African Language Material in Institutional Repositories: Visibility and Scholarly Impact

Mousaion ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 37 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Siviwe Bangani ◽  
Mathew Moyo
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Citation Impact ◽  
National Development ◽  
Public University ◽  
African Language ◽  
African Languages ◽  
Institutional Repositories ◽  
Scholarly Impact ◽  
Using Data ◽  
The Impact

Various international organisations such as the United Nations and the African Union recognise the value of language in development, peacebuilding and reconciliation. Language is also recognised in planning policies of countries such as South Africa where the National Development Plan of the country seeks to ensure that every citizen learns at least one African language by 2030. This paper sought to determine the availability, impact and visibility of African language material hosted by institutional repositories (IRs) at public universities in South Africa. Informetrics methods were applied using data obtained from DSpace, Google Scholar and ResearchGate to determine the impact and visibility. The most important findings were that 65.2 per cent of public university IRs had at least one African language document in their IRs. Overall, only 0.16 per cent of documents in public university IRs were in African languages. A total of 16 per cent of African language documents hosted by these IRs are in ResearchGate. This study appears to be the first to determine the visibility of African language documents hosted by IRs in South Africa in ResearchGate and their citation impact in Google. This study will add value to the literature on the role of academic libraries in preserving indigenous languages, knowledge, and culture.

The Impact of a University’s Language Policy on Its Library’s Print Collections

Mousaion ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 36 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Siviwe Bangani ◽  
Glenda Makate ◽  
Boitumelo Masilo ◽  
Mathew Moyo
Keyword(s):  
Language Policy ◽  
African Language ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
North West ◽  
African Languages ◽  
Institutional Repositories ◽  
The North ◽  
Group Interviews ◽  
The University ◽  
The Impact

The aim of this study was to establish the impact of the North-West University’s language policy on its library’s print collections. It analyses the languages represented by books held by the North-West University Library and Information Services. The article further established the strategies used by the libraries to develop, preserve and promote African languages in support of the university’s language policy. The paper employed bibliometrics and focus group interviews to gather data. The findings revealed that books in African languages that were recognised by the university were difficult to get on the market. As a result, the majority of books accessioned by the libraries were in English, followed by Afrikaans, and relatively few books in Setswana, and Sesotho. The study is the first of its kind focusing on language policy and academic libraries in South Africa. It is valuable to both policy makers and librarians in their endeavours to develop sizeable African language collections in support of the curricula and research. Among the recommendations is that African language departments at various universities should collaborate with libraries to start open access African language journals, and publish them through the institutional repositories.

scholarly journals Impact of unemployment and income on entrepreneurship in post-apartheid South Africa: 1994–2015

2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Darma Mahadea ◽  
Irrshad Kaseeram
Keyword(s):  
Economic Growth ◽  
South Africa ◽  
Employment Growth ◽  
Positive Impact ◽  
Early Stage ◽  
National Development ◽  
Entrepreneurial Activity ◽  
Per Capita Gdp ◽  
Per Capita ◽  
The Impact

Background: South Africa has made significant progress since the dawn of democracy in 1994. It registered positive economic growth rates and its real gross domestic product (GDP) per capita increased from R42 849 in 1994 to over R56 000 in 2015. However, employment growth lagged behind GDP growth, resulting in rising unemployment. Aim and setting: Entrepreneurship brings together labour and capital in generating income, output and employment. According to South Africa’s National Development Plan, employment growth would come mainly from small-firm entrepreneurship and economic growth. Accordingly, this article investigates the impact unemployment and per capita income have on early stage total entrepreneurship activity (TEA) in South Africa, using data covering the 1994–2015 period. Methods: The methodology used is the dynamic least squares regression. The article tests the assertion that economic growth, proxied by real per capita GDP income, promotes entrepreneurship and that high unemployment forces necessity entrepreneurship. Results: The regression results indicate that per capita real GDP, which increases with economic growth, has a highly significant, positive impact on entrepreneurial activity, while unemployment has a weaker effect. A 1% rise in real per capita GDP results in a 0.16% rise in TEA entrepreneurship, and a 1% rise in unemployment is associated with a 0.25% rise in TEA. Conclusion: There seems to be a strong pull factor, from income growth to entrepreneurship and a reasonable push from unemployment to entrepreneurship, as individuals without employment are forced to self-employment as a necessity, survival mechanism. Overall, a long-run co-integrating relationship seems plausible between unemployment, income and entrepreneurship in South Africa.

