions performed on women aged between 15-44 years were provided by the public health sector, while 26% and 54% of abortions were performed by illegal providers and the private health sector respectively (Lince-Deroche et al., 2018).
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Date Issued: 2019

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From deviant choice to feminist issue: An historical analysis of scholarship on voluntary childlessness (1920–2013)

- Lynch, Ingrid, Morison, Tracy, Macleod, Catriona I, Mijas, Magdalena, du Toit, Ryan, Shivakumar, Seemanthini T

Authors: Lynch, Ingrid , Morison, Tracy , Macleod, Catriona I , Mijas, Magdalena , du Toit, Ryan , Shivakumar, Seemanthini T
Date: 2018
Subjects: To be catalogued
Language: English
Type: text , book chapter
Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/434319 , vital:73048 , ISBN 978-1-78754-361-4 , https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/978-1-78754-361-420181002/full/html
Description: Existing reviews of research on voluntary childlessness generally take the form of narrative summaries, focusing on main topics investigated over time. In this chapter, the authors extend previous literature reviews to conduct a systematic review and content analysis of socio-historical and geopolitical aspects of knowledge production about voluntary childlessness. The dataset comprised 195 peer-reviewed articles that were coded and analysed to explore, inter alia: the main topic under investigation; country location of authors; sample characteristics; theoretical framework and methodology. The findings are discussed in relation to the socio-historical contexts of knowledge production, drawing on theoretical insights concerned with the politics of location, representation and research practice. The shifts in the topics of research from the 1970s, when substantial research first emerged, uphold the view of voluntary childlessness as non-normative. With some regional variation, knowledge is dominated by quantitative, hard science methodologies and mostly generated about privileged, married women living in the global North. The implications of this for future research concerned with reproductive freedom are outlined.
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Date Issued: 2018

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Extreme weather events in the Sneeuberg, Karoo, South Africa: a case study of the floods of 9 and 12 February 2011

- Fox, Roddy C, Rowntree, Kate M

Authors: Fox, Roddy C , Rowntree, Kate M
Date: 2013
Language: English
Type: Article
Identifier: vital:6672 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1004468
Description: Two destructive flood events occurred in rapid succession in the semi-arid Sneeuberg Mountains of the Karoo, South Africa in February 2011. The temporal and spatial characteristics of these two extreme events are examined in this paper through analysis of data from an unusually dense, and reliable, network of farm rain gauges. These analyses add to our understanding derived from existing rain gauge information. Comparisons are then made with patterns from a range of modeled products derived from remote sensed information: the Modern-Era Retrospective Analysis for Research and Applications (MERRA), the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) and the Global Land Data Assimilation System (GLDAS). We found that the first flood event was widespread and precipitation was related strongly to altitude. The second was highly localised, with no relationship to altitude. Both had very sharply peaked rainfall intensities. These findings are of significance to the studies of flooding and landscape change in the area as such events have become more pronounced over the past 50 yr and it is likely that this trend will accelerate. The modeled patterns are derived largely from remote sensing and we found that they are reliable for drawing out monthly and annual variations but they make noticeable underestimates. They are poor estimates, however, both for the spatial distribution of precipitation, and the short term trends as they struggle to estimate the impact of topography and other local forcing factors. This finding corroborates information derived from other analyses at broader spatial scales using more widely spread, established rain gauge stations. Ten percent of southern Africa has been classified as mountainous and these areas provide much of our water resources so our findings are significant to water managers throughout this and similar mountainous regions.
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Date Issued: 2013

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Using assessment and reflexive teaching practices to inform and guide changes to the teaching and learning activities in Introductory Accounting

- Bezuidenhout, L Peta

Authors: Bezuidenhout, L Peta
Date: 2008
Subjects: To be catalogued
Language: English
Type: Conference paper
Identifier: vital:6068 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1004622
Description: Teaching accounting to first year university students in higher education institutions is becoming increasingly complex as we deal with increasing class sizes, increasing diversity and a student body which appears to be less inclined to study without external motivating factors, while to be successful in studying accounting requires more than passive learning. Our aim was to make our students active participants in their accounting studies. After studying established research into assessment and approaches to student learning, changes were made to our course to ensure increased and active participation from our students. Critical to this change was guiding students in making the shift from a surface approach to learning, to a deep approach to learning where they would engage with the subject matter in a manner more likely to result in truly understanding the concepts and principles being taught. An important part of implementing these changes was asking our students to evaluate the innovations after they had taken place. Feedback received from our students resulted in the use of a new and unplanned innovation in the form of the setting of regular mini-tests. This was arguably the most successful of all the interventions introduced during the year and resulted in our journey being more exciting and less predictable than expected.
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Date Issued: 2008

