Following the NAFTA Star: SADC land reform and investment protection after the Campbell litigation

This paper analyses the recent Southern African Development Community (SADC) Tribunal Campbell case from a trade and investment protection perspective. In the Campbell case the issue of the forcible expropriation of farm land without compensation by the Zimbabwean government was raised before the Tribunal in a human rights context. By revisiting the dispute and analysing it from an investment protection perspective, the author controversially seeks to advance the thesis that the dispute had more to do with investment protection than the protection of human rights. This is done by isolating the specific issues the SADC Tribunal adjudicated upon and contextualising them in relation to investment protection rather than land and agrarian reform. To drive the point further home, a brief comparative analysis of the pertinent investment provisions of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and SADC is made. From the analysis, important lessons for SADC investment protection are extracted and highlighted. Despite the fact that the NAFTA provisions do not directly apply to SADC disputes, this paper concludes that NAFTA jurisprudence offers useful insights which the SADC can tap into, to the advantage of its nascent jurisprudence on investment protection

Family planning methods among women in a vaginal microbicide feasibility study in rural KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa

This study investigated contraceptive use among women in rural KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Of 866 sexually active women not intending pregnancy and screened for a microbicide feasibility study, 466 (54%) reported currently using modern contraceptives: injectables (31%), condoms (12%), sterilization (60%) and pills (4%). Multivariable logistic regression analyses revealed statistically significantly higher odds of current contraceptive use among married vs. engaged/unmarried women (aOR 1.64), multiparous vs. nulliparous (aOR 4.45) and women who completed secondary education or above vs. primary or less (aOR 1.64). Significantly lower odds of use were observed among women aged 40+ vs. age 15-19 (aOR 0.38). Age, marital status, education level and parity were associated with different contraceptive method choices. Among 195 women followed longitudinally for 9 months, contraceptive use increased significantly from 56% to 70%, largely due to increased condom use (15% to 28%). Results highlight the importance of integrating family planning and HIV/STI prevention counseling and informing promotion of further contraceptive uptake among women not intending pregnancy

Utilisation of semi-arid scrubland by goats in the dry season

(South African J of Animal Science, 2000, 30, Supplement 1: 93-94

Challenges of CoBIT 5 IT Governance Framework Migration

As information technology (IT) persists as an integral means for achieving success in organisational business processes, IT Governance (ITG) continues to be a top priority too. Current reports show that enterprises continue to suffer financial losses as a result of poor ITG practices. To better govern IT resources, many have tried to address this problem by migrating to the highly recommended IT governance frameworks such as CoBIT 5, unfortunately with little success. This study seeks to explore the barriers to successful migration to CoBIT 5 and identify the key factors that influence effective migration. A survey was conducted and data collected from 84 professionals with sound IT Governance knowledge and experience in the financial services and telecoms industry. The quantitative data was analyzed using statistical methods. Findings suggested that there are four distinct aspects that need to be reconciled; it is only then that before organisations should embark on the migration to CoBIT 5. Results obtained augmented existing literature and also revealed new factors noticeably absent from the ITG literature. The findings provided useful input towards the development of a model to guide migration to CoBIT 5 ITG framework

A potentially treatable cause of dementia

A research article on dementia in old age Zimbabweans.Dementia is under-diagnosed in routine clinical practice in the developing world. Symptoms are often attributed to normal ageing, even though they may be a result of underlying medical conditions. We report a case of a patient with extensive cerebral calcification due to hypoparathyroidism who was being managed for dementia. While cases of extensive calcification in parathyroid hormone disorders have been reported sporadically in the literature over the years, the current case highlights the potential diagnostic pitfalls when patients present with dementia

