Citizens' E-Participation at Local Municipal Government in South Africa

The emergence of the digital revolution has obligated governments all over the world to be more accessible, effective and accountable in the provision of public services. The South Africa government has implemented various Information and Communications Technology (ICT) enabled platforms in engaging citizens in decision-making, a resultant effect of high world E-government Development Index (EGDI) rating for the country. Irrespective of the rating, the citizens have resorted to public violence as a means of communicating about unsatisfactory service delivery issues. The South African government has continued to witness numerous service delivery protests, resulting in destruction of public property, injury and death of innocent citizens. This article therefore evaluates the application of e-participation in government decision-making, using a three-dimensional framework of e-enabling, e-engaging and e-empowering. The findings show that structural challenges exist that limit the achievement of the good intentions of e-participation. The article relies heavily on existing data and focuses at local municipal level, which is considered the closest point of contact between government and citizens

Knowledge, attitudes and practices towards lung cancer among adults in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa: a cross-sectional survey

Background. Lung cancer remains the number one cause of cancer mortality estimated at 1.8 million deaths. There are limited studies in resource poor countries regarding knowledge, attitudes and practices towards lung cancer. Objective. This study aimed to describe the knowledge, attitudes and practices regarding lung cancer in selected communities in KwaZulu- Natal, South Africa. Methods. An observational, analytic cross-sectional study design was conducted using a standardized questionnaire. A stratified random cluster sampling method was applied across five communities. A regression model was developed to identify the predictors of the level of knowledge. Results. About 59.9% (95% CI 52.0 - 67.3) of the participants reported to have heard of lung cancer. The mean knowledge score was 41.8% (95% CI 35.7 - 47.9%). Coughing blood was the most recognized symptom (61.0%, 95% CI 52.1 - 69.1). About 17% (95% CI 14.7 - 21.5) of participants reported to be smokers. Many respondents reported that they would go to a health centre or clinic in case they were coughing blood (72.4%, 95% CI 93.9 - 79.5). Less than 10% (95% CI 3.9 - 8.1) of participants was screened for lung cancer at the time. Gender, history of working in the chemicals industry, screening for lung cancer, and time taken to seek health care when sick were significant predictors of lung cancer knowledge. Conclusions. Public health interventions should be explored to increase the levels of community awareness regarding lung cancer, particularly focusing on the importance of screening, early diagnosis and treatment

CHARACTERISATION OF MULTIVARIATE TRAITS IN SWAZI INDIGENOUS GOATS

Swazi goats from two different regions in Swaziland kept in communal systems were characterised based on phenotypic measurements. Objective measurements for 200 goats included body weight (BW), abdominal circumference (AC), body length (BL), chest circumference (CC), face length (FL), neck circumference (NC), neck length (NL), rump height (RH) and height at withers (HW), while qualitative traits included coat colour, coat texture and presence or absence of horns. Seven coat colours were observed across both regions. Goats with straight coat texture (82%), short hair length (68%) and with horns (84%) were predominantly more. Goats in Manzini region had the lower BW, AC, BL and CC (51.77±1.32, 61.77±1.32, 62.49±0.66, 57.96±1.18) than Shiselweni goats (53.09±1.01, 71.09±1.00, 73.67±0.94, 53.83±0.90). The study provided a reference for phenotypic and genetic diversity for Swazi goats useful for designing genetic strategies for improved production, food security and sustainable utilisation

Pre- and post-intervention survey on lung cancer awareness among adults in selected communities in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa: A quasi-experimental study