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Irony and transcendence on the Renaissance stage

- Wright, Laurence

Authors: Wright, Laurence
Date: 2004
Language: English
Type: text , article
Identifier: vital:7067 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1007455 , https://doi.org/10.1484/M.CURSOR-EB.3.4728
Description: preprint , This is the concluding essay in a collection entitled 'This Earthly Stage'. The chapter argues that the peculiar task of the stage metaphor - the notion of the theatre as a metaphor for life,which involves complex interactions between rarefied intellectual constructions of life and mundane reality - is to interrogate the tension between an inscrutable cosmic order and the limited viewpoints of ordinary humanity.The piece moves from general considerations of irony and dramatic irony, via an analysis of Kyd's The Spanish Tragedy, to comments on Petrarch, Pico and Vives, culminating in a consideration of irony and transcendence in Shakespeare's last plays.
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Date Issued: 2004

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Language and value: towards accepting a richer linguistic ecology for South Africa

- Wright, Laurence

Authors: Wright, Laurence
Date: 2004
Language: English
Type: text , article
Identifier: vital:7042 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1007383 , https://doi.org/10.1075/lplp.28.2.05wri
Description: preprint , Language policy debate is often obscured by two factors: failure to acknowledge different time-frames attending contrasting positions, and failure to recognise that ordinary people are motivated by their perceived best interests in the present. This article argues that the key to more general public acceptance of linguistic ecological diversity in South Africa is to shift the emphasis from policy development to practical language cultivation issues. Provide the requisite cultivation support, and acceptance of a revitalised future for African languages becomes more assured. It should also be understood that the modernisation of African languages in South Africa has a political dimension concerning which South African language commentators are strangely silent. This political thrust may not be entirely congruent with the concerns of those whose brief for African languages is primarily cultural or ecological – if, indeed, they are even aware of it. Finally, it needs to be recognised that language development under conditions of controlled influence, as in the civil service or schooling, is potentially achievable (with whatever difficulty), but that this must be complemented by authentic contemporary intellectual work published in African languages if the linguistic dimension of the African Renaissance is to take off.
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Date Issued: 2004

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Southern African Journal of Gerontology, volume 9, number 1, April 2000

- Ferreira, Monica (editor), Moller, Valerie, HSRC/UCT Centre for Gerontology

Authors: Ferreira, Monica (editor) , Moller, Valerie , HSRC/UCT Centre for Gerontology
Date: 2000
Subjects: Gerontology -- South Africa , Older people -- Care -- South Africa
Language: English
Type: Text
Identifier: vital:8080 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1012914
Description: [From Editorial] Four of the five articles in this issue either deal explicitly with or refer to the effects of the AIDS epidemics in the authors' countries. The fifth paper deals with late-life chronic diseases of life-style. In the first paper, Akinsola examines effects of the epidemic on older Batswana and evaluates the effectiveness of his country's Community Home-Based Care programme against the programme's objectives, with special reference to the situation of older persons as primary caregivers to PWAs and AIDS orphans. He concludes that the situation of older carers calls for strong and urgent policy action to assist this highly vulnerable and marginalized group in its critical and valuable role and function as carers. In her paper on the provision of housing and care for older persons in Zambia, Sichingabula considers implications of the anticipated increases in AIDS morbidity and mortality, in the form of an increased demand for formal housing and care by older Zambians in the face of diminished traditional support. Given effects of the country's Structural Adjustment Programme and the Zambian government's inability to expand provision of formal support for the older population, the author makes recommendations for initiatives which NGOs can undertake towards meeting the needs and improving the quality of life of older persons. Next, Shaibu examines the experiences of caregivers to older persons in Botswana within a context of pervasive, abject poverty and multiple, unmet basic needs. The author notes how the HIV I AIDS epidemic, in addition to other social forces, impacts family structures and the capacity of Batswana to care for older relatives. In their paper, authors Patel, Steyn, Charlton, Bourne, Laubscher, Fourie and Jooste describe the risk-factor profile for chronic diseases of life-style, such as hypertension, hypercholesterolaemia and obesity, in the older black population of Cape Town and compare it with risk profiles in other South African ethnic groups. The authors note that although the study population is still at low risk of cardiovascular disease - for example, demographic changes, including urbanisation and the adoption of urban life-styles, are likely to lead to an increase in chronic morbidity in future older cohorts in this population. In a second paper, Sichingabula assesses the physical and social environment of Divine Providence Home, a residential care facility for destitute older persons in Lusaka, Zambia. She draws practitioners' attention to the prudence of incorporating design features in facilities built for older persons which enhance the users' mobility, independence and quality of life. She also highlights a lack of social stimulation and the inactivity of the residents at the home. The author makes the point that given an anticipated increased demand for admission to residential care facilities as a result of AIDS-related deaths and loss of traditional support for older persons, living environments in these facilities must be optimized. In sum, the AIDS-related research papers in this number highlight a need to identify and to strengthen social and care systems which can assist older persons in Africa, as traditional systems are increasingly affected by demographic forces, particularly the effects of the HIV/AIDS epidemics. Finally, Moller reviews a recent, landmark Help Age International report (1999), which is a compilation of 15 papers on ageing in developing countries and challenges facing research, policy and practice.
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Date Issued: 2000

