Knowledge management awareness in South African provincial government departments: The case of KwaZulu-Natal Department of Public Works, Pietermaritzburg

The majority of the South African rural populace is directly or indirectly engaged in agricultural practices to earn a livelihood. However, impediments such as climate change, water shortages, and inadequacy of institutional support have undermined these once thriving subsistence farming communities. Furthermore, poor leadership in hydrology, coupled with a lack of depth in skills at all government levels to facilitate the understanding of the importance of groundwater, has made it near impossible for subsistence farmers to benefit optimally from groundwater. The 2012 drought experienced in South Africa paralysed several subsistence farming communities in KwaZulu-Natal. To revamp subsistence farming and assist these farmers across South Africa, the Department of Water and Sanitation launched interventions, but despite the enormous resources expended, indicators (e.g. unsustainable farming practices, poor crop yield, pitiable living conditions, and poor standards of living) provide evidence that these interventions have not yielded the desired results. This paper seeks to suggest practicable interventions aimed at reducing the vulnerability of subsistence farmers in KwaZulu-Natal. The study pursued a qualitative approach in that it solicited the views of experts on groundwater and in related fields to gain an in-depth perspective. Some of the core challenges undermining the sustainability and growth of subsistence farming in the study area were found to be the inadequacy of experts on groundwater, water shortages, institutional deficiencies, lack of political will, and lack of coordination among stakeholders. Pragmatic recommendations are made to address these challenges, among other things to encourage a South African-Chinese partnership in the hydrology sector.

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Management of indiscipline among secondary school students in Ilembe District, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa

African Journal of Gender, Society and Development (formerly Journal of Gender, Information and Development in Africa) ◽

10.31920/2634-3622/2020/v9n4a6 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 9 (4) ◽

pp. 139-156

Author(s):

Ntombizandile Gcelu ◽

◽

Amy Sarah Padayachee ◽

Sekitla Daniel Makhasane

Keyword(s):

Secondary Schools ◽

South African ◽

School Administrators ◽

Code Of Conduct ◽

Structured Interview ◽

School Students ◽

Whole School ◽

Kwazulu Natal ◽

Whole School Approach ◽

Meaningful Relationships

South African schools are faced with a serious problem of indiscipline. The available literature reveals that despite the efforts of school administrators and teachers to instil discipline among learners, indiscipline still abounds to the extent of getting out of hand. Based on the intention of this study, a qualitative study was adopted. A qualitative-based study underpinned by the interpretive research paradigm was employed to explore the perspectives of educators in their collaborative roles in managing discipline. The sample comprised twelve educators who were purposively selected from four secondary schools in the Ilembe District, KwaZulu-Natal. A semi-structured interview schedule was used to collect the data. The findings revealed that educators should apply the school code of conduct as a whole-school approach to managing discipline to create meaningful relationships with parents as stakeholders and communicate expected behaviours with learners. It is recommended that in implementing strategies to manage discipline, learners, educators, school managers and the school governing boards of all schools should take a collaborative approach to the management of discipline in secondary schools

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A study of cane supply benefits associated with ad hoc mechanical harvesting to mitigate cutter absenteeism

Sugar Industry ◽

10.36961/si14370 ◽

2013 ◽

pp. 532-538 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Muhammad Kadwa ◽

Carel N Bezuidenhout

Keyword(s):

Supply Chain ◽

South African ◽

Ad Hoc ◽

Sugar Mill ◽

The South ◽

Optimum Performance ◽

Kwazulu Natal ◽

Cane Quality ◽

The Cost

The Eston Sugar Mill is the newest in the South African KwaZulu-Natal sugar belt. Like most other mills, it can be argued that there are inefficiencies in the supply chain due to systematic issues, which reduce optimum performance. It was alleged that mill processes are slowed, or stopped, on Sundays, Mondays, as well as some Tuesdays and Wednesdays, due to pay-weekends, because of the associated cutter absenteeism. This increases the length of the milling season (LOMS), increases milling costs and reduces the average cane quality for the season. Data on cane deliveries to the Eston Mill, over a period of five seasons, were analysed to study the magnitude of the problem. It was statistically verified that cane shortages occur immediately after payweekends and it was conservatively estimated that cutter absenteeism occurs between 25–29 days per season, which increases the LOMS by six to ten days. The associated cost of this problem equated to an average of US$159,500 (approximately EUR120,000) per milling season. In this paper, an alternative harvesting system scenario is suggested, assuming that mechanical harvesters be used after a pay-weekend, to mitigate the impacts of cutter shortages. However, the solution is calculated to be risky. When the cost of new equipment was considered, only two of the five seasons were able to justify the associated costs.

