OpenUCT is the open access institutional repository of the University of Cape Town (UCT). It preserves and makes UCT scholarly outputs digitally and freely available, including theses and dissertations, journal articles, book chapters, technical and research reports, as well as open educational resources.
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Open Access
Impact of the BRT on accessibility to employment opportunities; case of Witsand: Atlantis, Cape Town
(2023) Marimira, Sharon Tsitsi; Ordor, Uche
Witsand is a settlement located 40km from Cape Town Civic Centre making it a peripheral area within Cape Town. The community faced social exclusion in that, the area had no direct public transport services linking them to the city centre. They had no train services and had to rely on minibus taxis that connected them to Dunoon and from there interconnected to different areas of employment. As such they also suffered from economic exclusion because they had to pay higher fares as minibus fares charge higher costs than conventional buses. The residents had to endure long commune distances to and from work and consequently spent significant amounts of their time traveling. Cape Town Municipality created “the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT)” system MyCiTi, to help address the inequality issues within the city for low-income settlement. Therefore, the research aimed to evaluate the impact of the BRT on accessibility to employment opportunities for the residents in Witsand, Atlantis in Cape Town. The study is based on Witsand as it met the criterion of being a low-income settlement and being located at the urban fringes of Cape Town. Household surveys, in-person observations, and computer research (Geographical Information Systems, GIS) were used to gather the data for the study. The study shows that, before MyCiTi started to operate in the area, most of the residents restricted their employment areas to local employment opportunities like Atlantis centre, Atlantis industrial and Witsand. Currently, the BRT has provided people with various possibilities to access jobs in the Central Business District or civic centre and other sub-nodes, such as Century City, and Table View because the routes take inhabitants straight to these nodes without the need to interchange to other modes. There has been growth along the northern corridor of Cape Town in residential and commercial activities. MyCiTi fares are more affordable than different options of transportation like Sibanye and minibus taxis, and this has arguably enabled the residents to travel more, to areas of employment and even have multiple jobs. Furthermore, MyCiTi is dependable and safe as the system has reliable bus schedules making it easier for commuters to plan their journeys and be more flexible. However, in terms of travel time, there are no changes from before MyCiTi was developed. This is because the spatial structure of Cape Town encourages long travel distances. The thesis was case based and as such the findings may not be generalisable. The thesis seeks to add to the debate of creating equitable inclusive cities that are accessible for both low- and highincome residents.
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Open Access
Technical analysis of the creation of a permanent establishment for a non-resident employer by virtue of its employees working remotely from another country
(2023) Landers, Megan Aasiyah; West, Craig
Remote working is certainly no new phenomenon; it has only become more prevalent because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Remote working became possible with the development of the telephone, internet, laptops and smart devices, and allows employees not to be confined to their employer's workplaces. It is widely understood that a state can only tax an enterprise if it has a PE in that state. Consequently, there is a need to examine whether a remote employee can establish a PE in a state and create a taxable presence for their employer in the host state. A PE may exist in the form of the so-called “physical PE” if the enterprise has effective power over the place of business where the remote employee creates the product to be delivered to the client. Alternatively, in the form of a “services PE”, remote employee is furnishing a service, for an extended period of time, from their host state to a client situated in another state; or an “agency PE” if that employee concludes contracts on behalf of their employer. However, by application of a series of scenarios, it is submitted that the host state can only, in very limited circumstances tax the employer. Because of the increased and continuous mobility of a remote employee, a physical PE will not be created because a physical PE requires permanence and geographical and commercial coherency. A services PE will not be created because it requires that the services relate to the “same project or connected projects” which creates complex interpretive issues for tax authorities. Moreover, the services PE's “duration” test allows for the avoidance of a services PE: a foreign enterprise can generate substantial revenue due to the services rendered by an employee in another state within a week without creating a taxable presence. An agency PE's limited application to the conclusion of contracts neglects the fact that the source of the profits, the work which a foreign enterprise does to earn the income flowing from the conclusion of the contracts, is done by an employee who may not be present when the contract is concluded. It is therefore submitted that the PE concept should be revisited to address these shortcomings, and the ATAF Model's services PE provision serves as a basis for a solution.
