Browsing by Subject "legislation"

Now showing 1 - 8 of 8
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Open Access
    An exploration of the care needs of frail older persons in Namibia: perspectives and experiences of formal and informal caregivers
    (2022) Zamuee, Charmill; Abdullah, Somaya
    The adequate care of older persons is a major global concern and countries are examining ways to respond to these needs, especially the needs of frail older persons in the care environment. Important strides have been made in developed countries but progress has been slow in less developed countries in the Global South and limited information exists on the care needs of frail older persons and lived experiences of formal and informal caregivers. This thesis examines the care needs of frail older persons in Namibia. Namibia has only recently been liberated from colonial rule by Germany and apartheid South Africa. During this time black communities were disenfranchised, resource-scarce and living under poor conditions. For older persons, this meant unequal treatment, social exclusion and denial of access to decent care. The aim of this study was to provide an in-depth understanding of the needs of frail older persons in the care environment in Namibia by examining the lived experiences of caregivers and analysing policy. Using a qualitative methodology, the study collected primary data from formal and informal caregivers based on semi-structured interviews and focus groups. The data analysis relied mainly on coding strategies under Atlas-ti and qualitative content analysis. The secondary data were collected from legislation, government policy documents, journals and other public reports. The finding revealed that Namibia's history has entrenched the current situation of unmet needs of frail older persons, exacerbated by inadequate policy protection. These limitations were highlighted by the Covid-19 pandemic. The study also found that the effective care of frail older persons is only possible through stakeholder engagement and cross-sectoral collaboration. The study therefore recommends that government should undertake a process of social reforms to ensure that the needs of this group are prioritised, that a performance framework should be implemented to ensure delivery and that all stakeholders should be mobilised. The study has contributed to these outcomes by suggesting a model for needs assessment of frail older persons, especially during the Covid-19 pandemic. This model could be used to improve care practices, serve government in evidence-based policy making and provide a useful analytical tool for scholarship.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Open Access
    An investigation of the (in)flexibility of the minibus-taxi operating license system: the case of Stellenbosch
    (2022) Bergstedt, Roscoe; Behrens, Roger
    This research aims to explore the inflexibility of South Africa's operating licensing system and how it affects minibus taxis operations when operating locations change. It also explores the limitations it places on passenger demands when land uses change over time. The study focusses on answering the following research questions: How did the relocation of the rank effect passenger transit conditions? Why did the locations of the ranks change? Is the existing licensing system inflexible? Why were the operating license routes never amended? How did the outdated route description affect postrelocation traffic law enforcement conflict? It also explores what prompted decision-makers at the time to switch from an area-based permit to a route-based operating license by looking at legislative history and attempting to determine how this has influenced the taxi industry's operational dynamics. The Stellenbosch Municipality's efforts to modernize the town's public transportation network by simplifying and integrating all ranking facilities is investigated, but the effort is complicated by an operational licensing system that assigns permits to precisely specified routes. As a result of the reorganization of ranks, routes have become obsolete, resulting in violations of operational conditions in order to meet passenger demands while also creating law enforcement confrontation. Six of the Stellenbosch taxi association's ten routes were chosen for investigation. In addition to the literature review, 25 interviews were conducted with the intent of gaining a more in-depth understanding of respondents' attitudes and knowledge of the difficulties surrounding rank rationalization and consolidation. The data was gathered using a mixed method approach, with a qualitative study concentrating on the people affected by the system and a quantitative analysis focusing on the obsolete route descriptions. Taxi drivers, passengers, taxi owners, and municipal officials were interviewed and both open-ended and closed-ended questions formed part of the interview process. The purpose of the route surveying was to see how much the taxis deviate from the initial route description. This is descriptive data displayed in a graphical style via route maps, which were obtained by onboard tracking utilizing smart phone technology and GPS equipment to compare taxi operations to the initial route description in the operating license. Some of the routes mapped were established more than 20 years ago, however while some of the route's elements are still in use, others have become obsolete as land uses have changed. The mapping data was downloaded and converted into a keyhole markup language (KML) track. The analytical results are presented to clearly show the important factors that influenced the research design, which addresses the six research questions. The change in rank has clearly had a negative influence on daily operations and a variety of other factors, in addition to the passengers' travel experience. I learned that studies were conducted that guided the decision on the relocation of the ranks and because routes are not changed even with the aim to improve public transportation, that those critical aspects of the system remain intact making the operating licensing system in Stellenbosch inflexible. I also discuss the ambiguity surrounding why the operating license route description has not changed, as well as what each stakeholder must do to ensure the procedure is completed and offer data to demonstrate the growth in conflict between traffic officers and minibus taxi drivers. Regulation has its limits, but if the right measures are taken, the operating system may improve. Understanding the needs of passengers is one of the most important parts of public transportation service in order to ensure the long-term success of the industry's routes. Understanding how operating conditions and behavior affect route demand is also critical, and this research is focused on that. As regulations have changed around the world, the operating license system has been altered to provide a more flexible structure that is suited for the intended purpose of the operations. This gives the operating license system information and aids in determining its flexibility. The final chapter conclude the research and presents the findings and recommendations. The objective of this study was to look into the inflexibility of the operating licensing system, specifically how accommodating it is when ranks move and how it affects passenger experience, law enforcement conflict, and route specification.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Open Access