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City library network knowledge management for social cohesion: The case of Santa Coloma de Gramenet, Barcelona, Spain

IFLA Journal ◽

10.1177/0340035219895994 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 46 (1) ◽

pp. 52-63

Author(s):

Daniel García Giménez ◽

Lluis Soler Alsina

Keyword(s):

Knowledge Management ◽

Social Cohesion ◽

Technical Assistance ◽

Public Libraries ◽

Provincial Government ◽

Strategic Orientation ◽

Equal Opportunities ◽

Library Network ◽

The City ◽

Historical Periods

In Santa Coloma de Gramenet (Catalonia, Spain) there is a network of four public libraries. They belong to the City, with technical assistance, strategic orientation and financial support from the provincial government, Diputació de Barcelona. These four libraries have been built in different historical periods and located in neighbourhoods with very unequal social backgrounds. They have been working on adapting their services to their neighbourhoods and as a network they have been moving on along the differences. Even so, the current information society challenges require a city library project in order to guarantee social cohesion and equal opportunities. This article tries to explain the strategy to achieve those goals, based on knowledge management and networking, transversal workshops and a shared communication circuit that so far has allowed this urban library network to extend and to renew services as well as to empower vulnerable sectors in accordance with the United Nations 2030 Agenda.

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Investigating competencies needed by European-trained doctors in rural South African hospitals

African Journal of Primary Health Care & Family Medicine ◽

10.4102/phcfm.v12i1.2322 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 12 (1) ◽

Author(s):

James R. Barnacle ◽

Oliver Johnson ◽

Ian Couper

Keyword(s):

South Africa ◽

South African ◽

Online Survey ◽

Rural District ◽

Eastern Cape ◽

Rural Medicine ◽

Rural South ◽

District Hospitals ◽

Kwazulu Natal ◽

Postgraduate Diploma

Background: Many European-trained doctors (ETDs) recruited to work in rural district hospitals in South Africa have insufficient generalist competencies for the range of practice required. Africa Health Placements recruits ETDs to work in rural hospitals in Africa. Many of these doctors feel inadequately prepared. The Stellenbosch University Ukwanda Centre for Rural Health is launching a Postgraduate Diploma in Rural Medicine to help prepare doctors for such work.Aim: To determine the competencies gap for ETDs working in rural district hospitals in South Africa to inform the curriculum of the PG Dip (Rural Medicine).Setting: Rural district hospitals in South Africa.Methods: Nine hospitals in the Eastern Cape, KwaZulu-Natal and Mpumalanga were purposefully selected by Africa Health Placements as receiving ETDs. An online survey was developed asking about the most important competencies and weaknesses for ETDs when working rurally. The clinical manager and any ETDs currently working in each hospital were invited to complete the survey.Results: Surveys were completed by 19 ETDs and five clinical managers. The top clinical competencies in relation to 10 specific domains were identified. The results also indicate broader competencies required, specific skills gaps, the strengths that ETDs bring to South Africa and how ETDs prepare themselves for working in this context.Conclusion: This study identifies the important competency gaps among ETDs and provides useful direction for the diploma and other future training initiatives. The diploma faculty must reflect on these findings and ensure the curriculum is aligned with these gaps.

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“English is the best way to communicate” - South African Indian students’ blind spot towards the relevance of Zulu

Sociolinguistica - International Yearbook of European Sociolinguistics / Internationales Jahrbuch für europäische Soziolinguistik ◽

10.1515/soci-2020-0010 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 34 (1) ◽

pp. 155-171

Author(s):

Sana Jeewa ◽

Stephanie Rudwick

Keyword(s):

Language Learning ◽

South African ◽

Undergraduate Students ◽

Language Ideologies ◽

Policy Decision ◽

Blind Spot ◽

Language Management ◽

Kwazulu Natal ◽

The Status ◽

Indian Students

AbstractThe South African University of KwaZulu-Natal has developed an ambitious language policy aiming “to achieve for isiZulu the institutional and academic status of English” (UKZN LP 2006/2014). Part of this ambition is a mandatory Zulu language module that all undergraduate students have to pass if they cannot prove knowledge of the language. In this article, we examine attitudes of South African Indian students towards this compulsory module against the strained history and relationship between Zulu and Indian people in the province. Situated within the approach of Language Management Theory (LMT), our focus is on students as micro level actors who are affected by a macro level policy decision. Methodologically combining quantitative and qualitative tools, we attempt to find answers to the following broad question: What attitudes do South African Indian students have towards Zulu more generally and the UKZN module more specifically? The empirical findings show that students’ motivations to learn Zulu are more instrumental than integrative as the primary goal is to ‘pass’ the module. South African Indian students have developed a blind spot for the prevalence and significance of Zulu in the country which impacts negatively on the general attitudes towards the language more general and the module more specifically. Language ideologies that elevate the status of English in the country further hamper the success of Zulu language learning.

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