scholarly journals Science, stigmatisation and afro-pessimism in the South African debate on AIDS

2016 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 22-51 ◽  
Author(s):  
Guillermo Vega Sanabria
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
South Africa ◽  
South African ◽  
Cognitive Model ◽  
Risk Groups ◽  
Cultural Relativism ◽  
The South ◽  
Global Epidemic ◽  
The One ◽  
The Individual

Summary This paper examines how certain assumptions concerning sexual behaviour, race and nationality emerge at the core of explanations regarding the origin of HIV. In particular, it returns to discussions of the so-called "AIDS debate" in South Africa in the 2000s. On the one hand, it focuses on how these assumptions reinforce the understanding of AIDS as stigma and "social problem", to the extent that they emphasise the existence of geographical areas and "risk groups". On the other, these same assumptions are examined in the light of processes of identification and belonging, given that in the majority of reports, both academic and popular, "Africans" and "Africa" are inexorably understood in pessimistic terms. The purpose is to show how certain aspects of the South African debate refer to the way the global history of AIDS has been constructed over the past three decades. An exhaustive historiographical reconstruction is not attempted here, rather by returning to some works on the genesis of the epidemic, the paper highlights the individual and collective stigmatisation related to the public health discourse on AIDS, particularly such notions as "risk", "exposure" and "vulnerability". The proposal is such notions are strongly informed by a moral sense that traverses the dominant cognitive model in the approaches to the global epidemic and the AIDS debate in South Africa. The last part of the article focuses on the tensions that emerge between the explanations of experts from the field of public health and the contributions of social scientists, particularly anthropologists, frequently questioned for their alleged cultural relativism.

scholarly journals Depression in the South African workplace

2016 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
pp. 2
Author(s):  
Marthinus P. Stander ◽  
Margreet Bergh ◽  
Helen Elizabeth Miller-Janson ◽  
Janetta C. De Beer ◽  
Frans A. Korb
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Work Environment ◽  
South African ◽  
Depression And Anxiety ◽  
The South ◽  
Anxiety Group ◽  
Prevalence Of Depression ◽  
The Individual ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Insight Into

Depression is a common psychiatric disorder and can be costly, having a significant impact on the individual and employers. The South African Depression and Anxiety Group (SADAG) in partnership with HEXOR, with the support of Lundbeck, undertook research into depression in the workplace, because South African information is not available on this topic. It provides insight into the prevalence of depression within the workplace in South Africa, as well as the impact of depression on the employees and employers in terms of sick leave and levels of productivity, especially when the symptoms include cognitive impairment. It is apparent that stigma plays a pivotal role in the reasons for non-disclosure to employers. It further highlights the magnitude of awareness, early detection and the provision of a holistic support system within the work environment, free from bias, to ensure that optimum benefit can be achieved for both employer and employee.

Who is responsible for protecting my health during the COVID- 19 pandemic?

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karlien Kallmeyer ◽  
Melvin A Ambele ◽  
Chrisna Durandt ◽  
Graeme Ford ◽  
Simone Grobbelaar ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
South African ◽  
Fundamental Question ◽  
South African Government ◽  
Infected Person ◽  
The South ◽  
African Government ◽  
Global Pandemic ◽  
The Government ◽  
The Individual

Since the report of the first COVID-19 infected person in South Africa, COVID-19 moved from being a distant threat to a new reality overnight. Metaphorically, COVID-19 could be described as rain, and in order to be protected one would need to stand under an umbrella. The fundamental question that stems from this is who is holding this protective umbrella? Is the government holding the umbrella or are we holding the umbrella? In this article/commentary/perspective, we briefly discuss the responsibility of the South African government and the individual during this global pandemic, the reasoning behind the implementation of lockdown and the consequences thereof. We conclude that both government and citizens need to cooperatively take responsibility and work together to fight COVID-19. The protective umbrella needs to be held by both government and by ourselves.

Injustice at Both Ends: Pre- and Post-apartheid Literary Approaches to Injustice, Sentiment and Humanism in the Work of C. Louis Leipoldt, Pumla Gobodo-Madikizela and the Film Invictus

2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Riaan Oppelt
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Twentieth Century ◽  
South African ◽  
Human Being ◽  
Perceived Injustice ◽  
The South ◽  
South African War ◽  
Early Twentieth Century ◽  
The One

This chapter offers an historical reading of injustices in South Africa. Drawing on South African fiction as well as the medium of film, it documents the injustice of the sociohistorical constellation after the South African War on to the one during apartheid. The chapter analyses C. Louis Leipoldt's novel The Mask, a depiction of perceived injustice on the part of early twentieth-century Afrikaners in South Africa, along with the book A Human Being Died That Night by Pumla Gobodo-Madikizela and the film Invictus for their contributions to the concept of African humanism. The chapter also discusses the legacy of Nelson Mandela's humanism, with its emphasis on the communal effort against mass injustice.

scholarly journals Challenges and Prospects for Traditional Leadership in Africa: Towards Innovative Ideas to Enhance African Values among the Youth in South Africa

