PATCHWORKED MEDIA: MOBILE DEVICES AND CREATIVE PRACTICE IN CAPE TOWN, SOUTH AFRICA

Author(s):  
Marija Anja Venter

There has been a recurring narrative in research that revolves around mobile technologies and society, particularly in relation to Africa: that these technologies have the potential to reconfigure and revolutionise the development trajectories of entire countries (Donner & Locke, 2019). But if these narratives are to be the case, then, indeed, the role that mobile devices can play in production (in this case of art, media, and design) is going to have to be something that allows people in the global South to earn a living. This paper presents an exploration of the creative practices, with a focus on mobile creative practices, of a cohort of Extended Curriculum Program (ECP) Visual Design students from a university in Cape Town, South Africa (2014). All of these students came from low-income, resource constrained contexts in the townships that surround Cape Town. In questioning whether mobile technologies can help young South African creatives forge careers or attain resources that could help them do so, the role of mobile technologies is complicated. While these devices offer new emerging creative affordances, and in some cases, can offer means to generate income, the material reality is a different story. I conclude by arguing that instead of these devices offering access to a global network, they, at best, provide the means for young creatives, such as those featured in this study, to a forge a media patchwork.

2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Cas Wepener

The practice of ritual sacrifice within the South African context is explored in the light of the emerging global discussion regarding religion and development. Firstly, some aspects of the theory of René Girard on sacrifice is discussed, as well as African theories pertaining to sacrifice and modern ways in which sacrifice/offering enters language. The following section presents three case studies pertaining to sacrifice from South Africa: one from fiction, one from fieldwork done in an African Independent church and a description of a recent sacrifice conducted on a beach in Cape Town. In a succeeding section, the data presented in the empirical part is interpreted in the light of the preceding theories. In the concluding section a thesis is advanced regarding the possible meaning and significance of sacrifice for an African understanding of development.


2018 ◽  
Vol 74 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Shantelle Weber ◽  
Nadine Bowers-DuToit

The Children’s Institute, a research arm of the University of Cape Town, reports that 18.5 million children live in South Africa. The institute’s vision is for ‘A society in which children are valued, nurtured and protected; their rights are realised; and where they are able to participate, develop and reach their full potential’. A quick scan of South African newspaper headlines, however, reflects numerous accounts of the abduction, rape and murder of young girls on the Cape Flats in Cape Town, South Africa, during 2016–2017. This seems to confirm the statistic that one in three children is a victim of sexual violence and physical abuse before the age of 18. Sadly, many of these instances are alleged to have been linked to a family member or close family friend. Some have even been linked to Christian church contexts. This article explores this unacceptable rise in violence against these young girls and from this vantage point continues to more specifically reflect on the role congregations can play in such instances. The article argues that such abuse takes place within an ecosystem of violence and then considers how the trauma of such an experience has affected the faith formation of these young girls. The article, furthermore, highlights the recent publication entitled ‘Children, Church and the Law’, which calls for the establishment of church policy on the protection of children in our local congregations and communities as one preventative and educative tool in addressing this issue.


2006 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 23-38 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kahilu Kajimo-Shakantu ◽  
Kathy Evans

Currently, South African banks exclude most low‐income households from access to formal housing loan finance with which to resolve housing problems. The research reported here examined the banks’ resilience to change the status quo so as to become more flexible and all‐inclusive. Using naturalistic enquiry, the research gathered evidence from five banks and a leading housing organisation. The main findings include that while there is potential for banks to expand their role in this area of housing finance; factors such as risk and cost minimisation as well as lack of research constrain this potential. The research concluded that the low‐income group requires a different business model that is suited to their needs and which calls for new ways of thinking and doing business.


Mousaion ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 33 (1) ◽  
pp. 23-42 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tinashe Mugwisi

Information and communications technologies (ICTs) and the Internet have to a large extent influenced the way information is made available, published and accessed. More information is being produced too frequently and information users now require certain skills to sift through this multitude in order to identify what is appropriate for their purposes. Computer and information skills have become a necessity for all academic programmes. As libraries subscribe to databases and other peer-reviewed content (print and electronic), it is important that users are also made aware of such sources and their importance. The purpose of this study was to examine the teaching of information literacy (IL) in universities in Zimbabwe and South Africa, and the role played by librarians in creating information literate graduates. This was done by examining whether such IL programmes were prioritised, their content and how frequently they were reviewed. An electronic questionnaire was distributed to 12 university libraries in Zimbabwe and 21 in South Africa. A total of 25 questionnaires were returned. The findings revealed that IL was being taught in universities library and non-library staff, was compulsory and contributed to the term mark in some institutions. The study also revealed that 44 per cent of the total respondents indicated that the libraries were collaborating with departments and faculty in implementing IL programmes in universities. The study recommends that IL should be an integral part of the university programmes in order to promote the use of databases and to guide students on ethical issues of information use.


