Free yet? Progress, setbacks, tensions and the potential futures of South Africa’s free higher education policy: A 6 year "WPR" critical review

Prior to 2017, maladministration, unfunded and underfunded students, misalignment with student needs, high non-completion rates and a violent student debt crisis characterised South Africa’s student financial aid scheme, and triggered annual unrest across the higher education (HE) sector. Following a wave of protests by the #FeesMustFall movement and widespread calls for a free decolonised HE, in 2017, the South African government replaced its 26 year old income-contingent student loan scheme with a grant-based free HE education policy for poor and working-class students. While the policy intervention restored relative stability across the sector, several fault lines in the student funding policy remain. In this article, drawing on a combination of qualitative policy document analysis and descriptive statistics, we employ Carol Bacchi “what’s the problem represented to be?” (WPR) approach to analyse recent student funding policy developments in South African HE. We employ the WPR approach to (a) direct attention to the significance of reflecting on how the HE student funding problem has been constituted and framed in policy proposals, and (b) challenge the dominant “problem solving” paradigm (inherent in mainstream policy propositions) by drawing attention to benefits of an alternative “problem-questioning” approach to the country’s pursuit for a just and equitable student funding model. We then make some recommendations on how South African HE policymakers can avoid the pitfalls of well-meaning HE funding policies turning into instruments for creating and reproducing the very disparities they are meant to ameliorate

Evaluating an animated and static time series map of District Six: A visual and cognitive approach

Visualization of spatial information is an important aspect in the representation of map displays. Maps today are visually adapted to a variety of mediums in displaying spatial information temporally and as time series phenomena. GIS technology has incorporated tools for analysing these spatio-temporal trends. However map users are overwhelmed by the amount of information in these map displays and therefore experience cognitive overload. In this study we find that static and animated maps have their respective advantages in the visualization of the map reader by placing participants through a structured set of questions. All these facets exist in the visual and cognitive realm of the map reader. District Six is a unique area that has experienced significant spatial change in the last century, mainly attributed to its political history. This has been depicted in a conventional static and animated time series map representation which has been designed to facilitate the understanding of the spatial change that occurred during this unique period of history. In this paper a  methodology has been investigated and implemented in the design of the map, by enhancing the map reader’s experience in visualising time series spatial data. We conclude further that visual intention and attention are cognitive facets that collectively strengthen the map reader’s ability in learning spatial information

Pandemic disruptions to access to higher education in South Africa: A dream deferred?

The COVID-19 pandemic and the shift to emergency remote teaching (ERT) and online learning highlighted issues of social justice, pedagogical inclusion and epistemic access in higher education. The research underlying this article analyses the complexities of access to learning and the effects of the shift to ERT and online learning on the social justice agenda in South Africa, using the case study of the University of Johannesburg. The article uses the conceptual frameworks of epistemic access, equity and inclusive pedagogy from the theories of Fraser (2008), Mbembe (2016) and Mgqwashu (2016). Pedagogic continuity and inclusion (Motala and Menon 2020; Menon and Motala 2021), hard-won by many institutions during the pandemic, will need to be sustained and secured as the world adapts to a “new normal” in higher education and other spheres of life. Czerniewicz et al. (2020, 957) refer to the maxim “Anytime, anyplace, anywhere” characterising ERT as a “brutal underestimation of the complexities and entanglement of different inequalities and structural arrangements”. Fataar (2020), Czerniewicz et al. (2020) and Hodges et al. (2020) advocate an alternative pedagogy that is “trauma-informed” and offers parity with the pedagogies that prevailed pre-pandemic. The article concludes that the pre-existing conditions of deep inequality and inequities, and a highly differentiated higher education system with uneven pedagogical practices, were exacerbated by the pandemic. While we acknowledge the achievement of avoiding the loss of the academic year during the pandemic, we argue that it is important to learn lessons from the initial implementation of ERT and the fractures that it highlights in higher education. Heading into an uncertain future, the sector needs explicit equity-driven approaches to ensure pedagogical inclusion beyond physical and epistemic access