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Open Access
The impact of digital health interventions in the treatment and management of perinatal depression: a systematic review
(2023) Mahlalela, Nongcebo Nokukhanya; Fortuin, Jill; Conrad, Nailah
Background Perinatal depression, a significant complication of pregnancy and the postpartum period is common amongst women within the reproductive age. Despite its significant contribution to the disease burden and being one of the leading factors of disability, mental healthcare for treating and managing perinatal depression remains a low priority globally (Almond, 2009; Dadi et al., 2020; Rahman et al., 2013). Digital health interventions (DHIs) are implemented to address the accessibility and cost barriers related to mental healthcare. This systematic review aims to examine the impact of the integration of DHIs and psychological approaches in decreasing the symptoms of perinatal depression amongst women aged between 16 and 55. An assessment of the effectiveness, acceptability, usability and cost-effectiveness of the mentioned DHIs will be conducted. Methodology The systematic search was conducted in six academic health databases: PubMed, Cochrane, CINHAL, PsycInfo, PsycArticles and Medline. The year of publication of the studies was between the first of January 2007 and the thirtyfirst of December 2020. Randomised control trials (RCT), quasi-experimental, and cohort studies assessing the effectiveness of DHIs in treating perinatal depression were included. The study participants were limited to pregnant and postpartum women aged 16 to 55. The psychological interventions include cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT), interpersonal psychotherapy (IPT), psychoeducation, peer support and counselling. Furthermore, the DHIs included mobile health applications and telephone-based and web-based solutions. The studies that met the inclusion criteria after screening were included for data extraction. Lastly, a narrative analysis was conducted to synthesise the results from the included studies. Results Out of 271 articles, 24 met the inclusion criteria, where randomised control trials (RCT) were the most predominant studies for eligibility (n = 21). The participants consisted of perinatal (n = 1), postpartum (n =18) and pregnant women (n =5). Surprisingly, only one study was conducted in a low-and-middle-income country (LMIC). Fifteen studies utilised web-based interventions: five used telephonebased solutions, while only four used mobile health applications. For the review outcomes, twenty studies assessed the effectiveness, while 13 assessed the acceptability. Notably, the outcomes of cost-effectiveness (n =2) and usability (n = 3) were assessed in only a few studies. Discussion The findings of the present review indicate the success of DHIs in treating perinatal depression, especially when integrated with the predominant psychological approaches such as CBT. However, the shortage of literature that evaluates its efficacy in LMICs highlights a significant research gap. Furthermore, due to its limited availability in literature, the outcomes of cost-effectiveness and usability need to be further assessed in future research. The systematic review protocol has been successfully registered with the International Prospective Register of Systematic Reviews (PROSPERO), registration number: CRD42021264253. Conclusion The integration of CBT, peer support and psychoeducation with digital health reports positive outcomes among the perinatal population. Despite the positive outcomes reported in the application of CBT, psychoeducation and peer support, disproportionate access to digital devices among the LMICs remains, calling for an increase in the implementation of telehealth instead of web-based interventions. Keywords Digital health, mHealth, eHealth, telemedicine, perinatal depression, low-andmiddle-income countries, mental health, maternal health.
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Open Access
How should virtual currencies be regulated in South Africa to prevent their use for money laundering
(2023) Lasker, Keegan; Bradfield, Graham
Over the past ten years there have been a number of innovations which have disrupted the financial sector, caused by technological advances which have infiltrated and continue to infiltrate the banking and financial sector. These innovations which have brought together 1 Finance and Technology and is known as the Fin-tech revolution , bringing about changes in the areas of Finance, Investing, Real Estate, Crypto and Blockchain Lending, and Payments. The focus of this mini-thesis will however only be on Virtual Currencies (VC) and the risks they pose to the financial sector, which when summed up can be understood as being money laundering and terrorist financing risks, which clearly shows a need for adequate regulation. As a result of the Fin-tech revolution a number of new technological development have infiltrated the financial sector. One of the most innovative developments is VC, the term 'Virtual Currency', as defined by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) refers to a digital representation of value that can be digitally traded and is able to function as a medium of exchange and/or a unit of account and/or a store value, but which does not have legal tender status.2 The manner and speed at which VC have infiltrated the financial sector solely stems from users ability to transact and to invest therein and to transact therewith. The South African Reserve Bank (SARB) has advised users to approach VC with extreme caution, but despite 3 this warning there has to date been no legislation to regulate VC.