2017 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 117
Author(s):  
Jared McDonald

Dr Jared McDonald, of the Department of History at the University of the Free State (UFS) in South Africa, reviews As by fire: the end of the South African university, written by former UFS vice-chancellor Jonathan Jansen.    How to cite this book review: MCDONALD, Jared. Book review: Jansen, J. 2017. As by Fire: The End of the South African University. Cape Town: Tafelberg.. Scholarship of Teaching and Learning in the South, [S.l.], v. 1, n. 1, p. 117-119, Sep. 2017. Available at: <http://sotl-south-journal.net/?journal=sotls&page=article&op=view&path%5B%5D=18>. Date accessed: 12 Sep. 2017.   This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/


2004 ◽  
Vol 60 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
P.G.J. Meiring

The author who served on the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC), focuses on the Hindu experience in South Africa during the apartheid years. At a special TRC Hearing for Faith Communities (East London, 17-19 November 1997) two submissions by local Hindu leaders were tabled. Taking his cues from those submissions, the author discusses four issues: the way the Hindu community suffered during these years, the way in which some members of the Hindu community supported the system of apartheid, the role of Hindus in the struggle against apartheid, and finally the contribution of the Hindu community towards reconciliation in South Africa. In conclusion some notes on how Hindus and Christians may work together in th


Contexts ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
pp. 26-31 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zachary Levenson

In Cape Town, South Africa, some residents risk eviction and even arrest by participating in land occupation. However, occupying land for many residents happened out of necessity. This article follows South African residents and their fight for “adequate housing,” freedom from eviction, and a government that will progressively realize both of these goals.


1979 ◽  
Vol 27 (3) ◽  
pp. 458-468 ◽  
Author(s):  
Henry Lever

There is some controversy concerning the role of ethnicity in South African electoral behaviour. Since the society is segmented on ethnic lines it is to be expected that ethnicity would play a crucial role in affecting political choices. Some writers have gone so far as to suggest that ethnicity is the only significant factor affecting voting preferences. The controversy arose at a time when Goodman's method of log-linear analysis for hierarchical models had not yet been developed. This method provides the most powerful tool available for the multivariate analysis of categorical data. A re-analysis of previously published research using Goodman's method shows that ethnicity is not the only significant factor having a bearing on voting preferences. The first four-way table of voting preferences in South Africa is presented. The order of importance of the variables affecting party choice is: (1) ethnicity (2) socio-economic status (3) age of the voter. The recursive model suggested by the analysis explains approximately 98 per cent of the data.


2021 ◽  
pp. 251484862110663
Author(s):  
Lerato Thakholi ◽  
Bram Büscher

In 2016, South Africa launched its National Biodiversity Economy Strategy. This strategy aims to facilitate the development of a ‘wildlife economy’ as a solution to unemployment, loss of biodiversity and rural development. Central to the strategy is the role of private conservation actors, who keenly posit their commercial model as the best way to achieve these objectives. This stands in sharp contrast to recent critiques that suggest that private conservation reinforces structural inequality by denying access to land and perpetuating unjust labour conditions. Using ethnographic data from the South African Lowveld region that includes the Kruger National Park, the paper takes these points further by arguing that a rapidly growing alliance between private conservation and property developers actively conserve inequality by maintaining and even extending spatial injustice in the region. Two popular recent manifestations of this alliance in particular, share block systems that distribute ownership of access to real estate in private reserves and wildlife housing estates, have established new conservation-property linkages that entrench capitalist socioecological fixes. Not only do these initiatives lead to further engrained spatial injustice, we conclude that this conservation-property alliance at the centre of the ‘wildlife economy’ also willingly sacrifices environmental sustainability on the altar of white conservation imaginations and private profit.


2013 ◽  
Vol 69 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Cobbing ◽  
V. Chetty ◽  
J. Hanass-Hancock ◽  
J. Jelsma ◽  
H. Myezwa ◽  
...  

Despite increased access to highly active anti-retroviral therapy (HAART) in South Africa, there remains a high risk of people living with HIV (PLHIV) developing a wide range of disabilities. Physiotherapists are trained to rehabilitate individuals with the disabilities related to HIV. Not only can South African physiotherapists play a significant role in improving the lives of PLHIV, but by responding proactively to the HIV epidemic they can reinforce the relevance and value of the profession in this country at a time when many newly qualified therapists are unable to secure employment. This paper offers recommendations that may help to fuel this response. These ideas include enhancing HIV curricula at a tertiary level, designing and attending continuing education courses on HIV and researching Southern African rehabilitation interventions for HIV at all levels of practice. furthermore, it is vital that physiotherapists are at the forefront of directing multi-disciplinary responses to the rehabilitation of PLHIV in order to influence stakeholders who are responsible for health policy formulation. it is hoped that this paper stimulates discussion and further ideas amongst physiotherapists and other health professionals in order to improve the quality and access to care available to PLHIV in South Africa.


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