scholarly journals Omicron: The pandemic propagator and lockdown instigator – what can be learnt from South Africa and such discoveries in future

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 1126-1129
Author(s):  
Indrajit Banerjee ◽  
Jared Robinson ◽  
Indraneel Banerjee ◽  
Brijesh Sathian
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
United Kingdom ◽  
South African ◽  
Clinical Features ◽  
Developing Nations ◽  
Global Community ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
New Variant ◽  
Predominant Variant ◽  
Current Point

The SARS-CoV-2 virus which causes the disease termed COVID-19 ripped through the globe in the latter part of 2019 and has left a state of fear, death and destruction in its wake. The Omicron variant was officially announced by the South African authorities on the 24th of November 2021, with the first confirmed sample of the infection being collected on the 9th of November 2021. The initial cases were flagged as a possible new variant due to the stark differences in the presentation and clinical features of the patients. At the time of Omicron’s discovery, the predominant variant circulating within South Africa was the Delta variant B.1.617.2 which typically presented with more severe and stark symptoms.  Omicron spread rapidly within the Southern African content and abroad, principally South Africa, Botswana, Hongkong and Israel were among the first countries to record cases of the new variant. The first European case of the Omicron variant was confirmed on the 26th of November 2021 in Belgium. Towards the end of November 2021 cases of the new variant had been confirmed and recorded in France, the United Kingdom, Germany, Portugal and Scotland. Additional cases of the Omicron variant have been confirmed in Canada and Australia. At this current point in the development of the Omicron upsurge in cases the international community should aim for further vaccinations among their fellow countrymen, but more so vaccine equality should be ensured. Such equality should be ensured in the developing nations as the virus does not respect any boundaries or territories and thus a higher level of vaccination worldwide will confer greater protection to the global community as a whole.

scholarly journals Structural analysis of the Spike of the Omicron SARS-COV-2 variant by Cryo-EM and implications for immune evasion

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dongchun Ni ◽  
Kelvin Lau ◽  
Priscilla Turelli ◽  
Charlene Raclot ◽  
Bertrand Beckert ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
United Kingdom ◽  
Structural Analysis ◽  
High Resolution ◽  
Immune Evasion ◽  
Spike Protein ◽  
Spike Glycoprotein ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
New Variant ◽  
Structural Insights

The Omicron (B.1.1.529) SARS-COV-2 was reported on November 24, 2021 and declared a variant of concern a couple of days later. With its constellation of mutations acquired by this variant on its Spike glycoprotein and the speed at which this new variant has replaced the previously dominant variant Delta in South Africa and the United Kingdom, it is crucial to have atomic structural insights to reveal the mechanism of its rapid proliferation. Here we present a high-resolution cryo-EM structure of the Spike protein of the Omicron variant.

Conflict Resolution in Southern Africa: Why Namibia is not Another Zimbabwe

1982 ◽  
Vol 12 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 37-45
Author(s):  
David F. Gordon
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
South Africa ◽  
United Kingdom ◽  
South African ◽  
Security Council ◽  
Southern Africa ◽  
The United States ◽  
West Germany ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
The U.S

Despite continued American insistence that a negotiating impasse had not been reached, by the final months of 1982 it seemed clear that internationally-recognized independence for Namibia would not soon be achieved. While Washington claimed that negotiations between South Africa, Angola, and the Southwest African Peoples Organization (SWAPO) (with the U.S. as mediator) remain meaningful, there appears to have been a decisive move away from settlement. The latest round of negotiations, spearheaded by the United States as the leading element of the Western Contact Group (the U.S., the United Kingdom, France, West Germany, and Canada), has attempted to move South African-controlled Namibia to independence on the basis of Security Council Resolution 435 of September 1978.

scholarly journals The Protection Of Personal Information (POPI) Act - Impact On South Africa

2014 ◽  
Vol 13 (6) ◽  
pp. 1315 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michelle De Bruyn
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
United Kingdom ◽  
South African ◽  
Data Protection ◽  
Personal Information ◽  
Counter Measures ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
Protection Legislation ◽  
The Law ◽  
The Government

South Africa has received its own data protection legislation - the Protection of Personal Information (POPI) Act - in November 2013 and is expecting the government to appoint an Information Regulator to enforce the letter of the law. Until then, South African businesses will have time to get their house in order, but uncertainty exists as to how businesses will be affected when this happens. It is anticipated that the enforcement activities by the Information Regulator will be similar to how it is done by the Information Commissioners Office (ICO) in the United Kingdom. The ICO has been enforcing compliance with the Data Protection Act (DPA) of the United Kingdom since it obtained its enforcement powers in April 2010. This article summarises all actions taken by the ICO from April 2010 until the end of December2013 to determine the industries most affected, the contraventions with the highest frequency and, where applicable, the highest monetary fines. This article should provide some insight into what South African businesses can expect after the Information Regulator is appointed and starts to enforce the law. It will also enable them to focus their attention on the safeguarding of business areas with increased data protection risks as well as provide some counter measures that can be taken to prevent punishable contraventions.

