The Language of Struggle and Radical Activism as an Inclusive City Tool Among the Neglected Urban Poor of South Africa

2021 ◽  
pp. 417-445
Author(s):  
Ayobami Abayomi Popoola ◽  
Nunyi Vachaku Blamah ◽  
Choene Mosima ◽  
Mjabuliseni Nkosi ◽  
Samuel Medayese ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Urban Poor ◽  
Radical Activism

Housing as a Basic Human Right: A Reflection on South Africa

2019 ◽  
Vol 31 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mziwandile Sobantu ◽  
Nqobile Zulu ◽  
Ntandoyenkosi Maphosa
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Human Rights ◽  
Social Development ◽  
Urban Poor ◽  
Active Role ◽  
Human Right ◽  
Economic Rights ◽  
Development Agenda ◽  
Rights Discourse ◽  
Human Rights Discourse

This paper reflects on human rights in the post-apartheid South Africa housing context from a social development lens. The Constitution guarantees access to adequate housing as a basic human right, a prerequisite for the optimum development of individuals, families and communities. Without the other related socio-economic rights, the provision of access to housing is limited in its service delivery. We argue that housing rights are inseparable from the broader human rights discourse and social development endeavours underway in the country. While government has made much progress through the Reconstruction and Development Programme, the reality of informal settlements and backyard shacks continues to undermine the human rights prospects of the urban poor. Forced evictions undermine some poor citizens’ human rights leading courts to play an active role in enforcing housing and human rights through establishing a jurisprudence that invariably advances a social development agenda. The authors argue that the post-1994 government needs to galvanise the citizenship of the urban poor through development-oriented housing delivery.

scholarly journals Food insecurity, diet quality and body composition: data from the Healthy Life Trajectories Initiative (HeLTI) pilot survey in urban Soweto, South Africa

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-9
Author(s):  
Sarah H Kehoe ◽  
Stephanie V Wrottesley ◽  
Lisa Ware ◽  
Alessandra Prioreschi ◽  
Catherine Draper ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Body Composition ◽  
Food Security ◽  
Body Size ◽  
Food Insecurity ◽  
Diet Quality ◽  
Urban Poor ◽  
Reproductive Age ◽  
Healthy Life ◽  
Life Trajectories

Abstract Objective: To determine whether food security, diet diversity and diet quality are associated with anthropometric measurements and body composition among women of reproductive age. The association between food security and anaemia prevalence was also tested. Design: Secondary analysis of cross-sectional data from the Healthy Life Trajectories Initiative (HeLTI) study. Food security and dietary data were collected by an interviewer-administered questionnaire. Hb levels were measured using a HemoCue, and anaemia was classified as an altitude-adjusted haemoglobin level < 12·5 g/dl. Body size and composition were assessed using anthropometry and dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry. Setting: The urban township of Soweto, Johannesburg, South Africa. Participants: Non-pregnant women aged 18–25 years (n 1534). Results: Almost half of the women were overweight or obese (44 %), and 9 % were underweight. Almost a third of women were anaemic (30 %). The prevalence rates of anaemia and food insecurity were similar across BMI categories. Food insecure women had the least diverse diets, and food security was negatively associated with diet quality (food security category v. diet quality score: B = –0·35, 95 % CI –0·70, –0·01, P = 0·049). Significant univariate associations were observed between food security and total lean mass. However, there were no associations between food security and body size or composition variables in multivariate models. Conclusions: Our data indicate that food security is an important determinant of diet quality in this urban-poor, highly transitioned setting. Interventions to improve maternal and child nutrition should recognise both food security and the food environment as critical elements within their developmental phases.

scholarly journals NOTES ON SPATIAL-STRUCTURAL CHANGE IN URBAN SOUTH AFRICA -THE 1990s

2020 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Hermanus S. GEYER
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
South African ◽  
Informal Sector ◽  
Urban Poor ◽  
Structural Evolution ◽  
Business Sector ◽  
Urban South ◽  
World Class ◽  
Urban Business ◽  
South African Cities

Informal businesses used to be something that was only tolerated in the former black townships during the years of apartheid. Since then the informal business sector has become an integral part of the central business setup of cities in South Africa. It not only serves to widen the security net of the urban poor in cities, it also represents the outcome of the democratization process in the country over the past fifteen years. Yet, there has been a tendency amongst local authorities to take steps to reduce the footprint of this sector in the urban environment in recent years. This trend ties in with the new approach of government to transform South African cities to become ’world class’ centres - a step that is aimed at making the cities more visually acceptable to visitors from abroad. In this paper an attempt is made to demonstrate the importance of the informal sector within the urban business makeup and to show what role it played in the spatial-structural evolution of the urban economies during the 1990s. The paper analyzes the structure of the urban business sector as a whole and structurally links the formal and informal sectors, demonstrating the importance of both sectors in the economic makeup of the cities. It analyses the structure of the informal sector and shows how different layers of the sector potentially relates to the formal urban sector.

scholarly journals Community acceptability of dolutegravir-based HIV treatment in women: a qualitative study in South Africa and Uganda

2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Yussif Alhassan ◽  
Adelline Twimukye ◽  
Thoko Malaba ◽  
Catherine Orrell ◽  
Landon Myer ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Focus Group ◽  
Neural Tube ◽  
Neural Tube Defects ◽  
Urban Poor ◽  
Hiv Treatment ◽  
Childbearing Age ◽  
Community Awareness ◽  
Depth Interviews ◽  
In Pregnancy

