34 research outputs found

    Industrial Entanglements and Their Political Outflows in the Japan-South Africa Relationship in the Mid-Twentieth Century

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    For much of the twentieth Century \u27the South Africa question\u27 stood central in Japan\u27s relationship with the African continent. This refers in essence to how Japanese authorities\u27 and firms\u27 dealings with the apartheid regime from roughly the late 1950s to the late 1980s framed Japan\u27s relations with the larger continent in complex ways. This paper engages this period and focuses on an aspect of the Japan-South Africa relationship that has not received that much attention in scholarship – that is, the industrial links forged alongside trade ties and how these reflected industrialisation processes in both Japan and South Africa at the time. The paper discusses the geo-institutional conditions under which economic and industrial ties came to be fashioned and the material and political outflows they brought. It offers discussion of direct and indirect Japanese involvement in industrialisation processes in South Africa in the 1960s and 1970s through the lens of South Africa\u27s manufacturing sector and attempts towards import-substitution industrialisation. Through the tracing of the rise of Toyota South Africa, it is illustrated how political-economic processes in apartheid South Africa – in which Japanese capital and industrial links played an indirect role – were intertwined with the bolstering of an Afrikaner industrialist class. The discussion aims to unpack the broad dimensions of Japan-South Africa relations, well-covered in existing literature, by showing how diplomacy meshed with industrialisation and economic processes on both sides, and highlighting the role of specific figures, such as the founder of Toyota South Africa, in forging relations in more nuanced ways than usually recognised in the literature

    The developmental impact of tourism in the Western Cape, South Africa

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    This study analyses the dynamics and impact of international tourism in the Western Cape province of South Africa. It investigate how the Western Cape tourism sector interrelates with the international sector, and what developmental outcomes this has in the province. In terms of tourism's impact the study shows that it is geographically concentrated, with tourist activities focuses in and around the Cape metropolitan area and along the south eastern coastline. The province's rural areas have a very small share in the tourism market. Overall, tourism is following long-established patterns, being centred on the promotion of a number of traditional attractions and tourist images. The nature and distribution of tourism is partly related to the role and actions of key producers. Tour operators, for example, have an important effect on travel flows. They, along with other producers and agents such as the media, significantly influence consumers' knowledge and perceptions, and consequently the image(s) of the Western Cape. This in turn has an important consequence on localities and destinations that are visited by tourists. Furthermore, investment trends show that there is limited infrastructural development and demand-stimulation by the government or other tourism producers in regions where tourism impact is lowest. The provincial government is pursing an objective of sustained tourism growth, and greater tourism equity and impact distribution. This objective is hampered by several factors. The Western Cape tourism economy has significantly grown over the past seven years, but a number of aspects may constrain continued growth. Firstly, political, economic and social factors in the larger exogenous environment play an important role in restricting tourist demand. This, coupled with seasonal fluctuations in demand has led to a sector characterised by overcapacity. The regime governing flight access and availability to the Western Cape furthermore has a limiting effect on tourism production and consumption. In practice, the goals of growth and equity are difficult to balance. The government primarily seeks to do this by coupling the development of new products that involve the historically disadvantaged population of the province with an innovative product offer that appears to both traditional and new market segments. There is however a generally low level of demand for new or alternative products such as township tourism in international source markets

    Dog Bites in Humans and Estimating Human Rabies Mortality in Rabies Endemic Areas of Bhutan

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    Dog bites in humans are a public health problem worldwide. We conducted a hospital based questionnaire survey and described the incidence and risk factors for human dog bites in Bhutan. We also estimated the human death rate attributable to rabies in two rabies endemic areas of south Bhutan. Our study shows that dog bites incidents in humans are common in the survey areas. There were significant gender and age differences in bite incidents; males and the children are affected the most. The majority of the victims were bitten by stray dogs, increasing the risk of rabies infection if not treated in time. Our decision tree model predicted 2.23 (95% CI: 1.20–3.59) human deaths from rabies/year, equivalent to an annual incidence of 4.67 (95% CI: 2.53–7.53) deaths/100,000 in the two rabies endemic areas of south Bhutan. In the absence of post exposure prophylaxis, the model predicted 19.24 (95% CI: 13.69–25.14) deaths/year in these two areas. The public should be encouraged to visit hospitals for post exposure prophylaxis following dog bite injury in south Bhutan

    The start of history? The promises and limitations of emerging vectors in Africa's political economy

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    12 A4 pages in pdf format. Includes bibliographical references.Bibliography.Inaugural address delivered by Prof Scarlett Cornelissen in August 2011

    The start of history? The promises and limitations of emerging vectors in Africa's political economy

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    Inaugural lecture delivered August 2011.Includes bibliographyAfter matriculating from the Settler’s High School in Bellville, Scarlett Cornelissen studied at the Universities of Rhodes and Cape Town. She obtained a Bachelor’s degree in Social Science from the University of Cape Town in 1995. Two years later she obtained a Master’s degree in International Studies (cum laude) from Stellenbosch University. She was awarded a grant by the Commonwealth Scholarship Commission to pursue doctoral studies in the United Kingdom, and in 2002 she obtained a PhD from the University of Glasgow. Scarlett works in the field of International Relations and specialises in two topics – the changing dimensions of Africa’s political economy and its relationship to development; and the impacts of Asian (specifically Japanese) economic cooperation with sub-Saharan Africa. In relation to the former she has explored Africa’s connection to the global economy through key industries such as tourism. She has also looked at the way in which African countries have adopted major, strategic projects of global repositioning through, inter alia, mega-projects and mega-events. As part of her second research focus, Scarlett has conducted extensive empirical work on Asian investments in and development assistance to Africa. In 2009 Scarlett received the National Research Foundation’s President’s Award, and was evaluated as a P-rated researcher.National Research Foundation’s President’s AwardPublishers' versio

    Tourism impact, distribution and development: The spatial structure of tourism in the Western Cape province of South Africa

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    The structural dimensions of a country's tourism sector, and in particular the spatial structure of tourism production and consumption, relate closely to the nature and extent of the impact that tourism can have. This article examines the spatial characteristics of tourism in the Western Cape province, one of South Africa's foremost international tourist regions, and where its government seeks to use tourism as an instrument of development and socio-economic transformation. To understand how this could be effected it is necessary to understand the spatial distributional effects of tourism, and the underlying reasons for it. To this end the article examines the spatial structure of the provincial accommodation sector as evidenced in patterns of accommodation supply and tourist usage (demand); and trends in the nature, direction and distribution of public and private-sector tourism investments. The central argument is that tourism is geographically focused, with tourist activities concentrated in a few locales and sub-regions. This follows the general demographic and economic contours of the province. Yet trends in capital investments tend to reinforce the spatial concentration of tourism. Attempts by the government to spread tourism's benefits have not been too successful due to institutional and capacity deficiencies. Greater emphasis should be placed on developing domestic tourism.
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