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Workers News - Special tenth anniversary edition

- SAMWU

Authors: SAMWU
Date: Nov 1997
Subjects: SAMWU
Language: English, Zulu, Sotho and Afrikaans
Type: text
Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/113358 , vital:33752
Description: It brought change in Local Government. Although this strike was a success for the organisation, we suffered losses. Many workers were dismissed and many workers suffered injuries at the hands of the security forces. This strike forced the employers to take us seriously. Another strike took place in 1995. Here again we had casualties. Workers were shot and beaten by police in places like Pietersburg, Kuruman, Bethlehem. We have workers in Groblersdal who were dismissed during that strike who have not been re-instated to this day. We have tried our best, and will continue to try. A funny incident during my term was when Cdes Tom Ngobeni, Mike Mthembu, Themba Khumalo and I called a march in Pretoria. The police station commander asked us how many workers would be marching, and Cde Tom replied "40 thousand!" When it came to the day of the march, the army lined a long street. The soldiers were heavily armed and barricaded both sides of the street. But when the march started, we were only 150! So the soldiers were far more than the marchers! The police said that they were going to sue SAMWU, but they ended up doing nothing. Now every time we want to march in Pretoria, this station commander still remembers this incident. As President of SAMWU, I feel great about the members. SAMWU members like their organisation. Wherever you go they are proud about their trade union. Even in areas where service to members is weak, those members are still proud of their union. The Union came in as a saviour to many workers, taking into account the conditions we used to work under. I always believe that if you are elected by people they should not be afraid to talk to you. I don't like it when a President is above the workers, and the workers are not permitted to say anything about their President. You have to be open to criticism, and that is the only way you can be built by others. I enjoy being a trade unionist first and foremost, but it is not an easy job to be a President. You miss your family because you never spend time with your family. My children have grown but they have never spent much time with me, except at night when I arrive home late. I think SAMWU will grow more and more. We have grown since our launch by over 100 thousand members. One of the reasons for this huge growth is that we always have a target at every Congress. During this period we didn't have a target, and that is why we did not grow so much. We need now to say that by the next Congress we should be at least 150-180 thousand in SAMWU, and make sure that we work hard to target that number. We also need public sector unity to make sure there is proper restructuring of Local Government and also to rid the public sector of corruption. Although corruption is not a new thing - it has been there for years but we need to come together to make sure that we instill that discipline within all workers in the public sector, even those that are not our members. We must make sure that all corruption in Local Government is rooted out, especially those workers in traffic departments. There are corrupt elements in every traffic department in this country. We need to build an image that will gain us respect from those communities that we are supposed to serve. Most of our members understand that SAMWU is opposed to privatisation. Once the state assets are in the hands of the private sector, government will be dependent on business. As SAMWU we say that we need a strong state to lead us, instead of the private sector leading. This will be one of our biggest challenges in the next few years. I have an important message to all municipal workers on our tenth anniversary. I would like to say that we need to improve our service delivery and make sure that we are closer to our communities. Communities must understand our problems and we must also understand their problems. We need to make sure that we democratise our union. Where there are weaknesses, members must make sure that those weaknesses are addressed. If we don't do things correctly, workers should correct us.
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Date Issued: Nov 1997

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Workers News Nov 1997 - Special tenth anniversary edition