Background: Lung cancer remains the number one cause of cancer mortality estimated at 1.8 million deaths. There are limited studies in resource poor countries regarding knowledge, attitudes and practices towards lung cancer. Objective: This study aimed to assess the effects of a lung can-cer awareness intervention in selected communities in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Materials and Methods: A quasi-experimental study design was conducted in the selected communities in KwaZulu-Natal. A community intervention was administered in the communities after a baseline survey. The intervention effects were assessed a month after implementation. Results: There were statistical differences in the mean age (p<0.001) and proportion of males and females (p<0.001) at base-line and post-intervention. There were no differences in terms of smoking status (p=0.958), however, there was a reduction in the number of cigarettes smoked per day (p<0.001) and the number of packs smoked per week (p=0.026). The mean knowledge score increased from 41.8% (95% CI 35.7 – 47.9) at baseline to 59.9 (95% CI 53.8 – 66.0) post-intervention (p<0.001). The proportion of participants who were aware that lung cancer can be detected early increased from 46.5% (95% CI 39.1 – 53.9) at baseline to 81.1% (95% CI 71.7 – 87.9) post-intervention (p<0.001). The intervention had a statistically significant effect (aOR 4.370, 95%CI 1.477-12.928) on the level of lung cancer knowledge in the selected communities (p<0.001). Conclusions: Interventions increasing the recognition of signs and symptoms, focusing on the importance of early detection and health seeking behaviour (including screening), smoking cessa-tion, and addressing the perceived health system barriers are required

Energy efficiency enhancement of off-grid photovoltaic (PV) power plant

Abstract: The sizing of the off-grid PV systems is currently based on a manual approach, i.e. daily load is estimated by identifying commonly used load appliances for modelling system performance. If the system is not properly sized, it may not function according to expectation. The purpose of this paper is to present a conceptual design of an off-grid (autonomous) photovoltaic (PV) power plant, fitted with an efficient power regulating (EPR) management system of solar batteries and an instinctive solar tracking of PV panels. An optimization model for an Efficient Power Regulating (EPR) system of solar batteries was coupled to a solar tracking device so that the PV panels were constantly in full view of the sun. The objective function of the model was to maximize the efficiency of PV cells through PV battery charge regulation and load control in off-grid PV installations. This study revealed that the effectiveness of the EPR of solar battery (SB) when totally discharged can be realized when the accumulating battery (AB) charge reaches 50%.The study findings were indicative of the effectiveness of the EPR of SB. Hence, the EPR technique and the automatic tracking of PV solar panels proved to be the most effective technique of optimizing the energy efficiency of autonomous PV power plants

Practical guidelines for enhanced coagulation using UV254

Abstract The negative effects of natural organic matter (NOM) in drinking water are well known and, where necessary, its removal is crucial. This is enforced by the increasingly stringent water regulations around the world. In South Africa, this regulation targets NOM in the form of total organic carbon (TOC), at a maximum of 10 mg/L. Enhanced coagulation (EC), a multiple objective chemical dosing strategy, offers a viable method of NOM removal, and this study explored its use for typical South African raw waters. A consistent and reproducible jar test procedure was developed and applied to 19 widely different raw water samples collected from different locations and at different times of a year long period. These samples consisted of a wide range of alkalinity, UV254 and turbidity values. Three criteria were developed and applied to determine the best EC dosage for the optimal removal of UV254 without compromising residual dissolved organic carbon (DOC) and turbidity. DOC was measured, prior to and after batch tests, to confirm removal similarities with UV254 and compliance with national standards. The resultant percentage removals of UV254 and DOC ranged between 56 to 96 % and 45 to 94 % respectively, irrespective of water source, period and coagulation dosage. The settled water residual turbidity values were less than 1.5 NTU. The costs for EC were found to be comparable to those for conventional coagulation in all cases

Testing the effectiveness of existing psycho-educational material (The Alliance Programme) for patients suffering from schizophrenia in the South African context