Lessons for the SADC from the Indian Case of Novartis AG v Union of India

In the pharmaceutical context, many Southern African Development Community (SADC) members grant patents on drugs without substantially reviewing applications first, thus routinely granting patents for new versions of old medicines, thus extending patent life beyond the normal 20-year period. In contrast, Brazil and India, homes to major generic drug manufacturers in the BRICS grouping, examine each application before a patent is granted. It has been argued by health activists and academics that excessive patenting results in too many patents for minor innovations in medical technology and this in turn leads to higher prices of medicines, thus frustrating SADC citizens' right to access affordable essential medicines. This paper highlights how the legislative inclusion of World Trade Organisation (WTO) Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) flexibilities around the requirements for patentability can be effectively used to curb incremental patenting and limit the proliferation of evergreen patents. This is achieved through a critical analysis the 2013 Supreme Court of India case of Novartis AG v Union of India before extracting useful lessons for the SADC. The highlighted lessons will in all likelihood inform the current intellectual law reform projects in most SADC members, including South Africa.    

Understanding arid-region waterbird community dynamics during lake dry-downs

The community dynamics of organisms that exhibit multi-scale responses to habitat change are poorly understood. We quantified changes in species diversity and the functional composition of a waterbird community over two iterations of a repeated transition, the annual drying-down of arid-region Lake Ngami, Botswana. We used our data to test three theoretical predictions: simplification of the bird community over time due to a reduction in habitat area and concurrent niche loss; large fluctuations in densities of mobile, opportunistic species; and high variance in predator and prey abundance. Despite temporal variance in species accumulation, we observed no obvious simplification and distinct but consistent groupings of abundance and composition across transitional stages. There were some rapid shifts in functional composition, such as loss of deepwater foragers; winners and losers also occurred within foraging guilds. We conclude that understanding community-level trends during transitional periods will require stronger theoretical frameworks that more effectively integrate unique species traits and functional groups. For conservation managers, our study offers a cautionary tale of the importance of understanding connectivity, trajectories of change, and the potential for large fluctuations in animal communities independent of management actions during periods of ecological transition

Host associations, biogeography, and phylogenetics of avian malaria in southern African waterfowl

The relevance of spatial variation in the environment and host communities for parasite community composition is poorly documented, creating a need for additional case studies from which general principles can be developed. Avian malaria in southern African waterfowl has not previously been studied. As a first step towards documenting and understanding its biogeography, we used PCR and molecular sequencing techniques to analyse 454 blood samples from Afrotropical ducks from 5 different locations (spread around the subregion) for avian malaria. Fifty-five blood samples were positive for one or more genera of haematozoa. The regional infection rate across all sites and sampling periods was 12·1%. Nine individuals carried dual infections containing multiple haematozoa. Fifteen different cytochrome b haplotypes among 52 positives (3 samples failed to sequence) and 61 total sequences were found. Eleven haplotypes closely matched Plasmodium, whereas 4 were more similar to Haemoproteus. Five distinct haematozoan clades were identified. Haemoproteus parasites appeared to be more host-specific than Plasmodium, which occurred at every sampling location and in every host species examined. Therewere no significant differences in overall parasite prevalence attributable to either site or species, although Plasmodium and Haemoproteus occurrences differed by site-species combination and the borderline significance of our test for betweensite variation (P<0·06) implied that with a larger sample size, differences in parasite prevalence among locations might be detectable. (Résumé d'auteur

Effects of Maternal Suicidal Ideation on Child Cognitive Development: A Longitudinal Analysis.

This study aimed to assess the association between suicidal ideation among mothers living with HIV in Zimbabwe and the cognitive development of their children. Participants were mother-child dyads recruited from two rural districts in Zimbabwe. Data were collected at baseline and 12 months follow-up. Suicidal ideation was assessed using item-10 from the Edinburgh postnatal depression scale. Mixed-effects linear regression was used to assess the association of child cognitive outcomes at follow-up (using the Mullen scales of early learning) with maternal suicidal ideation. Mothers with suicidal ideation at baseline (n = 171) tended to be younger, unmarried, experienced moderate to severe hunger, had elevated parental stress and depression symptoms compared with non-suicidal mothers (n = 391). At follow-up, emerging maternal suicidal ideation was associated with poorer child cognitive outcomes (adjusted mean difference - 6.1; 95% CI - 10.3 to - 1.8; p = 0.03). Suicidal ideation affects child cognitive development and should be addressed, particularly in HIV positive mothers