Festival value in multicultural contexts: City festivals in South Africa

2020 ◽  
pp. 135481662093280
Author(s):  
Jen D Snowball ◽  
Geoff G Antrobus
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Economic Impact ◽  
South African ◽  
Public Funding ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Cultural Participation ◽  
Strong Focus ◽  
The Social ◽  
Using Data ◽  
The Impact

Worldwide, the number and variety of cultural festivals have grown dramatically. Many areas see festivals as an important way to attract tourists, and their spending, to a region, resulting in a positive economic impact. While they offer important opportunities for artistic producers and audiences, there is growing pressure for festival organizers to demonstrate their value to society beyond their economic impact. Like many countries, South Africa has a strong focus on increasing diverse cultural participation, demonstrating the social, nonmarket values of events that receive public funding. Using data from two South African festivals, the article uses a valuation framework developed by the South African Cultural Observatory to demonstrate measures of audience diversity, the use of quality of life measures to gauge the impact of culture on well-being, and the use of community focus groups to assess the impact of participation on social cohesion and capacity building.

scholarly journals FINANCIAL TRANSLATION IN SOUTH AFRICA: CHALLENGES AND PROSPECTS FOR THE INDIGENOUS AFRICAN LANGUAGES

2019 ◽  
Vol 5 (15) ◽  
pp. 1456-1461
Author(s):  
Aaron Mnguni
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Mother Tongue ◽  
National Development ◽  
Special Focus ◽  
Identity Conflict ◽  
Financial Industry ◽  
African Languages ◽  
Role Translation ◽  
The Status ◽  
The Republic

In terms of the Census 2011 in South Africa, the majority of the South African population use indigenous African languages as mother tongue, compared to the minority that use English, Afrikaans and other languages. The Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996 (Act 108 of 1996) declared Sepedi (N. Sotho), Sesotho, Setswana, Tshivenda, Xitsonga, Afrikaans, English, Siswati, isiNdebele, isiXhosa and isiZulu as official languages of the Republic of South Africa. Even though in 1996 eleven languages were declared official by the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996 (Act 108 of 1996), English and Afrikaans have maintained their pre-1994 status as de facto languages in the technical and scientific fields. The anomaly of the dominance of English and Afrikaans, particularly in the financial industry, has implication for the development of the majority of the citizens in the country, especially in poverty-alleviation and national development interventions. Without paying a special focus on the dynamics in languages, it could be extremely difficult to understand how issues of power, identity, conflict and resistance are established and maintained within organisations and even governments. The purpose of this paper is to investigate reasons for the persistence of the status quo in the positioning of languages in South Africa in particular regarding financial documents. This paper also looks at some of the challenges the African languages are faced with in making inroads in fields such as the finance, as well as implications for the speakers of the African languages over the two decades after the new dispensation was ushered in. The polysystem theory championed by Even-Zohar assists in putting the role translation can play in the effort of developing African languages and putting African languages into perspective. It is also hoped that this paper will contribute towards the debate on intellectualisation of the African languages in South Africa. Keywords: African languages, financial translation, multilingualism, polysystem, poverty, South Africa.

scholarly journals Analysis of the Impact of Fiscal Policy on Economic Growth in South Africa: VECM Approach

