’n Evaluering van die welstand onder werknemers van ’n mediesefondsmaatskappy in Suid-Afrika

Current research in the area of wellness in the workplace is fragmented and requires a holistic, integrated and systemic understanding of employee wellness in order for health and wellness care to be effectively managed. The growing burden of noncommunicable conditions in South Africa highlights the necessity for prevention strategies such as wellness programmes to be implemented. The workplace provides an ideal setting as a large proportion of the population will be targeted, including those who require lifestyle improvement. Therefore this study sought to evaluate various health and wellness components among employees of a medical aid company in an attempt to identify risk areas which require further intervention. Participants were 140 employees of a medical aid company who work a minimum of 40 h per week and who were subjected to a wellness assessment battery, consisting of anthropometrical, health-related and physical capacity measurements. The results indicate that intervention is required in terms of alcohol and drug usage, dietary habits, heart health, body composition, muscular endurance, cardiorespiratory endurance, and individual perceptions towards the company. This study produced results which corroborate the findings of a great deal of previous research in this field. However, the scope for applying wellness programmes to the South African population is limited. The success of wellness programmes which emphasise physical activity has been well documented in high-income countries, with evidence of economic benefits and return on investment. And so it is proposed that implementation of wellness programmes will have a positive effect on the South African workforce.

Download Full-text

Do Managers Of Global Equity Funds Outperform Their Respective Style Benchmarks? Evidence From South Africa

International Business & Economics Research Journal (IBER) ◽

10.19030/iber.v11i3.7157 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 11 (3) ◽

pp. 269

Author(s):

Heng-Hsing Hsieh ◽

Kathleen Hodnett ◽

Paul Van Rensburg

Keyword(s):

South African ◽

Economic Benefits ◽

Exchange Traded Funds ◽

The South ◽

Fund Managers ◽

Study Results ◽

Significant Difference ◽

Equity Funds ◽

Investment Styles ◽

Stock Picking

The results of our prior research on internationally-domiciled global equity funds suggest that active managers do not provide economic benefits, in addition to their underlying investment style benchmarks. This finding implies that the performances of global equity funds are derived mainly from the broad investment styles followed by the active managers rather than the stock-picking activities of the managers. We replicate our earlier research to investigate the performances of the six well-established global equity funds in the South African unit trust industry. Our results indicate that four out of the six South African fund managers under examination substantially underperform their passively-replicated style benchmarks. Our prior study results indicate that there is no significant difference between the performances of the internationally-domiciled global equity funds and their respective style benchmarks. By contrast, the stock-picking decisions of the South African fund managers are found to destroy value created by their respective style benchmarks in this study. Our findings suggest that investors who wish to follow particular investment styles would be better off by investing in exchange traded funds (ETF) that passively track the performances of their mandated investment styles in the global equity market with minimal costs.

Download Full-text

Estimating the economic benefits of MSC certification for the South African hake trawl fishery

Fisheries Research ◽

10.1016/j.fishres.2016.02.003 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 182 ◽

pp. 98-115 ◽

Cited By ~ 14

Author(s):

Philippe Lallemand ◽

Mike Bergh ◽

Margaret Hansen ◽

Martin Purves

Keyword(s):

South African ◽

Economic Benefits ◽

The South ◽

Trawl Fishery

Download Full-text

Present challenges and some critical issues for research in industrial/organisational psychology in South Africa

SA Journal of Industrial Psychology ◽

10.4102/sajip.v33i1.262 ◽

2007 ◽

Vol 33 (1) ◽

Cited By ~ 9

Author(s):

S Rothmann ◽

FVN Cilliers

Keyword(s):

Quality Of Life ◽

South Africa ◽

Economic Development ◽

South African ◽

South African Context ◽

Health And Wellness ◽

The South ◽

Critical Issues ◽

African Context

The objective of this study was to determine a set of problems and critical issues that researchers in Industrial and Organisational Psychology deem to be important areas for immediate and future enquiry. The changing identity of this field of application is investigated, more relevant paradigms in the study of organisational health and wellness is explored and methods, techniques and interventions suitable to the South African context are suggested. Conclusions are formulated to increase the ability of organisations to work towards economic development, while promoting the wellness and quality of life of employees.