- SAMWU

Authors: SAMWU
Date: Nov 1997
Subjects: SAMWU
Language: English
Type: text
Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/137959 , vital:37577
Description: I started with the municipality in 1970 as a plumber with the technical section of the JCC. There were no unions then that organised Black workers - we were not allowed to belong to any union at that time. We were first given help by the Industrial Aid Society, then the FOSATU Workers Project, and then I became one of the first shopstewards in TGWU in 1980. It was difficult in the early days of TGWU - other workers would be afraid even to sit next to you in case they were victimised by the employer. In those days there were no wage negotiations - we used to get a 20c increase. The process in launching SAMWU was a very difficult one. We started the merger talks even before COSATU was launched in 1985. But when COSATU launched, that Congress took a decision that organiations in the municipal sector should merge. It was not an easy process but because we were all for unity in the end we achieved what we set out to do. My first main challenge as SAMWU President was to unite Local Government workers. In our history Local Government workers had no national union, whereas workers in other sectors had national unions. But in many ways, after SAMWU's first Congress, things became easier for municipal workers. We had established a solid base from which to challenge the employers.
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Date Issued: Nov 1997

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Southern African Journal of Gerontology, volume 4, number 1, April 1995

- Ferreira, Monica (editor), Møller, Valerie (editor), HSRC/UCT Centre for Gerontology

Authors: Ferreira, Monica (editor) , Møller, Valerie (editor) , HSRC/UCT Centre for Gerontology
Date: 1995
Subjects: Gerontology -- South Africa , Older people -- Care -- South Africa
Language: English
Type: Text
Identifier: vital:8070 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1012862
Description: [From Editorial]The sixth number of SA. IG includes varied and interesting contributions which will appeal to researchers and practitioners alike. It is fitting that precisely a year after the first fully democratic elections were held in South Africa. an article by M0ller on voter education of older Africans should be included in this number. M0ller has captured the euphoria of the older first-time voters in her selection of quotations from media reports on the voting. She concludes in her article that for these older South Africans who waited over 40 years to be enfranchised, voting was experienced as a particularly fulfilling moment in their lives. In an original paper Burman examines the findings of a study on the nature and extent of child care rendered by older coloured women in the Cape Peninsula - either to grandchildren. or to the children of other relatives or non-relatives. Burman considers the economic implications of the care which the women provide and finds that very few benefit financially. On the contrary, she notes a downward, rather than an expected upward flow of wealth, whereby social old-age pensioners share their pension money with other members of the household, including the grandchildren for whom they care. Burman concludes that not only are intergenerational relations strengthened by older women remaining in the family structure and caring for young children but through their pensions they enjoy considerable status in the household. Three practice items are included in this number. Working within a social-work framework, Howes has developed a monitoring instrument for use in the case management of older clients in the community. She reviews recent literature on case management and introduces the concept to South African practitioners, indicating its potential usefulness in a restructured service-delivery system in South Africa. She argues that to address the backlog in service delivery in developing and rural communities. and in view of limited resources and other reasons which discourage institutional care. case management is a means of rendering and co-ordinating cost-effective care to older persons in the community. , Authors Amosun, Mazarire and Mawere examine the pattern of utilization of physiotherapy services by elderly Zimbabweans at a central hospital in Harare. They establish baseline data on the medical conditions for which the patients received physiotherapy. The authors highlight the need for adequate information in these areas in African countries. In the third practice item, Tooke raises the issue of developing and providing training for carers in homes for the aged. He reports on the training methodology which he has developed for this category of worker, and calls for the setting of standards for such training and the institution of procedures to ensure that standardized training of carers is carried out in homes. The poor training of carers. or a lack of training for this cadre of workers has been mooted as a factor which contributes to the mis-treatment or abuse of residents in homes (Conradie & Charlton. 1992 ). Historically, South African nursing bodies have not recognized these workers and have opposed formal training that might equip them to perform tasks done by student nurses (enrolled nursing auxiliaries). In post-election South Africa new cadres of workers increasingly need to be trained and employed. as part and parcel of the goals of the Reconstruction and Development Programme (RDP). which includes not only training citizens but also creating work and career opportunities for all. To ascertain the present attitudes of national nursing bodies towards the training of carers. the South African Nursing Council and the South African Nursing Association were invited to reply to the proposals in Dr Tooke's brief. Their replies are published as rejoinders to the brief. Finally, this number of SAJG also carries its first book review. Valerie Moller reviews the new publication of US authors Steven M. Albert and Maria G. Cattell. titled Old age in global perspective: cross-cultural and cross-national views. The book, which adopts a multidisciplinary approach, presents ethnographic case studies and evidence from cross-national surveys to assess variation in the experience of ageing and old age. Møller concludes that Southern African readers will gain many insights from the book, to better understand the complexities of ageing in their own society.
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Date Issued: 1995

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