Exploring the potential for geographical knowledge systems in upgrading informal settlements in Cape Town

Residents of informal settlements are often faced with lack of essential services. These include services such as water, sanitation and electricity. Authorities responsible for providing these services often use Geographical Information Systems (GIS) for analysis prior to proposing developments in these  settlements. However, the information used in the GIS analysis is often based on the physical  characteristics of the informal settlement being analysed. In contrast, there has been a growing call for the use of information collected from the actual residents of the settlements for analysis prior to the upgrading of the settlements. The work done in this study is conducted in partnership with a local NGO that uses baseline information in informal settlements to create strategies to lower incidences of crime. This paper specifically focuses on introducing GIS spatial analysis and mapping in relation to informal settlements upgrading based on information gathered from the residents of the informal settlement. Moreover the final produced maps will be interpreted together with VPUU, which represents residents of Monwabisi Park community, simply because they have indigenous knowledge of the area. This research outlines a methodology of GIS analysis for Informal settlements upgrading using GIS, making use of five different analysis methods: Buffer analysis, thematic mapping, Thiessen polygons, distance mapping and Multi Criteria Evaluation. The case study area is Monwabisi Park in Cape Town. The study has revealed that the use of indigenous knowledge in GIS analysis for upgrading could be very valuable in making scientific and alternate decisions during informal settlement upgrading process.Key words: Informal settlements, GIS participation, Buffer Analysis, Distance Matrix, Thiessen Polygons, Thematic Mapping, Multi-Criteria Evaluation (MCE

Using Multi-criteria Evaluation and GIS for Flood Risk Analysis in Informal Settlements of Cape Town: The Case of Graveyard Pond

Rural-urban migrations have contributed to the steady increase in the population of Cape Town. Many of the migrants have settled in informal settlements because they cannot afford to rent or buy decent housing. Many of these settlements are however located on marginal and often poorly drained land. Consequently, most of these settlements are prone to flooding after prolonged rainfall. Current flood risk management techniques implemented by the authorities of the Cape Town City Council (CTCC) are not designed to support informal settlements. In fact, owing to a lack of information about the levels of flood risk within the individual settlements, either the CTCC has often been uninvolved or it has implemented inappropriate remedies within such settlements. This study sought to investigate a methodology that the CTCC could use to improve flood risk assessment. Using a case study of an informal settlement in Cape Town, this study proposed a methodology of integration of  community-based information into a Geographic Information System (GIS) that can be used by the CTCC for risk assessment. In addition, this  research demonstrated the use of a participatory multi-criteria evaluation (MCE) for risk assessment. A questionnaire was used to collect  community-based information. The shack outlines of the informal  settlement were digitized using CTCC aerial imagery. The questionnaires were captured using spreadsheets and linked to the corresponding shacks in the GIS. Risk weights were subsequently calculated using pairwise comparisons for each household, based on their responses to the  questionnaires. The risk weights were then mapped in the GIS to show the spatial disparities in risk.Keywords: Informal settlements. Flood risk management. Multi-criteria Evaluation. GIS. Participation. Risk weights

Higher Education funding, Justice and Equity - Critical Perspectives

How governments choose to fund students in higher education (HE) is inextricably linked to the sector’s sustainability and efforts to achieve a just and equitable HE experience and outcomes for all students. The way funding mechanisms are structured and subsequently enacted within the university, has far-reaching consequences, with the implications reaching far beyond the walls of the institution (Shermer, 2021). In the context of austerity, marketisation, credentialisation and related neoliberal conceptions of education and society, student funding models have greatly transformed the sector and its role in enabling or hindering efforts to achieve a more just and equitable society (Quinlan, 2014). However, despite well-intentioned global and national-level policy commitments to achieving justice and equity in and through HE, the persistent effects of geography, race, wealth, gender, and class-based disparities in patterns of access, participation and attainment rates have undermined the idea of HE as a vehicle for just and equitable futures and transformation (Boliver, 2017). Higher education institutions globally find themselves at a crossroads of trying to maintain their core purpose as a public good on the one hand and compliance with global neoliberal policies, which are foundational to the modern university on the other. The tension between these contested and seemingly contradicting paradigms is made visible in how universities respond to issues of inclusion, equity and in how and what they choose to fund