Download Full-text

Quantifying the economic benefits of gauge changes on the South African core railway network

Journal of the South African Institution of Civil Engineering ◽

10.17159/2309-8775/2020/v62n3a3 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 62 (3) ◽

Author(s):

C P Demmerez de Charmoy ◽

P J Grabe

Keyword(s):

South Africa ◽

South African ◽

White Paper ◽

Economic Benefits ◽

Railway Track ◽

Base Case ◽

Market Demand ◽

Core Network ◽

The South ◽

Railway Network

In its white paper, the Department of Transport (2017) envisages a future South African core railway network which requires the conversion and construction of over 8 500 km of standard-gauge railway track by 2050. The scale of the project would undeniably have a large cost attached to it, which needs to be well understood before any of the construction takes place. Numerous studies regarding railway gauge have been conducted within South Africa, but no single paper has addressed the issue of which specific railway corridors could economically benefit from a standard-gauge intervention. The purpose of this study was to identify which corridors in the South African core network could potentially benefit from a gauge change intervention. These identified corridors were then economically evaluated to determine which of the corridors would outperform the base case, which was set as the Market Demand Strategy (MDS) plan. Finally, it was determined if any of the corridors identified outperformed the base case, to simulate how the operations of the corridor would be affected. The conclusions of the study indicated that all the corridors in the South African core network should follow the plans proposed in the MDS to achieve the maximum return for the analysis period, except for the Natal corridor. It was identified that the Natal corridor would benefit most from a standard-gauge single line which would run concurrently with the narrow-gauge system transporting containers and other general freight along the corridor.

Download Full-text

The scope of childhood cancer in South Africa: A response to ‘Childhood cancers in a section of the South African private health sector – Analysis of medicines claims data’

Health SA Gesondheid ◽

10.4102/hsag.v26i0.1672 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 26 ◽

Author(s):

Jaques Van Heerden ◽

Mariana Kruger

Keyword(s):

South Africa ◽

Childhood Cancer ◽

South African ◽

Health Sector ◽

Paediatric Oncology ◽

The South ◽

Middle Income ◽

Medical Aid ◽

Childhood Malignancies ◽

Private Health Sector

Childhood cancer is an under resourced medical field that is emerging as a great healthcare concern in low- and middle-income countries such as South Africa. Therefore, reporting data in this field that may inform policymakers should be representative of the subject matter. This article aims to discuss why medicines claims as an indicator for incidence, as per an article published in 2020, is not representative of childhood malignancies in the South African setting. Literature to support the commentary were sourced using Pubmed, Google scholar, and data presented by members of the South African Children’s Cancer Study Group (SACCSG). Private medical aid coverage in South Africa between 2002 and 2018 varied between 15.5% and 18.2%. Of these, 9.5% were children under 18 years and 3.5% were under the age of six. Only 13.5% of children were treated in private paediatric oncology units during 2015. The limitations in the study were the variable medical aid coverage, the disproportionate age representation, and lack of reliable indicators for measurement and calculation of incidence. Utilising one medicines claims database to evaluate the incidence of childhood cancer in South Africa is not representative and cannot inform policy.Contribution: This article highlights the importance of accurate registration of childhood cancer diagnoses, especially when data and conclusions based on these results inform policy. The study highlights the limitations of extrapolating general conclusions based on data representing only a small sector of the childhood cancer landscape in South Africa.

Download Full-text

The development of the South African biotech sector

Journal of Commercial Biotechnology ◽

10.5912/jcb157 ◽

2006 ◽

Vol 12 (2) ◽

Author(s):

Britt Akermann ◽

Faiz Kermani

Keyword(s):

South Africa ◽

South African ◽

Economic Benefits ◽

The South ◽

Regional Innovation ◽

African Government ◽

The World ◽

Modern Biotechnology ◽

Genetics And Genomics ◽

Biotechnology Sector

Like many other countries around the world South Africa is keen to develop its biotech capabilities. A vibrant biotech sector could have economic benefits and could also play a useful role in tackling diseases that predominantly affect South Africa but are currently underserved by the R&D efforts of multinational companies. However, South Africa's R&D infrastructure must be upgraded to meet the needs of the modern biotechnology sector, which relies on the latest advances in genetics and genomics. In 2001, recognising the challenges it faced in developing a mature biotech industry, the South African government published its National Biotech Strategy and allocated initial funding for a number of biotechnology regional innovation centres. There is also hope that South Africa's efforts to develop its biotech sector can serve as a useful example for developing countries around the world, but particularly for those within Africa.

Download Full-text