2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 231
Author(s):  
Tshembhani Mackson HLONGWANE ◽  
Itumeleng Pleasure MONGALE ◽  
Lavisa TALA
Keyword(s):  
Economic Growth ◽  
South Africa ◽  
Fiscal Policy ◽  
Negative Impact ◽  
National Development ◽  
Real Gdp ◽  
Long Run ◽  
Fixed Capital Formation ◽  
The Government ◽  
The Impact

Fiscal policy ensures macroeconomic stability as a precondition for growth at the macro level. This study investigates the impact of fiscal policy on economic growth of South Africa from 1960 to 2014 through a Cointegrated Vector Autoregression approach. It seeks to contribute to the existing literature as well as in designing effective fiscal policy programmes which can propel economic performance. Theresults of the long run estimates revealed that government tax revenue has a positive and significant long run influence on economic growth, whereas the government gross fixed capital formation and budget deficit have a negative impact on real GDP. For that reason, the study recommends that some expansionary fiscal policy measures should be strengthened since they play a very important role in the economy so as to meet the government target of the National Development Plan Vision for 2030.

scholarly journals BREAKING THE LANGUAGE BARRIER IN LEGAL EDUCATION: A METHOD FOR AFRICANISING LEGAL EDUCATION

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thokozani Dladla
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
South African ◽  
First Language ◽  
Legal Education ◽  
African Language ◽  
Law Schools ◽  
African Languages ◽  
Chief Justice ◽  
The Law ◽  
The Republic

Section 6 of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996 recognises eleven official languages of the Republic and further requires the State to take practical steps to advance the use of African languages. The Statistics South Africa 2017/18 report shows that most South Africans’ first language are African languages. Despite this reality and the constitutional imperatives, the South African Bachelor of Laws (LLB) curriculum does not prescribe any African language as a compulsory course, and very few sources of law are in an African language. Some law schools do offer some African languages as an elective. However, it is submitted that this is not sufficient. Experience has shown that the inability to articulate oneself in English can be a barrier to completing the LLB degree in regulation-time and admission to legal practice. Furthermore, it is submitted that the Chief Justice 2017 Directive, in which Chief Justice Mogoeng declared English as the only language of record in South African courts, does not address the language problems experienced by court staff. Instead it simply perpetuates the Eurocentric legal system. This is because it counters the advancement and use of African languages envisaged by the Constitution. This article investigates how the failure to advance multilingualism in the current LLB curriculum can disadvantage law students going to practice. It is proposed that law schools begin to address this issue by introducing two innovations. First, it is suggested that law schools make at least one African language a compulsory course. For English first language speakers in particular, this arrangement will strengthen their understanding of the sociological context in which the law operates. Second, it is proposed that each law school should choose an African language that is predominantly spoken in their geographical area and partner with schools of languages to translate sources of law. For African first language speakers in particular, this will assist them in understanding legal concepts better. Translations of legal texts may also allow for law schools to teach the law in the local African language.

scholarly journals National Development Plan as an Entrepreneurial Mechanism for Rural Economic Development in South Africa

2017 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 234
Author(s):  
Elvin Shava ◽  
Tafadzwa Clementine Maramura
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Economic Development ◽  
Small Businesses ◽  
Rural Economy ◽  
National Development ◽  
Development Plan ◽  
Research Approach ◽  
National Development Plan ◽  
Rural Economic Development ◽  
The Impact

Chapter 6 of the National Development Plan (NDP) accentuates on the impact of an integrated and inclusive rural economy by proposing for the creation 643 000 direct jobs and 326 000 indirect jobs in the farming and non-farming sector by 2030. Discussion within the study reveals that, the NDP was also designed to stimulate rural economic development among other important dynamic economic factors of the country. However, five years into the implementation of the NDP, remnants of inequality, unemployment and poverty are still apparent amongst the rural population. This paper indicates that the success of NDP as an entrepreneurial mechanism is being underpinned by contestations which are emanating from under-financing, lack of entrepreneurial education and research culture, negative attitudes of the people, corruption and red tape. Through a qualitative research approach, the paper observes that, for NDP to be continuously coordinated as an economic initiative, financing of rural projects such as small businesses, cooperatives and other rural development projects should be the government’s key priority. The study concludes that entrepreneurship has to be considered as a prime mover in rural economic development in South Africa since an entrepreneurial economy significantly differs from a non-entrepreneurial one, as evidenced by the economic vigour and sustainable development of its inhabitants.