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Open Access
The prospects for rainwater harvesting at the University of Cape Town
(2023) Lepota, Tsepiso; Armitage, Neil
Water is a necessity for sustaining life and important for all daily activities. South Africa (SA) has, over the years, faced several challenges concerning the lack of water. The lack of water can have detrimental effects on the well-being of people and the ecosystem, and this was evident when the lives of the people of Cape Town were impacted because of a three-year drought between 2015 and 2018. This amplified the need for resilient and adaptive water infrastructure and water services and water sensitivity from all users. In 2020 the University of Cape Town (UCT) called for projects that address environmental, social, and financial sustainability on its campuses as part of its mission to contribute to sustainability, resilience, and water sensitivity. Transitioning towards sustainable water management (SWM) has been proposed as a pathway to reducing the current municipal water demand of the university. This research thus investigated benefits such as water and economic savings that UCT might derive from implementing rainwater harvesting (RWH) on the campuses to reduce dependence on imported (municipal) water treated to unnecessarily high standards for non-potable purposes like toilet-flushing. Representative buildings on the Upper Campus (Fuller Hall, Snape, New Engineering Building (NEB) and Hlanganani) and Middle Campus (Woolsack and Masingene) of UCT, a high-level parking area (P18), and the tennis court on Upper Campus were identified as potential catchment areas that were investigated for RWH. The results for Woolsack were then generalised to other universities across SA to investigate the impact of varying rainfall patterns on the implementation of RWH systems. The study used the ‘Yield after spillage' (YAS) algorithm in a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet to identify the relationship between water demand, supply, and storage for RWH. Various storage sizes from 10 kL to 1000 kL were assessed. The economic costs of the RWH systems were limited to the cost of storage, which was then multiplied by arbitrary factors to cater for other potential capital and operating expenditures. The cost savings from harvested rainwater were estimated using the City of Cape Town (CoCT) 2021/2022 tariffs for Level 1 and Emergency response water restrictions. A 20-year discount period and a 4% interest rate were used to determine the capital recovery amounts of the cost of ownership of the RWH systems. A Multi-Criteria Analysis (MCA) tool that considered three weighting scenarios of the harvestable rainfall and economic viability based on the benefit-cost ratio (BCR) (0.5/0.5, 0.6/0.4 and 0.4/0.6) was used to identify the most promising RWH system. It was found that student residences (Fuller Hall and Woolsack) could potentially reap the greatest benefits from installing RWH systems due to a better balance between the supply from the roofs and the related water demand than other university buildings. Approximately 4900 kL and 4000 kL of rainwater can be harvested from Woolsack and Fuller Hall respectively in a year if 100 kL tanks were provided. The cost savings from the yield were estimated at R43,400/year and R56,300/year for the same tank size. The integration of the P18 parking lot and the nearby tennis court into one catchment had the biggest economic savings due to the large quantity of rainwater that can be collected to replace municipal water but the cost of installation of all the P18 systems was very expensive when the cost of the sand filter to treat the dirty water from P18 was included. As a result, the tennis court catchment without P18 was identified as the most promising catchment instead. Approximately 7,500 kL of rainwater could be harvested if 1000 kL tanks were provided, while the potential cost savings associated with the yield were estimated at R316,800/year when the rainwater from the tennis court catchment is supplied to all Upper Campus buildings. It was also concluded that UCT is in a relatively good location for RWH due to its rainfall pattern as compared with those enjoyed by other universities across SA. Going forward, there is a need for specific data collection on the amount of water used for toilet flushing in each building, detailed design of the RWH systems, and a detailed water quality analysis of harvested rainwater from the various catchments.