2017 ◽  
Vol 29 (2) ◽  
pp. 260-281
Author(s):  
Philip Iya
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
South African ◽  
Public Law ◽  
The Other ◽  
Central Question ◽  
African Society ◽  
The South ◽  
South African Society ◽  
Traditional Leadership ◽  
The One

The highly contested public law issue of the recognition of African values in South Africa with emphasis on the youth is addressed in this article. The arguments mooted revolve around the hypothesis that the youth in Africa ngenerally, but particularly in South Africa, are seldom involved in debates relating to African values, with the instance of African traditional leadership as a case in point. In expanding on this hypothesis two different approaches/schools of thought relating to the recognition of traditional leadership are highlighted. On the one end we find the ‘traditionalists’ with their emphasis on the ‘continued existence of traditional leaders’ for various reasons. On the other end, we find the ‘modernists’ who campaign for the total abolition of the institution of traditional leadership. However, the adoption of a more pragmatic middle course (an ‘inter-entrenched’ goalpost) is advocated. Nevertheless, the central question remains ‘how the South African society should move between the two goalposts (between traditionalism and modernism)?’ The answer to this question is the challenge.

scholarly journals Editorial

Screen Bodies ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. v-xviii
Author(s):  
Brian Bergen-Aurand
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
South African ◽  
Violent Crime ◽  
High Rate ◽  
Gender Based Violence ◽  
The South ◽  
Running Pattern ◽  
And Bisexual ◽  
Gender Based ◽  
The One

This cover of Screen Bodies features a photograph by Collen Mfazwe entitled “Love Has No Gender, Race or Sexuality. Boitumelo and Collen. (August 2017).” Mfazwe lives in Benoni, Gauteng, South Africa, and is a photographer at the South African platform Inkanyiso (Zulu for “the one who brings light”). In “Love Has No Gender,” we find a summary of Mfazwe’s response to South Africa’s drastically high rate of violent crime against womxn, lesbians, and bisexual and trans folk, a long-running pattern of gender-based violence that she confronts in a series she has been developing since 2017 called Imizimba (Bodies).

scholarly journals The ministry of hope at grassroots level in a post-apartheid South Africa

2013 ◽  
Vol 47 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Amanda L. Du Plessis
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
South African ◽  
Negative Attitude ◽  
Truth And Reconciliation Commission ◽  
Theoretical Argument ◽  
The South ◽  
Future Expectations ◽  
South African Society ◽  
Grassroots Level ◽  
The One

In this article the the ministry of hope to women without hope are investigated in the South African context of hope and reconciliation. Since apartheid ended 19 years ago, a democratic policy has been followed. The Truth and Reconciliation Commission was assigned the task to lead the population of South Africa to hope and reconciliation. The question may truly be asked whether the current picture could be that of a healed country. On the one hand, a large part of the population demonstrates a negative attitude regarding future expectations of South Africa; on the other hand, there are people at grassroots level who strive daily to bring about reconciliation in society by trying to make life easier for others. Utilising the available resources, which are minimal, the women called Mamas Africa are examples of people who serve the hopeless with hope every day. The central theoretical argument is that the Mamas Africa phenomenon has the potential of bringing hope, should it branch out widely. The concept of Mamas Africa refers to women from all races who promote mutual commitment based on their faith, and also make a difference in the South African society. In this article, an empirical investigation was made into the motivation behind the Mamas Africa phenomenon in the first place. Secondly, a normative investigation was conducted into the theology of hope from the perspective of reformed theology; and finally, pragmatic guidelines have been provided for the ministry of hope to the hopeless in the South African society.In hierdie artikel word die bediening van hoop en versoening aan oënskynlik hooplose vroue ondersoek in die Suid-Afrikaanse konteks van hoop en versoening. Dit is reeds 19 jaar sedert apartheid afgeskaf is en ’n demokratiese beleid in Suid-Afrika gevolg word. Die Waarheids- en Versoeningskommissie (WVK) is getaak om die bevolking van Suid-Afrika na hoop en versoening te lei. Dit wil egter voorkom asof die bevolking van Suid-Afrika tans verder van rekonsiliasie is as direk na 1994. Die vraag kan tereg gevra word of dit ’n beeld is van ’n land wat genesing beleef. Ondanks die staking van die WVK se werksaamhede en die oorwegend negatiewe ingesteldheid van ’n groot deel van die bevolking rakende die toekomsverwagtinge in Suid-Afrika, is daar diegene op grondvlak wat elke dag daarna streef om versoening in die samelewing te bewerkstellig deur die lewe van ander te probeer vergemaklik. Die vroue genaamd ‘Mamas Afrika’ is voorbeelde van diegene wat, met die minimum hulpbronne tot hulle beskikking, daagliks die hooploses met hoop bedien. Die konsep Mamas Afrika verwys na vroue van alle rasse wat hulle, as uitvloeisel van hulle geloof en vertroue in God, beywer tot onderlinge versoening. Die vraag wat hier ter sprake is, is die volgende: Wat is die relevansie van die Christelike hoop en versoening as dryfveer vir morele aksie in die Suid-Afrikaanse samelewing se groei na versoening en nasiewording soos toegepas deur die Mamas Afrika?

