South African infrastructure condition - an opinion survey for the sAICE Infrastructure Report Card

ABSTRACT The South African Institution of Civil Engineering (SAICE) Infrastructure Report Cards of 2006, 2011 and 2017 reported that much of the South African infrastructure is in a poor condition. To augment the recent 2017 Report Card, a survey was, for the first time, conducted amongst SAICE members to obtain their opinion on the condition of infrastructure (in terms of a grading), the trend of the condition over time, as well as the reasons for the individual's grading. The 669 respondents indicated that, apart from a few exceptions such as national airports and the Gautrain, much of the infrastructure is in a poor state, which is very similar to the results obtained from the SAICE Report Card process. The results were also analysed per province and indicated that, in the opinion of respondents, specific provinces in particular are struggling with poor infrastructure. The main reasons given for the poor infrastructure were a lack of maintenance, lack of institutional capability, lack of sufficient funding and over-loading of infrastructure. Keywords: infrastructure condition, SAICE Infrastructure Report Card, Infrastructure grading system

The Sacred Language of the Abakuá

This chapter is a translation of the introduction and over 6,000 entries of Abakuá ritual jargon created by Lydia Cabrera from 1938–1959 in Havana and Matanzas, Cuba. Many entries have new commentaries by living Abakuá specialists to clarify obscure issues in the original material. The entries refer to the foundation of Abakuá in West Africa centuries ago, with reference to historical figures in the port of Calabar. They also refer to important Abakuá specialists in Cuba and the adaptation of this West African institution to the Caribbean context.

Developing excellence in biostatistics leadership, training and science in Africa: How the Sub-Saharan Africa Consortium for Advanced Biostatistics (SSACAB) training unites expertise to deliver excellence

The increase in health research in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) has led to a high demand for biostatisticians to develop study designs, contribute and apply statistical methods in data analyses. Initiatives exist to address the dearth in statistical capacity and lack of local biostatisticians in SSA health projects. The Sub-Saharan African Consortium for Advanced Biostatistics (SSACAB) led by African institutions was initiated to improve biostatistical capacity according to the needs identified by African institutions, through collaborative masters and doctoral training in biostatistics. SACCAB has created a critical mass of biostatisticians and a network of institutions over the last five years and has strengthened biostatistics resources and capacity for health research studies in SSA. SSACAB comprises 11 universities and four research institutions which are supported by four European universities. In 2015, only four universities had established Masters programmes in biostatistics and SSACAB supported the remaining seven to develop Masters programmes. In 2019 the University of the Witwatersrand became the first African institution to gain Royal Statistical Society accreditation for a Biostatistics Masters programme. A total of 150 fellows have been awarded scholarships to date of which 123 are Masters fellowships (41 female) of whom 58 have already graduated. Graduates have been employed in African academic (19) and research (15) institutions and 10 have enrolled for PhD studies. A total of 27 (10 female) PhD fellowships have been awarded; 4 of them are due to graduate by 2020. To date, SSACAB Masters and PhD students have published 17 and 31 peer-reviewed articles, respectively. SSACAB has also facilitated well-attended conferences, face-to-face and online short courses. Pooling of limited biostatistics resources in SSA combined with co-funding from external partners has shown to be an effective strategy for the development and teaching of advanced biostatistics methods, supervision and mentoring of PhD candidates.

Developing excellence in biostatistics leadership, training and science in Africa: How the Sub-Saharan Africa Consortium for Advanced Biostatistics (SSACAB) training unites expertise to deliver excellence

The increase in health research in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) has generated large amounts of data and led to a high demand for biostatisticians to analyse these data locally and quickly. Donor-funded initiatives exist to address the dearth in statistical capacity, but few initiatives have been led by African institutions. The Sub-Saharan African Consortium for Advanced Biostatistics (SSACAB) aims to improve biostatistical capacity in Africa according to the needs identified by African institutions, through (collaborative) masters and doctoral training in biostatistics. We describe the SSACAB Consortium, which comprises 11 universities and four research institutions- supported by four European universities. SSACAB builds on existing resources to strengthen biostatistics for health research with a focus on supporting biostatisticians to become research leaders; building a critical mass of biostatisticians, and networking institutions and biostatisticians across SSA. In 2015 only four institutions had established Masters programmes in biostatistics and SSACAB supported the remaining institutions to develop Masters programmes. In 2019 the University of the Witwatersrand became the first African institution to gain Royal Statistical Society accreditation for a Biostatistics MSc programme. A total of 150 fellows have been awarded scholarships to date of which 123 are Masters fellowships (41 female) of which with 58 have already graduated. Graduates have been employed in African academic (19) and research (15) institutions and 10 have enrolled for PhD studies. A total of 27 (10 female) PhD fellowships have been awarded; 4 of them are due to graduate by 2020. To date, SSACAB Masters and PhD students have published 17 and 31 peer-reviewed articles, respectively. SSACAB has also facilitated well-attended conferences, face-to-face and online short courses. Pooling the limited biostatistics resources in SSA, and combining with co-funding from external partners is an effective strategy for the development and teaching of advanced biostatistics methods, supervision and mentoring of PhD candidates.

Social Class and Consumer Behaviour in Sub-Saharan Africa

The development around social class evolvement in sub-Saharan African market dated back to pre-colonial era when traditional African institution operated on the basis of royalty, land ownership, subjugation of weak tribe and superiority of strong and powerful tribes. The advent of slavery and migration of white settlers and traders (slaves and goods) further entrenched social class structure in the system. The advent of colonial rule greatly impacted social class system whereby new strata were created based on the new administrative system that colonial system introduced into sub-Saharan Africa. Largely, acquisition of formal education, salary and wage-collection jobs, business opportunities, western religion, clothing styles and new roles to the traditional chiefs opened doors for new social class strata. Social class has witnessed development and improvement that has further improved marketing system and consumer understanding in the society through design of products and services for the market.