Abstract Background Despite concerns about dolutegravir use in pregnancy, most low- and middle-income countries are accelerating the introduction of dolutegravir-based regimens into national antiretroviral treatment programmes. Questions remain about the acceptability of dolutegravir use in women due to the potential risks in pregnancy. This study from South Africa and Uganda explored community values, preferences and attitudes towards the use of dolutegravir-based regimens in women. Methods This study employed a qualitative design involving in-depth interviews and focus group discussion conducted between August 2018 to March 2019. The study was conducted in the months following an announcement of a potential risk for neural tube defects with dolutegravir use among women during conception and the first trimester. Participants included HIV positive pregnant and lactating women and their partners. They were selected purposively from urban poor communities in South Africa and Uganda. Data was analysed thematically in NVivo. Results Forty-four in-depth interviews and 15 focus group discussions were conducted. Most participants had positive views of dolutegravir-based regimens and perceived it to be more desirable compared with efavirenz-containing regimens. There was widespread concern about use of dolutegravir during pregnancy and among women of childbearing age due to publicity around the possible association with neural tube defects. Acceptability was gendered, with nearly all male participants preferring their female spouses of childbearing potential not to use dolutegravir, while most women not planning pregnancy wanted access to contraception alongside dolutegravir. Community awareness and knowledge of dolutegravir was low and characterised by negative information. Women were concerned about HIV-related stigma and wanted the privacy features of dolutegravir to be strengthened with modification of the pill appearance and disguised packaging. Conclusions Dolutegravir-based regimens were found to be generally acceptable for use in women except during pregnancy. Interest in a dolutegravir-based regimen was linked with its perceived potential to enhance health, privacy and reduce stigma while concerns about neural tube defects were the main potential barrier to dolutegravir uptake in women. In order to optimise the community acceptability and uptake of acceptability-based regimen among women it is critical to strengthen community awareness and understanding of dolutegravir treatment, improve contraception services alongside the introduction of dolutegravir, and engage with male partners.

scholarly journals NOTES ON SPATIAL-STRUCTURAL CHANGE IN URBAN SOUTH AFRICA -THE 1990s

2021 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Hermanus S. GEYER
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
South African ◽  
Informal Sector ◽  
Urban Poor ◽  
Structural Evolution ◽  
Business Sector ◽  
Urban South ◽  
World Class ◽  
Urban Business ◽  
South African Cities

Informal businesses used to be something that was only tolerated in the former black townships during the years of apartheid. Since then the informal business sector has become an integral part of the central business setup of cities in South Africa. It not only serves to widen the security net of the urban poor in cities, it also represents the outcome of the democratization process in the country over the past fifteen years. Yet, there has been a tendency amongst local authorities to take steps to reduce the footprint of this sector in the urban environment in recent years. This trend ties in with the new approach of government to transform South African cities to become ’world class’ centres - a step that is aimed at making the cities more visually acceptable to visitors from abroad. In this paper an attempt is made to demonstrate the importance of the informal sector within the urban business makeup and to show what role it played in the spatial-structural evolution of the urban economies during the 1990s. The paper analyzes the structure of the urban business sector as a whole and structurally links the formal and informal sectors, demonstrating the importance of both sectors in the economic makeup of the cities. It analyses the structure of the informal sector and shows how different layers of the sector potentially relates to the formal urban sector.

scholarly journals The appropriateness of a realist review for evaluating the South African Housing Subsidy Programme

2018 ◽  
Vol 114 (11/12) ◽  
Author(s):  
Matodzi M. Amisi ◽  
Lochner Marais ◽  
Jan S. Cloete
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Urban Poor ◽  
Performance Monitoring ◽  
Realist Review ◽  
Monitoring And Evaluation ◽  
White Paper ◽  
Complex Nature ◽  
Housing Subsidy ◽  
Human Settlements ◽  
The Poor

Conducting meta-reviews of government programmes has become common practice. In South Africa, the national Department of Human Settlements and the national Department of Performance Monitoring and Evaluation recently commissioned a team to review the extent to which the Housing Subsidy Programme had provided assets to municipalities and the poor and whether these assets had helped poor households escape from poverty. A realist approach was employed to conduct the review. We argue that, given the complex nature of housing programmes, the realist review methodology was an appropriate approach to follow in answering the review questions. We explored how the realist review method allowed us to work with the uneven and contested nature of the housing literature and how the review nonetheless enabled elucidation of the factors that had contributed to the expected outcomes. Because this case was the first time that this method was used in a government-commissioned evaluation of housing, there were some practical challenges involved in its use. Some of the challenges were related to the nature of the questions that were asked. At the time of the review, the Department of Human Settlements was in the process of reviewing the 1996 White Paper and, to inform this process, the Housing Subsidy Programme review included a copious number of questions set by the Department of Human Settlements and Department of Performance Monitoring and Evaluation, which made the review rather large and, in some cases, complicated the analysis. In some cases, because the Departments wanted clear-cut answers, the commissioners perceived the theoretical strength of the method, such as offering explanatory instead of conclusive judgement, as a weakness. The paper reveals some limitations of the realist review method for evaluating the multifaceted outcomes of a complex programme, particularly the practical difficulty of dealing with large quantities of data. We do however consider this method to have potential for further reviews. Significance: Housing research in South Africa is uneven which makes any review process difficult. The review was unable to offer judgement on the effect that the Housing Subsidy Programme has had on the asset base of the poor. The review was useful for making clear which factors will help the Programme to achieve the intended outcomes and also for pointing out on what government should focus to build assets for the urban poor.

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