The South African Street Child: Developmental Implications

1994 ◽  
Vol 24 (4) ◽  
pp. 169-174 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Donald ◽  
Jill Swart-Kruger
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
South African ◽  
Educational Development ◽  
Street Children ◽  
The Other ◽  
Street Child ◽  
The South ◽  
Developmental Risk ◽  
The One ◽  
And Coping

Given the nature and the extent of the problem, the psychological and developmental implications of the street child phenomenon in South Africa needs to be more closely examined. Current research on street children presents us with a paradox — with evidence of developmental risk and vulnerability on the one hand and of resourcefulness, adaptability and coping on the other. This paradoxical evidence is reviewed from the perspective of physical, emotional, social and cognitive/educational development. Implications for intervention are explored. In particular, the issue of what defines developmental vulnerability or resilience in more specific terms is identified as a research necessity if more focused intervention priorities are to be determined.

scholarly journals Balancing law and tradition: The TCB and its relation to African systems of justice administration

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Phathekile Holomisa
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
South African ◽  
Access To Justice ◽  
The South ◽  
Community Justice ◽  
The Family ◽  
Traditional Leadership ◽  
English Law ◽  
The Individual ◽  
The Village

The African system of justice administration, as epitomised by traditional courts, is inclusive, democratic, open and welcoming to those who seek justice. In contrast to western value-inspired courts, which are intimidating, alienating, complicated, retributive, incarcerating and expensive, traditional courts seek to foster harmony, reconciliation, compensation to the aggrieved, easy and inexpensive access to justice, and the rehabilitation of the offender. It fosters a spirit of communalism, where the individual exists for the benefit of the greater community. Justice is fostered within the family, the clan, the neighbourhood, the village, the tribe and the nation. Traditional leadership is central to the organisation and governance of the community, from the lowest level to the highest. The Traditional Courts Bill, currently before the South African Parliament, needs to be redrafted to ensure that the African system of justice administration encapsulates all the values and features underpinning it. The jurisdiction of these courts will have to be extended to cover the whole of South Africa and be applicable to all citizens; in the same way as tenets of Roman Dutch law and English law are applied without discrimination.

Foreigners' Rights to Work and Fair Labour Practices in South Africa: A Review of the South African Labour Legislation and Jurisprudence

2020 ◽  
Vol 35 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Andre Mangu
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Human Rights ◽  
South African ◽  
Bill Of Rights ◽  
The South ◽  
Legislation And Jurisprudence ◽  
Foreign Nationals ◽  
Lay Persons ◽  
Democratic State ◽  
Labour Legislation

After several decades of apartheid rule, which denied human rights to the majority of the population on the ground of race and came to be regarded as a crime against humanity, South Africa adopted its first democratic Constitution in the early 1990s. The 1996 Constitution, which succeeded the 1993 interim Constitution, is considered one of the most progressive in the world. In its founding provisions, it states that South Africa is a democratic state founded on human dignity, the achievement of equality, the advancement of human rights and freedoms. The Constitution enshrines fundamental human rights in a justiciable Bill of Rights as a cornerstone of democracy. Unfortunately, in the eyes of a number of politicians, officials and lay-persons, the rights in the Bill of Rights accrue to South African citizens only. Xenophobia, which has been rampant since the end of apartheid, seems to support the idea that foreigners should not enjoy these rights. Foreign nationals have often been accused of posing a threat to South African citizens with regard to employment opportunities. In light of the South African legislation and jurisprudence, this article affirms the position of the South African labour law that foreign nationals are indeed protected by the Constitution and entitled to rights in the Bill of Rights, including the rights to work and fair labour practices.

The Engagement of Beneficiaries in Farm Governance of Restituted Land through the Communal Property Association Model: The Ideal Versus the Reality of Beneficiary Farms in South Africa

2019 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mokoko Piet Sebola ◽  
Malemela Angelinah Mamabolo
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
South African ◽  
Land Reform ◽  
Farm Management ◽  
The South ◽  
African Government ◽  
Communal Property ◽  
Farm Ownership ◽  
Land Restitution ◽  
Communal Property Associations

The purpose of this article is to evaluate the engagement of farm beneficiaries in South Africa in the governance of restituted farms through communal property associations. The South African government has already spent millions of rands on land restitution to correct the imbalance of the past with regard to farm ownership by the African communities. Various methods of farm management to benefit the African society have been proposed, however, with little recorded success. This article argues that the South African post-apartheid government was so overwhelmed by political victory in 1994 that they introduced ambitious land reform policies that were based on ideal thinking rather than on a pragmatic approach to the South African situation. We used qualitative research methods to argue that the engagement of farm beneficiaries in farm management and governance through communal property associations is failing dismally. We conclude that a revisit of the communal property associations model is required in order to strengthen the position of beneficiaries and promote access to land by African communities for future benefit.

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