    Embodying virtue in employment: Exploring the employment experiences of people with disabilities
    (2018) Bam, Armand; Ronnie, Linda
    Research on the employment experiences of people with disabilities (PWD), on a global level, is limited. While South Africa has a well-defined legislative framework that has been determined in consultation with disabled people's organisations, compliance with legislation appears to have failed to ensure that employment targets are met, or rather, it has overlooked the underemployment of PWD. As a response to the challenges, this study explored the employment experiences of PWD. A qualitative, explorative, multiple case study approach was employed. Twelve participants were selected using a purposive technique. Semi-structured interviews were used to collect data and provided insight into how PWD viewed their world. The interviews were supplemented through document analyses, and various modes of observation provided additional insight into each of the cases. The process of analysing the interview data followed an inductive approach during which three broad themes were identified. Factors influencing Employment elaborated on the participants' pre-employment experiences of gaining access to employment, which were shown to be impacted by various environmental barriers. Early Experiences of Inclusion at the Workplace established that induction and orientation processes were opportunities for educating co-workers about disability. However, the disclosure of disability did not guarantee improved employment experiences for the research participants. Feeling part of a team promoted early experiences of acceptance. Accommodation in the Workplace determined that PWD's accommodation requests were often evaluated and considered in terms of the costs to employers, and primarily focused on technology to improve their productivity. The need for personal assistance for the PWD in the study was found to be unavoidable. A conceptual model is presented as an alternative framework. It offers insight into how to improve disabled individuals' employment experiences to organisations and their management, and people with disabilities themselves. The model suggests that organisations operating from within a virtue framework can facilitate equal opportunities for employees. Organisations are to be more competitive, innovative and creative, and improve their sustainability. The experiences of PWD could be improved through establishing working communities within organisations as these distribute decisionmaking. The climate for organisational inclusion could also be improved by the working community's ability to redefine work and equip PWD appropriately, thereby promoting organisational citizenship, with benefits to both the organisation and individual.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Open Access
    Extinctions: Past and Present Week 5 - Threats to plants
    (2017-03-17) Chinsamy-Turan, Anusuya; Muasya, Muthama
    In this video, Professor Anusuya Chinsamy-Turan interviews Professor Muthama Muasya, a plant scientist, about the threats facing plants from humans' impact on their habitats. He discusses how plants show up in the fossil record, and some of the existing threat to the plant species in the Western Cape region of South Africa. This is video 3 in Week 5 of the Extinctions: Past and Present MOOC.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Open Access
    Extinctions: Past and Present Week 5 - Threats to sea birds
    (2017-03-17) Chinsamy-Turan, Anusuya; Ryan, Peter
    In this video, Professor Anusuya Chinsamy-Turan interviews Professor Peter Ryan, an ornithologist who describes the threats to birds from human activity as being different in terrestrial and marine environments. He explains why and how conservation efforts have to take an ecosystem approach, and emphasises the need for legislative frameworks and individual behavioural change.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Open Access
    Information on nutritional supplement labels: Time for legislation
    (MedPharm Publications, 2012) Gabriels, Gary; Lambert, Mike; Smith, Pete
    Background: Nutritional supplements have received attention both from food manufacturers, as a means of marketing the added value to health; and from consumers, in terms of awareness, education, and improved health. To assist this process, it is important to have specific knowledge and understanding of the claims made on labels of nutritional supplement products used for general, and more specifically, for sports consumers. The industry is not regulated, and therefore the claims that are made may not always be accurate. Method: The aim was to describe the labelling and claims information on the labels of a select group of nutritional supplements, either manufactured in, or imported into South Africa. Specific predetermined categories of labelling and claims made on the containers were assessed and summarised. Results: Forty products were selected for analysis, of which 21 (53%) were locally assembled or manufactured products, and 19 (48%), international imported products. Ninety-five per cent of products contained a warning statement on the label. Eighty-five per cent of the nutritional supplement products had a disclaimer on the label. Ninety-eight per cent of the nutritional supplement product labels included some claim on the label. Conclusion: The following information, in particular, needs to be regulated and enforced as part of the labelling process, to ensure that the consumer can make an informed choice. This includes highlighting the potential for adverse events, encouraging warning statements pertaining to “exclusion of use, and “not a cure for disease states”, and alerting consumers of the potential for the presence of banned substances, based on laboratory screen methods.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Open Access
    Job security: a legal duty to consult or negotiate?
