scholarly journals Plants Used by Bapedi Traditional Healers to Treat Asthma and Related Symptoms in Limpopo Province, South Africa

2018 ◽  
Vol 2018 ◽  
pp. 1-33 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sebua Silas Semenya ◽  
Alfred Maroyi

To the best of our knowledge there are presently no ethnobotanical surveys focusing on the utilisation of herbal remedies for asthma in South Africa. The present study is therefore an attempt to fill this gap in knowledge. A total of 140 Bapedi traditional healers (THs) practicing in the Capricorn, Sekhukhune, and Waterberg districts of the Limpopo Province (South Africa) were queried using semistructured questionnaires, supplemented by field observations during face-to-face interview. A total of 104 medicinal plant species (92 indigenous and 12 exotics) belonging to 92 genera, distributed across 54 botanical families, mostly the Asteraceae and Fabaceae (18.5%, for each) as well as Malvaceae (12.9%), were used as antiasthmatics and related symptoms by these THs. Most of the plants were trees and herbs (37.5%, for each), with root (57%), leaf (15.8%), and bark (7.5%), respectively, being the saliently used parts for preparation of remedies.Clerodendrum ternatum,Cryptocarya transvaalensis,Lasiosiphon caffer,Enicostema axillare,Mimusops obovata,Sclerocarya birrea, andStylochaeton natalensiswere widely used and valued by all THs across the surveyed districts. Furthermore, these taxa also scored both the highest use value and fidelity level indexes as asthma therapies. Overall, the larger number of species documented in the present study is recorded for the first time in literature as asthma and/or related symptoms remedies. Our study finding generally contributes towards an establishment of South African database of herbal therapies used traditionally against these conditions.

2021 ◽  
pp. 008124632110201
Author(s):  
Zamafiso Nombulelo Sibande ◽  
Rizwana Roomaney

Fatigue is a common, secondary symptom of endometriosis that has not been qualitatively explored. We conducted individual, face-to-face interviews with 25 women in South Africa about their experiences of endometriosis-related fatigue. Participants were recruited at a public hospital in Cape Town and through several South African endometriosis organizations. Interviews were conducted in English and Afrikaans and ranged from 30 min to 1 hr 16 min in duration. All interviews were audio recorded and transcribed. Interviews were analyzed using thematic analysis. We found that both the experience of fatigue and fatigue-management strategies were highly personalized. Participants reported using a variety of cognitive strategies, such as planning, pacing, and pushing through their fatigue to reduce the levels of fatigue. Participants also employed physical strategies such as rest, dietary changes, using supplements, and exercise. We found that while participants often tried fatigue-management strategies suggested to them by others, they struggled to maintain these strategies even when they were successful. There are currently no interventions aimed at reducing endometriosis-related fatigue. The findings of this study provide insight into the management of fatigue in women with endometriosis and may be used to develop a psychosocial intervention for fatigue among women with the disease.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 177
Author(s):  
Brantina Chirinda ◽  
Mdutshekelwa Ndlovu ◽  
Erica Spangenberg

The COVID-19 global pandemic widely affected education across the world and engendered unprecedented scenarios that required expeditious responses. In South Africa, the pandemic came on top of pre-existing inequalities in the education system. Using a qualitative research method of exploratory and descriptive nature, this study engaged a social justice framework to explore the teaching and learning of mathematics during the COVID-19 lockdown in a context of historical disadvantage. A sample of twenty-three Grade 12 mathematics teachers at various public secondary schools in Gauteng, South Africa was used in the study. The teachers were selected through purposive sampling. A Google-generated open-ended questionnaire and follow-up telephonic interviews were used to collect data. Data were analysed thematically in five steps. The findings revealed that the WhatsApp platform is a valuable tool that can support the teaching and learning of mathematics beyond the classroom in the contexts of historical disadvantage. The findings also provided insights into how mathematics teachers became learners themselves during emergency remote teaching (ERT) as they had to adapt to digital teaching, find solutions to unfamiliar problems and acquire knowledge from a larger mathematics education community around the globe. The article discusses these findings and teachers’ challenges of transitioning from traditional face-to-face classrooms to ERT and how they were addressed. At the time of publishing the article, most learners in South Africa had started going to school on a rotational basis. Nonetheless, the study reported in this article is of importance as ERT in the context of historical disadvantage has foregrounded issues of inequality in the South African education system that must be dealt with urgently.


Author(s):  
Mathodi F. Motsamayi ◽  

Beads and beadwork have played a role in South Africa’s Limpopo Province dating back to the pre-colonial times. Whether the beads were produced locally or imported via trading networks, the region already had a rich tradition of constructing beadwork before the arrival of Europeans. Today, this tradition is continued by new generations of women beaders. It has been found that literature on contemporary Limpopo beadwork produced by Vhavenḓa women is scarce. This article addressed this imbalance. It is vital to state that, during the last decade and in the context of South African heritage and tourism, there has been a steadily increasing number of scholarly studies on Nguni beadwork. This study offered new insights into contemporary beadwork traditions. It also contributed to an understanding of Vhavenḓa beading by drawing on the knowledge and experience of beadworkers, identifying influences from the past, and countering some stereotypical perceptions of beadwork production.


2015 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 71-77 ◽  
Author(s):  
Johannes Christoffel Erasmus Lourens ◽  
Johannes Potgieter Marthienus ◽  
Silas Semenya Sebua

2020 ◽  
pp. 008124632096055
Author(s):  
Mandu Selepe ◽  
Graham Lindegger ◽  
Kaymarlin Govender

South Africa is known for having the highest number of sexual violence cases in the world. In response to these reports, the government has declared rape as a priority crime, and various measures have been put in place to address this scourge. Despite these measures, rape statistics have continued to escalate. It is against this background that this study sought to explore accounts of sexual offences, particularly reports of rape, from a sample of sex offenders. Data were drawn from five Correctional Centres in the Limpopo province. Nineteen sex offenders were selected through a purposive sampling approach and interviewed face-to-face. Discourse analysis was used to identify and analyse the patterns of talk that sex offenders drew upon to account for their sex offences. Findings revealed that ‘blame’ was the most dominant discourse cited. The ‘rhetoric of blame’ revolved around uncontained sexual desires, sexual entitlement, absent mothers, provocative dress code by women, and unfair laws that discriminated men when they asserted their sexual power in relationships with women. Multi-sectoral intervention strategies are recommended for deconstructing blame discourses that perpetuate rape offences in South Africa.


2015 ◽  
Vol 3 (4) ◽  
pp. 57 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kole Legodi ◽  
Matshidiso Kanjere

Informal trade has grown at an alarming rate in South Africa because of lack of employment opportunities in both the private and public sectors. This has resulted in many unemployed members of the population joining the informal business sector. The majority of people in this sector do not have skills that are needed in the formal employment sector, others are semi-literate and a small percentage has some level of qualification. Nevertheless, this sector is plagued by a number of challenges which this article presents.  The article reports on the study that was conducted at Greater Letaba Municipality in Limpopo Province. The aim of the study was to investigate the challenges that were faced by informal traders in Greater Letaba Municipality in Limpopo Province in South Africa. The area was chosen because of its accessibility to the researchers and its potential to provide relevant and accurate information for the research project. Thus, a qualitative research method was used to collect data through face to face interviews. The research discovered that some of the challenges experienced by the informal traders in the area ranged from lack of support from the local municipality to structural challenges like lack of ablution facilities and limited access to electricity. Furthermore, other challenges concerned safety and health issues that were also gender based. Most of the traders in the area were women; an element which attest to the fact that it is difficult to find employment in the country when one is less educated and is also a woman.


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