Editorial: 21st Century Geo-political Discourses on India’s Diaspora: Global Perspectives

Diaspora studies endeavours to understand and describe transnational experiences of migration within an inter-disciplinary perspective among fields as diverse as literature and cultural studies, economics, anthropology, and sociology. Scholarly studies of migrations, as is present in diaspora criticism, are not, and cannot be, a system of ordered and forced rules or critical regulations. The fluctuating nature of the material, and the constantly changing quality of international evidence and private awareness, mean there cannot be and should not be any single, coherently determined method of diaspora inquiry. This means that diaspora studies, is, by its very nature, quite diverse, theoretically, as well as methodologically. As such, diaspora criticism is by its historic, literary, media and legal nature a delta of interrelated critical streams that flow out from the multiple impressions, experiences, sufferings and memories of displaced persons, willing migrants and emigrants, and often, desperate refugees. From within the Indian diaspora legacy in particular, there is a wide array and multiplicity of documented empirical experiences, literary representations, and critical scholarly analyses, interpretations and reflections available in a plethora of published materials such as books and academic journals. The first part of this journal issue of Alternation makes an addition to this constantly growing corpus of materials, especially from a number of South African perspectives

Cyberbullying Perpetration: Children and Youth at Risk of Victimization during Covid-19 Lockdown

The Covid-19 is believed to have emerged in Wuhan, China, and has affected many countries across the globe. In response to this pandemic, governments in different countries have implemented social distancing measures to stop the spread of the virus. The closure of schools and switch to remote learning of universities to protect youth and children from exposure to the virus might also open opportunities for certain crimes such as cyberbullying. The study aimed at exploring the risks of victimization of children and youth through cyberbullying during the lockdown. A qualitative approach, non-participant observation was utilised. Data was collected from three social media platforms which include Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram from posts since the beginning of lockdown. Keywords such as “ama2000s”, “2000s” and “90s vs 2000s” were used to search for content. Facebook groups for “2000s” where most young people engage were also used. The study found that with the increase of the use of social media among children and youth during the lockdown, most have been victims of cyberbullying. In these platforms where young people engage, most posts and comments carried content which includes sexting, sexual comments on young girls’ pictures, trending of videos of school children fighting, and insulting each other. A significant finding was the use of fake accounts to perpetrate cyberbullying. The study recommends that addressing cyberbullying through educating children and youth about acceptable online behaviour, signs of cyberbullying, responses to it, and cybersecurity should be prioritised

The ‘Politics’ of South African Indian Identity: Real or Imagined

Bhana (2001) and Landy, Maharaj and Mainet-Valleix (2004) argue that people of Indian origin have lost much of their ancestral legacy as they became South Africans over the last 140 years. Using a largely qualitative lens this paper explores whether Indian cultural identifiers influence South African Indian identity and concludes with the voices of respondents showing a hybrid cultural model instead of an exclusively Indian identity model. The hybrid model is informed by especially second and third generation respondents’ exposure to Western and African influences. Data for this paper were produced from 21 face to face interviews with three generations of South African Indians in the Metropolitan Area of Durban

When Torture Mocks the Law: Understanding Police Brutality in South Africa

South Africa promulgated the Prevention and Combating of Torture of Persons Act No. 13 of 2013, which criminalises the use of torture by law enforcers. The Act also criminalises cruel, inhumane, or degrading treatment or punishment of citizens by law enforcers. However, the implementation of this law is derisory as the torture and physical abuse of civilians by the police reportedly continue unabated. This phenomenon seems part of police culture that is entrenched in South African policing practices. Prior to the study, the literature review underscored the unabated prevalence of police violence. Against this background, this article seeks to highlight specific incidences of police officers’ use of unconstitutional and abusive acts of torture involving civilians. Using a qualitative research approach, ten officers of the Independent Police Investigative Directorate (IPID) were interviewed to generate the required data. Thematic analysis was used and the findings revealed that civilians suspected of criminal behaviour were often exposed to inhumane forms of torture, which ranged from food and water deprivation to being strangled, suffocated, and electrocuted. These forms of torture involving suspects were reportedly prompted by the urgency for eliciting information, ‘proving’ the presumption of guilt, proactively preventing crime in communities, and coercing suspect compliance. The findings thus urge the need for a blanket ban on the torture of suspects, the effective investigation by the IPID of cases of torture, and the successful trial and conviction of police perpetrators of this crime. Keywords: Police accountability, police interrogation, South African Police Service, suspect, torture

Gatekeeping: an obstacle to criminological research with Indian youth drug users in Chatsworth, KwaZulu-Natal.

Every research study has a story and this article tells the story of the researchers’ challenges in accessing participants for a study. Thus this article draws on the researchers’ experiences with gatekeeping dilemmas while attempting to research drug addiction among a select sample of youth in a historically Indian township in Kwa Zulu Natal. The article highlights the challenges in gaining access to an Indian sample of drug users. Some of the reasons depart from the premise that perhaps the most challenging factor is that most of the populations relevant to the study of drug addiction, such as under age youth, traffickers, suppliers and or drug lords, constitute so-called hidden populations. Heckathorn (1997), argues that “A hidden population is a group of individuals, whose membership in hidden populations often involves stigmatized or illegal behaviour, leading individuals to refuse to co-operate, or give unreliable answers to protect their privacy.” Consequently for this empirical study attempting to ‘research’ a ‘hidden population’ resulted in challenges not necessarily observed with other research topics. This research argues through a theoretical framework how gatekeeping challenges may impact ‘important’ research agendas. This research article further highlights principal gatekeeping challenges associated with research in the field of illicit drug use which is the focus of this research article. This is done through reflections on the researchers’ methodological journey namely gaining access to a relevant sample. The article concludes with suggestions for researchers attempting research with ‘hidden populations’ in future criminological research. This article explores some of the issues that researchers should consider when carrying out research with Gypsy-Travellers

‘They call us Makwerekweres’ : foreign learners speak out against xenophobia.