scholarly journals National Development Plan as an Entrepreneurial Mechanism for Rural Economic Development in South Africa

2017 ◽  
Vol 9 (2(J)) ◽  
pp. 234-242
Author(s):  
Elvin Shava ◽  
Tafadzwa Clementine Maramura
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Economic Development ◽  
Small Businesses ◽  
Rural Economy ◽  
National Development ◽  
Development Plan ◽  
Research Approach ◽  
National Development Plan ◽  
Rural Economic Development ◽  
The Impact

Chapter 6 of the National Development Plan (NDP) accentuates on the impact of an integrated and inclusive rural economy by proposing for the creation 643 000 direct jobs and 326 000 indirect jobs in the farming and non-farming sector by 2030. Discussion within the study reveals that, the NDP was also designed to stimulate rural economic development among other important dynamic economic factors of the country. However, five years into the implementation of the NDP, remnants of inequality, unemployment and poverty are still apparent amongst the rural population. This paper indicates that the success of NDP as an entrepreneurial mechanism is being underpinned by contestations which are emanating from under-financing, lack of entrepreneurial education and research culture, negative attitudes of the people, corruption and red tape. Through a qualitative research approach, the paper observes that, for NDP to be continuously coordinated as an economic initiative, financing of rural projects such as small businesses, cooperatives and other rural development projects should be the government’s key priority. The study concludes that entrepreneurship has to be considered as a prime mover in rural economic development in South Africa since an entrepreneurial economy significantly differs from a non-entrepreneurial one, as evidenced by the economic vigour and sustainable development of its inhabitants.

scholarly journals The adaptive capacity of smallholder mixed-farming systems to the impact of climate change: The case of KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa

2017 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Nonhlanzeko N. Mthembu ◽  
Elliot M. Zwane
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
South Africa ◽  
Adaptive Capacity ◽  
Quantitative Methods ◽  
National Development ◽  
Farming Systems ◽  
Government Support ◽  
Mixed Farming ◽  
Drought Relief ◽  
The Impact

Climate change poses a serious threat to efforts by developing countries to ensure food security and poverty reduction. The National Development goals of South Africa envisage the agricultural sector as a key driver for job creation and economic growth. This article seeks to investigate the adaptive capacity of the Ncunjane farming community in Msinga, KwaZuluNatal in response to drought spells of 2010 and 2014. This article draws on data collected using both qualitative and quantitative methods in 2011 and later in 2015 with the data analysed through the Statistical Package for Social Science to determine significant correlations between variables. Analysis of the vulnerability and adaptive capacity is performed using conceptual framework. This study found that both smallholder farmers who engaged in livestock and crop production have experienced high cattle mortalities and stagnant crop productivity, which in turn put pressure on already constrained disposable household income because of increased food costs and agricultural input costs, particularly supplementary animal feed. Cattle owners were more vulnerable to drought because of poor risk management and thus became highly dependent on government to provide drought relief. Application for government drought relief was found not to be effective in cases of large herds of cattle. Variability of rainfall and prolonged heat spells has a significant impact on the sustainability of smallholder mixed-farming systems, leaving agriculture as a highly questionable form of livelihood for rural farming communities such as Msinga. The article recommends strengthened institutional mechanisms so that stakeholders should play a more meaningful role within provincial and local agriculture in leveraging government support but places emphasis on the adoption of innovative strategies that can potentially yield significantly resilient smallholder mixed-farming systems in the wake of climate variability.

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