Cushing's syndrome caused by ectopic ACTH secretion from pulmonary tumourlets

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Cardiovascular disease management in people with diabetes outside North America and Western Europe in 2006 and 2015

Aim: Optimal treatment of cardiovascular disease is essential to decrease mortality among people with diabetes, but information is limited on how actual treatment relates to guidelines. We analysed changes in therapeutic approaches to anti-hypertensive and lipid-lowering medications in people with Type 2 diabetes from 2006 and 2015. Methods: Summary data from clinical services in seven countries outside North America and Western Europe were collected for 39 684 people. Each site summarized individual-level data from outpatient medical records for 2006 and 2015. Data included: demographic information, blood pressure (BP), total cholesterol levels and percentage of people taking statins, anti-hypertensive medication (angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors, calcium channel blockers, angiotensin II receptor blockers, thiazide diuretics) and antiplatelet drugs. Results: From 2006 to 2015, mean cholesterol levels decreased in six of eight sites (range: −0.5 to −0.2), whereas the proportion with BP levels > 140/90 mmHg increased in seven of eight sites. Decreases in cholesterol paralleled increases in statin use (range: 3.1 to 47.0 percentage points). Overall, utilization of anti-hypertensive medication did not change. However, there was an increase in the use of angiotensin II receptor blockers and a decrease in angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors. The percentage of individuals receiving calcium channel blockers and aspirin remained unchanged. Conclusions: Our findings indicate that control of cholesterol levels improved and coincided with increased use of statins. The percentage of people with BP > 140/90 mmHg was higher in 2015 than in 2006. Hypertension treatment shifted from using angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors to angiotensin II receptor blockers. Despite the potentially greater tolerability of angiotensin II receptor blockers, there was no associated improvement in BP levels.Centro de Endocrinología Experimental y Aplicad

Cardiovascular disease management in people with diabetes outside North America and Western Europe in 2006 and 2015

Aim: Optimal treatment of cardiovascular disease is essential to decrease mortality among people with diabetes, but information is limited on how actual treatment relates to guidelines. We analysed changes in therapeutic approaches to anti-hypertensive and lipid-lowering medications in people with Type 2 diabetes from 2006 and 2015. Methods: Summary data from clinical services in seven countries outside North America and Western Europe were collected for 39 684 people. Each site summarized individual-level data from outpatient medical records for 2006 and 2015. Data included: demographic information, blood pressure (BP), total cholesterol levels and percentage of people taking statins, anti-hypertensive medication (angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors, calcium channel blockers, angiotensin II receptor blockers, thiazide diuretics) and antiplatelet drugs. Results: From 2006 to 2015, mean cholesterol levels decreased in six of eight sites (range: −0.5 to −0.2), whereas the proportion with BP levels > 140/90 mmHg increased in seven of eight sites. Decreases in cholesterol paralleled increases in statin use (range: 3.1 to 47.0 percentage points). Overall, utilization of anti-hypertensive medication did not change. However, there was an increase in the use of angiotensin II receptor blockers and a decrease in angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors. The percentage of individuals receiving calcium channel blockers and aspirin remained unchanged. Conclusions: Our findings indicate that control of cholesterol levels improved and coincided with increased use of statins. The percentage of people with BP > 140/90 mmHg was higher in 2015 than in 2006. Hypertension treatment shifted from using angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors to angiotensin II receptor blockers. Despite the potentially greater tolerability of angiotensin II receptor blockers, there was no associated improvement in BP levels.Centro de Endocrinología Experimental y Aplicad