scholarly journals The post-COVID-19 retail landscapes

2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 337-345
Author(s):  
Isaac Abe ◽  
Virimai Mugobo

This paper offer insight to the substantial role of the small and medium retailers (S&M) and how Covid-19 has impacted the sector. The economic contribution of this group of retailers have been noted to be high. Policy measures of the government of South Africa in response to the pandemic was severe on the informal retailers who were stopped from operating their businesses. The paper highlighted the internal and external struggles and opportunities of the retailers. There is the need to revalue the sector according to its contribution to the society, assist the retailers to improve on their infrastructure, formalise their practises, embark on reform programmes aimed at improving their capacities.

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul Kariuki ◽  
Maria Lauda Goyayi ◽  
Lizzy Oluwatoyin Ofusori

Purpose This paper aims to examine the role of electronic governance (e-governance) in enabling asylum seekers’ access to public services in the city of Durban, South Africa. Because of COVID-19, the government scaled down its operations, limiting access to public services, including among migrants. Design/methodology/approach Because of COVID-19-related restrictions, a systematic review was conducted of the relevant academic literature as well as the information portals of relevant government departments, municipalities and research reports on migration and refugees in South Africa. A total of 320 peer-reviewed research articles were identified. These were filtered and 68 relevant articles were selected. Findings The study found that asylum seekers have limited access to public services via information communication technology-enabled mechanisms. Whilst the city government has embraced e-governance, it is still in its nascent stages. Research limitations/implications This study was limited to a desktop one because of COVID-19 restrictions and it focused exclusively on asylum seekers. Therefore, its findings can only be generalised to this category of people. Practical implications Future studies on this subject should gather data from all categories of migrants to gain in-depth perspectives. Social implications All spheres of governance in South Africa should recognise asylum seekers as a constituency that deserves access to public services. E-governance can facilitate easier access to these services, and policies need to be aligned with this reality. Originality/value This study examined the efficacy of e-governance in enabling access to government services by asylum seekers during COVID-19. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, no other study on this subject was conducted during this period.


Author(s):  
Koos Vorster

This research deals with the question of whether an ecumenical ethics can be developed in South Africa that at least will be applicable in the field of political ethics and that can assist the various ecclesiastical traditions to ‘speak with one voice’ when they address the government on matters of Christian ethical concern. The research rests on the recognition of the variety of ethical persuasions and points of view that flow from the variety of hermeneutical approaches to Scripture. However, within this plethora of ethical discourses, an ‘overlapping’ ethics based on a proposed set of minimum theological ideas can be pursued in order to reach at least an outline of an applicable ecumenical political ethics conducive to the church–state dialogue in South Africa today. The article concludes that a ‘minimum consensus’ on the role of revelation in the moral discourses is possible and is enriched by traditional ideas such as creation and natural law, the reign of God and Christology, and it can provide a suitable common ground for an ecumenical ethics applicable to the moral difficulties in the political domain in South Africa today.


2017 ◽  
Vol 20 (2) ◽  
pp. 35-52 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sumanjeet Singh ◽  
Minakshi Paliwal

The MSME sector occupies a position of strategic significance in the Indian economic structure. This sector contributes nearly eight per cent to country’s GDP, employing over 80 million people in nearly 36 million widely-dispersed enterprises across the country; accounting for 45 per cent of manufactured output, 40 per cent of the country’s total export, and producing more than 8000 valueadded products ranging from traditional to high-tech. Furthermore, these enterprises are the nurseries for innovation and entrepreneurship, which will be key to the future growth of India. It is also an acknowledged fact that this sector can help realise the target of the proposed National Manufacturing Policy to enhance the share of manufacturing in GDP to 25 per cent and to create 100 million jobs by the end of 2022, as well as to foster growth and take India from its present two trillion dollar economy to a 20 trillion dollar economy. Despite the sector’s high enthusiasm and inherent capabilities to grow, its growth story still faces a number of challenges. In this light, the present paper examines the role of Indian MSMEs in India’s economic growth and explores various problems faced by the sector. The paper also attempts to discuss various policy measures undertaken by the Government to strengthen Indian MSMEs. Finally, the paper proposes strategies aimed at strengthening the sector to enable it to unleash its growth potential and help make India a 20 trillion dollar economy.


2019 ◽  
Vol 250 ◽  
pp. R47-R53
Author(s):  
Tim Besley ◽  
Richard Davies

Executive SummaryAlongside the challenge of maintaining economic competitiveness in the face of great uncertainty, Brexit brings an opportunity for the government to set out a new industrial strategy. The case for doing so rests on the need to address areas of persistent structural weakness in the UK economy, including low productivity. But it is important that any new industrial strategy be based on appropriately granular data reflecting the real structure of the UK corporate sector: the overwhelmingly preponderant role of services as opposed to manufacturing, for example; the importance of young, fast-growing firms as opposed to SMEs; the relatively high failure rate of companies in the UK; and the relative lack of successful mid-sized firms. Such a data-driven approach might spawn an industrial strategy quite different from the piecemeal programmes of recent years.Internationally, the UK is a laggard in this area, and the recently-created Industrial Strategy Council does not look strong enough to change that position. To move forward, the government needs to make industrial strategy a central plank of economic policy, embedded at the heart of the administration with its own staff and funding, and operations based on a comprehensive review of the economic contribution and potential of various types of firm. Needless to say, it cannot be a substitute for a continuing commitment to competition and markets, or a stalking horse for protectionism: interventions should be justified by carefully-argued market failure arguments, be time-limited, and transparently evaluated.