The Actuary in South Africa

1957 ◽  
Vol 14 (04) ◽  
pp. 348-368 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. E. de Smidt ◽  
H. Schermann ◽  
D. W. Williams ◽  
G. Rodger
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Nineteenth Century ◽  
United Kingdom ◽  
South African ◽  
South Africans ◽  
The Third ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
History Of

The history of the actuarial profession in South Africa starts, as far as is known, during the last decade of the nineteenth century when three actuaries arrived in the Cape Colony from the United Kingdom. Two of these took up positions with the two South African life offices which were then in existence and the third became Government Actuary to the Cape Colony. By the time the Union of South Africa was established in 1910, four more actuaries had arrived from the United Kingdom, and a further four had arrived by 1920. Some of these gentlemen established permanent homes in this country, while others returned overseas after varying periods of time. It was no doubt due to these early beginnings that the actuarial homes of South African actuaries are today London and Edinburgh.The first South African-born actuary qualified as a Fellow of the Faculty in 1921, and since that time increasing numbers of South Africans have become qualified, mostly as Fellows of the Faculty.

scholarly journals ENGLISH INSURANCE LAW REFORMS: LESSONS FOR SOUTH AFRICA

Obiter ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 40 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Samantha Huneberg
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
United Kingdom ◽  
Detailed Analysis ◽  
South African ◽  
Good Faith ◽  
Marine Insurance ◽  
Insurance Law ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
Ultimate Question ◽  
Law Commission

Insurance law in the United Kingdom (UK) has recently undergone significant reforms. Until 2015, insurance law in the United Kingdom was still largely regulated by the Marine Insurance Act 1906. This meant that a statute created over a hundred years ago was still regulating insurance law. The need for the more recent reforms was evidently dire. The Law Commission undertook an investigation that highlighted the need for new insurance laws. The result was the enactment of the Insurance Act 2015. There are some significant changes in the new Act concerning fraudulent claims, breaches of good faith and the duty of disclosure. The new laws appear to be much more pro-policyholder than was the case in the previous regime. This article undertakes a detailed analysis of these reforms and also presents a comparison with South African laws. The ultimate question is whether South Africa can learn anything from the recent reforms to UK insurance law.

Some Recent Developments of Actuarial Interest in Africa.

1963 ◽  
Vol 17 (02) ◽  
pp. 154-175
Author(s):  
F. B. Corby
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
United Kingdom ◽  
South African ◽  
Cape Town ◽  
East African ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
Recent Developments ◽  
Branch Office

In February 1957, R. G. Mallett presented a paper on behalf of four South African actuaries entitled ‘The Actuary in South Africa” (J.S.S.14, 4). The object of this paper is to describe some of the developments in South Africa since that paper was presented, and also to describe briefly the conditions and the problems with which actuaries have to deal in the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland and in the East African territories Kenya, Uganda and Tanganyika. The majority of actuaries working in South Africa are concerned in some way with the administration of business in these countries, as are actuaries of British companies which operate there either direct from the United Kingdom or through a branch office in Johannesburg or Cape Town.

The Actuary in South Africa (1973).

1974 ◽  
Vol 21 (01) ◽  
pp. 58-69
Author(s):  
P. W. Barke
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
United Kingdom ◽  
South African ◽  
The South ◽  
General Outline ◽  
The United Kingdom

1.1. It is over 17 years since the paper ‘The Actuary in South Africa’ (1) was discussed. In South Africa as elsewhere great changes have taken place and it was felt appropriate to bring the position up to date. Nevertheless those interested are recommended to refer to the 1957 paper and not least to Mr R. G. Mallett's introduction to the discussion. Since the decision was taken to write this paper, Mr Spedding's paper ‘The Actuary in Australia’ (2) has been presented and to facilitate comparison, I have followed the general outline of that paper.1.2. The South African currency is Rands and cents (100 cents equals one Rand). Since South Africa did not follow the United Kingdom devaluation of 1967 the parity was R. 12 equals £7 sterling but South Africa devalued at the end of 1971 and then R. 2 was almost the same as £1. At the time of writing the pound is roughly equivalent to 1·5 Rand.

Colonial Editions

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Graeme Johanson
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
United Kingdom ◽  
South African ◽  
Type A ◽  
Book Trade ◽  
Export Trade ◽  
World War ◽  
World War One ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
South African War

This chapter describes a colonial edition and considers its role in the patterns of the entire export trade in British books from the 1840s onwards. A colonial edition is categorized as a new setting of type (a true edition), a separate impression from the same type, a separate issue, a reissue, or other types of book which do not fit neatly into a prescriptive bibliographical scheme. Colonial editions were produced to appear distinctive, in order to market them as reliable series of quality, and to prevent them being sold in the United Kingdom, where new novels cost at least twice as much per title as in the colonies. They were a cornerstone of the book trade to South Africa between the South African War (1899–1902) and World War One (1914–1918).

“Lest We Forget”: A Postapartheid Perspective on Remembering in Liturgy for Healing and Justice

2021 ◽  
Vol 51 (1) ◽  
pp. 60-72
Author(s):  
Hilton Scott
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
United Kingdom ◽  
South African ◽  
South African Context ◽  
Recent Past ◽  
South Africans ◽  
The Past ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
The Future ◽  
African Context

The idea of Remembrance Day (also known as Armistice Day) in the United Kingdom and Commonwealth countries carries two important notions: (1) to remember significant tragedies and sacrifices of the past by paying homage, and (2) to ensure that such catastrophes are prevented in the future by not forgetting. This concept can be applied to the South African context of a society and young democracy that is living in the wake of apartheid. In certain spheres this will include decolonizing the long-standing practices of Remembrance Day in South Africa, ritualizing the event(s) to be more relevant to those who partake by shifting the focus to tragedies caused during apartheid, and remembering that such a deplorable catastrophe should never be repeated. The important liturgical functions and pragmatic outcome(s) of this notion are reconciliation, restoration, transformation and, ultimately, liberation, as South Africans look to heal the wounds caused by the tragedies of the recent past and prevent such pain from being inflicted on others in the future.

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