    (1995) Yawa, Elias Mzwanele; Kalula, Evance
    This dissertation investigates whether or not there is a duty on the employer to negotiate with workers on issues that affect their employment security. The research focuses on why there is no duty on the employer to negotiate with workers in regard to retrenchment, closure and transfer of undertakings. It also examines the--factors that are obstacles to the existence of such a duty. Furthermore, the effects of ·such _non - negotiation on the workers' job security and on efficiency as well as productivity of the undertaking are looked at. It also evaluates whether the results suggest that unilateralism in these respects is making a useful contribution to the realisation of the principal aim of ,the LRA -industrial peace. The method of investigation has largely been literature review and to a certain extent / comparative. It analyses primary and secondary sources. Theoretical guidance was drawn from critical studies in labour law and industrial relations. The study reveals that there is no duty on the employer to negotiate with workers regarding retrenchment, closure and transfer of undertakings. Consequently, it argues that, for job security to ensue, industrial peace to prevail, business efficiently and productivity to abound, the employer should be compelled to bargain or negotiate with workers. This duty should be clearly stipulated in legislation. It further argues that consultation should be geared towards agreement. If agreement cannot be reached on the issues under consideration, it argues that the status quo should be maintained, that is no change to existing conditions should be implemented until a deadlock- breaking mechanism resolves the matter. The aim of the work is threefold. First, it seeks to make a modest contribution to the understanding and importance of the duty to negotiate in labour law and industrial relations · for post -Apartheid south Africa. Second, it disputes and, in large measure, seeks to contradict earlier justifications for refusing to compel the employer to negotiate with workers in regard to retrenchment, closure and transfer of undertakings. Third, it attempts to provide insight into how this duty can best be rendered more meaningful and equally beneficial to workers and employers. Turning to the assessment, it finds that the insistence on duty to consult as opposed to duty to negotiate is pro -management and that it dangerously puts our labour relations into the horns of a dilemma. Furthermore, such an approach is out of touch with democratic developments in the country as well as the expectations of the industrial relations community. Lastly, it finds that the duty to consult is not as useful as the one to negotiate. It accordingly proposes that the employer be under a legislative obligation to negotiate and reach consensus with workers on issues affecting job security.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Open Access
    Resurgence of tribal levies: double taxation for the rural poor
    (Academy of Science of South Africa, 2011) Claassens, Aninka
    People in the former homelands waged a successful battle against the imposition of 'tribal levies' during the anti-apartheid struggle. Recently, however, there has been a resurgence of traditional authorities demanding annual levies. Those who refuse to pay cannot access government grants and identity books. This article argues that recent laws bolstering the powers of traditional leaders have contributed to this resurgence. It argues that the laws undermine the citizenship rights of the poorest South Africans as well as their ability to hold traditional leaders to account. It suggests that the laws have been ambiguously worded in an attempt to disguise the fact that they are inconsistent with the Constitution. It rebuts the argument that annual tribal levies are consistent with and justified by customary law, by describing their colonial and apartheid genesis.