2020 ◽  
Vol 83 (1) ◽  
pp. 21-56
Author(s):  
Veronica Ehrenreich-Risner

Geographical renaming as a methodology to deconstruct power shifts in South Africa allows for inclusion of silenced and marginalized voices from the country's recent past. This article examines the symbolic power of the state, as well as of the processes of boundary-making under the lens of place renaming with a focus on the province of Gauteng. The article introduces the phrase “living archive” to unpack South Africa's changing perceptions of who is oppressor and who is oppressed in the ongoing transition to democratic governance. The article employs the renaming of sites as a metanarrative to reveal a nuanced picture of the political shifts in power. Through the selection of particular facts as usable past, the article argues, the government seeks to identify who is worthy of the role of hero or victim in post-apartheid South Africa.


2004 ◽  
Vol 38 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
C.F.C. Coetzee

South Africa is known as one of the most violent countries in the world. Since the seventeenth century, violence has been part of our history. Violence also played a significant role during the years of apartheid and the revolutionary struggle against apartheid. It was widely expected that violence would decrease in a post-apartheid democratic South Africa, but on the contrary, violence has increased in most cases. Even the TRC did not succeed in its goal to achieve reconciliation. In this paper it is argued that theology and the church have a great and significant role to play. Churches and church leaders who supported revolutionary violence against the apartheid system on Biblical “grounds”, should confess their unbiblical hermeneutical approach and reject the option of violence. The church also has a calling in the education of young people, the pastoral care of criminals and victims, in proclaiming the true Gospel to the government and in creating an ethos of human rights.


2016 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 46-77
Author(s):  
Howard Chitimira

In Australia, the market abuse prohibition is generally well accepted by the investing and non-investing public as well as by the government. This co-operative and co-ordinated approach on the part of all the relevant stakeholders has to date given rise to an increased awareness and commendable combating of market abuse activities in the Australian corporations, companies and securities markets. It is against this background that this article seeks to explore the general enforcement approaches that are employed to combat market abuse (insider trading and market manipulation) activity in Australia. In relation to this, the role of selected enforcement authorities and possible enforcement methods which may be learnt from the Australian experience will be isolated where necessary for consideration in the South African market abuse regulatory framework.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Lauren Peacock

<p>“National ideals or National Interest?” examines the making and implementation by successive New Zealand governments of policy toward apartheid South Africa from 1981 to 1994. Its main focus is the contradictory relationship between living up to New Zealand’s ideals against doing what was practicable in the context of the time. The dilemma the apartheid state faced, in trying to solve its internal problems while not imperilling its external security was often not appreciated by the New Zealand government. These misconceptions helped shape New Zealand policy. Ironically once the South African regime began to investigate the possibilities of some sort of political transformation, their New Zealand counterparts were less willing to empathise with the risks involved with such an undertaking than they had been in the 1960s and 1970s. “National Ideals’ also examines the role of civil society and what was often a parallel unofficial foreign policy based around these person -to - person contacts, including the problems posed for the government by the need to persuade groups such as the NZRFU to follow government policy without overstepping what were strongly entrenched principles of individual freedom. The conflicts within the two main political parties of New Zealand were also important in shaping policy, as was the adversarial relationship between the major parties. “National Ideals” concluded that more often than not interests came first and indeed that at times policy decisions often to the product of accident and intrigue.</p>


2006 ◽  
Vol 62 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Potterton ◽  
H. Van Aswegen

Paediatric HIV is a major cause of morbidity and mortality in South African children. Physiotherapists working in the government sector are seeing large numbers of HIV infected children on a daily basis. This paper provides a general overview of paediatric HIV. Common conditions associated with HIV infection are highlighted and the possible role of physiotherapy is discussed. Suggestions for research on the role of physiotherapy in the management of children with HIV are made.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Lauren Peacock

<p>“National ideals or National Interest?” examines the making and implementation by successive New Zealand governments of policy toward apartheid South Africa from 1981 to 1994. Its main focus is the contradictory relationship between living up to New Zealand’s ideals against doing what was practicable in the context of the time. The dilemma the apartheid state faced, in trying to solve its internal problems while not imperilling its external security was often not appreciated by the New Zealand government. These misconceptions helped shape New Zealand policy. Ironically once the South African regime began to investigate the possibilities of some sort of political transformation, their New Zealand counterparts were less willing to empathise with the risks involved with such an undertaking than they had been in the 1960s and 1970s. “National Ideals’ also examines the role of civil society and what was often a parallel unofficial foreign policy based around these person -to - person contacts, including the problems posed for the government by the need to persuade groups such as the NZRFU to follow government policy without overstepping what were strongly entrenched principles of individual freedom. The conflicts within the two main political parties of New Zealand were also important in shaping policy, as was the adversarial relationship between the major parties. “National Ideals” concluded that more often than not interests came first and indeed that at times policy decisions often to the product of accident and intrigue.</p>


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document