While a number of studies on xenophobia have been conducted in South Africa, very little has been done to establish the effects of xenophobia on foreigners in schools. To help remedy the dearth of studies in this area, this article aimed to provide emic perspective on xenophobia from a select sample of Grade 12 foreign learners. Through the use of interviews, the study explored how these learners experience their host country, South Africa, five years after the widely publicized xenophobic violence. Thematic analysis of responses indicated, profoundly, learners’ thoughts and feelings on xenophobia. Participants described their emotional and physical exposure to various forms of xenophobia perpetrated either at the level of the community and/or the school. Participants felt that South Africans who do not take responsibility for their behavior shift blame to foreigners, hence fuelling xenophobia. Although learners perceive South Africa as a beautiful country with much to offer, they prefer migrating to countries with better opportunities. This research provided a baseline for further research into this phenomenon

Interrogating maritime security : a discourse from below.

The expanding volume of sea trade between South Africa and other parts of the global world places pressure on increased maritime security particularly because maritime security affects both communities living close to the sea as well as bi- and multilateral relations on the larger international scale. While most research studies focus on threats of piracy and the economic impacts of maritime security on international trade this paper seeks to critically explore maritime challenges at a more local level namely the voices of actors directly with first hand experiences of maritime matters. Using in depth semi structured face to face interviews with six participants within a qualitative framework the study concluded that maritime challenges are indeed larger than the traditional security challenges. Challenges included seafarers’ working conditions, stowaways, human and drug trafficking and piracy. The study makes recommendations for future large scale research on maritime challenges

FIBRINOLYTIC ENZYME FROM BACILLUS AMYLOLIQUEFACIENS: OPTIMISATION AND SCALE UP STUDIES

Objective: This research work was carried out to identify a potent microorganism, which produced the fibrinolytic enzyme and to optimise the media and growth parameters to achieve the maximal enzyme production for commercial application. Methods: Microorganisms were isolated from different sources and assayed for fibrinolytic activity. The shortlisted cultures after preliminary screening (casein hydrolysis, blood plate assay and blood clot dissolution) were identified using 16S rRNA amplification method. The media and growth parameters were optimized to achieve the maximal enzyme activity. In-silico studies were carried out to identify the activators and inhibitors of the enzyme. Results: Two species of Bacillus, namely, Bacillus amyloliquefaciens and Bacillus licheniformis, isolated from spoilt milk and soy flour, respectively, exhibited fibrinolytic activity. In the laboratory scale studies, of these two cultures, B. amyloliquefaciens produced the Fibrinolytic enzyme in higher quantities, 28.98 FU/mL, compared to 26.63 FU/mL in B. licheniformis. The maximal activities were obtained after 72 h. The optimum conditions at laboratory scale for the maximal production of the fibrinolytic enzyme were: pH 7.2, temperature 37 C and agitation 200 rpm. When scale up studies with B. amyloliquefaciens in a 7 L Fermentor were undertaken. The maximal activity obtained was 55.60 FU/mL in 72 h, compared to that of 28.98 FU/mL in shake flask studies. The molecular weight of the enzyme was estimated to be about 38 kDa. In in-silico studies, it was observed that PMSF inhibited the fibrinolytic activity, thereby, confirming this fibrinolytic enzyme is a serine protease (Nattokinase). Conclusion: The enzyme had exhibited excellent blood clot dissolving property and therefore may be considered for further scale up and commercial exploitation

Exploring alternative assessment strategies in science classrooms.

The knowledge children bring to the classroom or construct in the classroom may find expression in a variety of activities and is often not measurable with the traditional assessment instruments used in science classrooms. Different approaches to assessment are required to accommodate the various ways in which learners construct knowledge in social settings. In our research we attempted to determine the types of outcomes achieved in a Grade 6 classroom where alternative strategies such as interactive assessments were implemented. Analyses of these outcomes show that the learners learned much more than the tests indicate, although what they learnt was not necessarily science. The implications for assessment are clear: strategies that assess knowledge of science concepts, as well as assessment of outcomes other than science outcomes, are required if we wish to gain a holistic understanding of the learning that occurs in science classrooms

What mathematics learners say about the new South African curriculum reform.

In this article we report on what Grade 8 learners say about the new curriculum reforms in South Africa – Outcomes-based Education (OBE) and Curriculum 2005 (C2005) – that were introduced into their mathematics classrooms. The article begins by addressing what is argued to be a gap in reform research in mathematics education. It draws primarily on focus group interviews conducted with learners after having observed a series of consecutive lessons in three different previously racially segregated schools in the Durban region from the international study on mathematics learners' perspectives. The analysis is organised in five broad themes that emerged from the data, some of which resonate with the design features of the curriculum reforms: a strong focus on group work; the attempt to forge relations between mathematics and context; changes in the use of learning-teaching materials such as worksheets; issues of assessment; and learners' take-up of the discourse of the new curriculum approach. Learners' views seem to be linked to their teachers' explicit (non)engagement with the new curriculum, and they appear to be aware of the tensions and trade-offs for themselves in the enactment of the new curriculum