Objective:  Key Words:  Schizophrenia; Psycho-education; Participatory communication: comprehension.The objective of this study was to test the effectiveness of the existing psycho-educational material (The Alliance Programme) for patients suffering from schizophrenia in the South African context. Method: A qualitative research approach was used. Fifteen Setswana speaking participants, with a diagnosis of schizophrenia were exposed to the programme. Semi-structured and screening interviews were used to collect demographic and clinical data. The participants were divided into two groups and were exposed to either the Alliance Programme or on adapted version of the programme. Participatory communication instruments including focus groups, were used to assess comprehension and knowledge retention of the material over time. Results: Participants who were exposed to the original Alliance Programme experienced the contents of the programme to be technical, difficult to read or recall. They were unable to relate their previous symptoms to the psycho-education given. Participants who were exposed to the adapted version faired much better, gained more insight and were able to relate better to their illnesses. Participants preferred booklets with examples and illustrations, video clips and films over formal lectures. Conclusion: Psycho-education material given to people suffering from schizophrenia and their caregivers has to be adapted to their context to be effective

Integration of Sugar Markets between Swaziland and its Major Trading Partners

The study was designed to examine the extent of market integration between Swaziland sugar markets and its major trading partners (i.e., South Africa, EU and USA) using monthly export sugar price data from January 2001 to December 2013. Price series were tested for stationarity with the Augmented Dickey-Fuller (ADF) test and it was found that all prices were integrated of order one I (1). Zivot and Andrews test was used to determine the structural break in the price series and it revealed that the Swaziland and USA price break was in August, 2009 while for the EU price break was in October, 2008. Price relationships were examined in one period (entire period) and two sub-periods (before structural break and after structural break). The Johansen’s cointegration test revealed long-run integration for almost all the pairs of sugar markets, except for the USA in the full sample period. The integrations between the markets shows a significant improvement after the structural break. The Vector Error Correction model (VECM) estimates showed that the Swaziland’s  export market prices adjust significantly to the short-run shocks that appeared in the South African’s and EU’s sugar market for the entire period while when the structural breaks period was allowed it adjusts significantly before the break for the South African’s market. Swaziland’s market only adjusts significantly to the EU and USA market shocks after the structural break. The overall coefficient of the adjustment parameter has been very low due to high government interventions in the sugar sector by the Swaziland trading partners which is an impediment to the efficient market functioning. It is therefore suggested that interventions of the respective governments should be reduced for efficient functioning of the markets Keywords: sugar, trading partners, cointegration, stationarity, structural brea

Development of a web-based application to improve data collection for antimicrobial point prevalence surveys in the public health care system in South Africa; findings and implications

Background: Surveillance of antimicrobial use is one of the main recommended strategies in combating growing antimicrobial resistance (AMR) rates and a key part of developing pertinent policies and initiatives to reduce growing AMR rates in South Africa and wider. However, determining antimicrobial utilisation at a patient-level among public hospitals in South Africa can be a challenge given personnel and resource constraints. There are also currently no standardized data collection tools. Most countries in Africa currently undertake antimicrobial utilisation surveillance using paper-based data collection tools including point prevalence surveys (PPS). Unfortunately, paper-based systems have disadvantages including the time taken to complete the forms and analyse the findings, increasing costs and manpower hurdles. Electronic tools offer many advantages including mobile and real time data collection and also the opportunity for rapid analytics. Objectives: Develop and test a web-based application (APP) for future PPS studies to successfully address identified challenges. Methods: A web based application (APP) was developed based on previous PPS in Botswana and South Africa using a paper-based data collection tool and tested during July 2017 in a leading public hospital in South Africa. The developed APP was also evaluated for data quality by measuring the number of errors, work flow, and time taken for the survey versus the previous paper-based system. User acceptance was also measured via a questionnaire to the data collectors. Results: A total of 187 patients' files were surveyed in this leading hospital using the APP whilst also documenting the challenges and areas of improvement for the APP. The identified areas of improvement have now been incorporated into the revised APP for future studies. The data collectors agreed that surveying the patients' files took appreciably less time with the APP compared to the paper based tool, and should be used in the future. In addition, data analysis was hastened using the APP. Conclusions: The APP development process has been successful and the APP is a potential tool for future PPS in South Africa and wider. The APP methodology is now being tested in new studies across South Africa to help instigate pertinent educational and other interventions to improve the future use of antimicrobials among public hospitals in South Africa