Language use and gender positioning among the Swazi

This article discusses some of the linguistic usage and the question of gender positioning within Swazi socio-cultural setting. It observes that the results of this manifests itself even today, where language use and cultural values cannot be said to be equal between women and men. We also notice that the use of language differentially between men and women is embedded within Swazi cultural tradition and customs. This practice is part of the inherent patriarchal practices that obtain in this region, such as marriage within customary law, initiation rites, family naming, etc. LWATI: A Journal of Contemporary Research Vol.3 () 2006: pp.143-15

‘Urban Vernaculars’ in Search of Native Speakers: The Case of ciTumbuka Newscasters on the National Radio in Malawi.

This article is primarily concerned with ciTumbuka as one of Malawi’s official languages, also the predominant language in northern Malawi. It argues that while a language of wider communication has continued to form the basis of most contemporary language policies in post-colonial Africa, ciTumbuka like other languages in Anglophone African states,is a product of colonial linguistics. The chosen or designated languages or their dialects were designed to suit colonial masters’ grand designs of evangelisation and colonilisation. It becomes misleading to conceptualise, primodialise and present indigenous languagesas if they were indeed authentic products of precolonial Africa. This study questions the continued inadvertent entrenchment of these past legacies into post-colonial Africa, which has resulted in much confusion, with the emergence of ‘urban vernaculars.’ Listenerson radio Malawi have seriously questioned the authentication of speech forms of the ciTumbuka aired in the news broadcasters and continue to raise the social legitimacy of the so-called indigenous ciTumbuka. Finally, the need for the standardisation of ciTumbuka along with the other official indigenous languages in the country is raised for use in early education as well as for the general public usage

Naming practices in colonial and post-colonial Malawi

In African societies naming practices invariably reflected an important rite of passage as a cultural practice, which was always in sync with each society’s ordinary citizens’ socio-cultural and historical conditions. These were ideological conceptions inherent in each society, reflected as a powerful force in naming practices, either of individuals or places. However, naming practices have been in contact with colonialism in Malawi and the rest of Southern Africa, with the result that this has affected the socio-cultural ideologies which were traditionally embedded with naming practices. They have had to change with the times. The result is that such names bestowed on individuals or places changed with the historical times. At times they remained indigenous, were Westernised or fused indigenous and other African names. This changing pattern has thus had to change with socio-cultural, economic, education and political influences prevailing at each time.The discussion indicates that social issues, which traditionally indicated physical and social environment, beliefs of a given sub-culture, were essentially a barometer of meanings and moral codes of a society. However, this tended to change with the attitude and prevailing conditions at specific historical epochs, of how such names were conceived and assigned. Malawi is given as an example, but this could be applied to the entire Southern African region which has been affected by the advent of colonialism and post-colonialism.Keywords: Naming practices, Malawi, anomastics, ethno-linguistic

Exploring the potential of crowd sourced data to map commuter points of interest : a case study of Johannesburg

Abstract: Modern African cities are faced with various mobility and transportation challenges. In developing smart sustainable cities, city planners need to create a balance between supply and demand for public transportation. Development of multi-mobility mode models has contemporarily received a special interest in smart cities development. Globally, the use of bike sharing services to complete the first kilometre or last kilometre of the trip has been highly received, with commuters using either rail or road mobility modes for the middle section of their trip. Within the developing world context, the use of multi-mobility modes in daily commuting is still new, and little research has been done to guide this. Notwithstanding the influence of uncertainties and fragmentation over demand and supply in public transportation provision. In the South Africa context, various modes of public transportation have been developed which seek to be smart, sustainable and efficient such as the fast train (Gautrain), Bus rapid transport (Rea Vaya and Gaubus) and Bikes sharing platforms (Upcycles), however most of these modes are currently not spatially connected. Hence the researcher sought to develop a stepping stone in planning for future mobility demand. Using an explorative methodology, the authors collected quantitative and spatial data in the form of land-use data and crowd sourced data (from twitter) to map commuter points of interest in and around the city of Johannesburg. The results reveal hot and cold spots in the city. The hot spots reveal areas where commuters frequently travel to, and when overlaid with transportation data, we are able to identify potential locations to develop new transportation hubs as these will overtime become key points of interest

Ranking nodes in complex networks : a case study of the Gaubus

Abstract: Connecting points of interest through a well-planned, inter-connected network provides manifold benefits to commuters and service providers. In the South African context, traffic congestion has become of great concern. Given how the South Africa community is slowly developing towards the use of multi-modes of mobility, the Gautrain network can be used to promote the use of multi-modes of mobility, as the Gautrain has been identified as the backbone of mobility within the Gauteng province. Currently commuters have the option to board the Gaubus (a form of Bus Rapid Transit) at their origin points which will take them to the Gautrain station to board the Gautrain. The problem to be solved arises when a commuter wishes to traverse from any bus stop to the Gautrain station, currently he/she only has one option and if the bus network has a shutdown at any point in the network the commuter’s journey will not be possible. In solving this problem, we consider the problem of graph robustness (that is creating new alternative routes to increase node/bus stop connectivity). We initial use Strava data, to identify locations were cyclist prefer to cycle and at what time of day. In graph theory, the nodes with most spreading ability are called influential nodes. Identification of most influential nodes and ranking them based on their spreading ability is of vital importance. Closeness centrality and betweenness are one of the most commonly used methods to identify influential nodes in complex networks. Using the Gaubus network we identify the influential nodes/ bus stops, using the betweenness centrality measure. The results reveal the influential nodes with the highest connectivity as these have cross-connections in the network. Identification of the influential nodes presents an important implication for future planning, accessibility, and, more generally, quality of life

Livelihoods, Land and Political Economy: Reflections on Sam Moyo’s Research Methodology

This article focuses on the methodological lessons from Sam Moyo’s scholarship. Sam’s research is characterised by a combination of detailed empirical investigation, deep knowledge of the technical and practical aspects of agricultural production and farming livelihoods, and bigpicture political economy analysis and theory. Sam’s method is an insightful contemporary application of the method originally set out in Marx’s Grundrisse. Many contemporary explorations of agrarian political economy fail to sustain the important tension and dialectical debate, between diverse empirical realities and their ‘multiple determinations and relations’ and wider theorisation of the ‘concrete’ features of emergent processes of change. The implications of Sam’s methodological approach for the analysis of Zimbabwe’s land reform are discussed, especially in relation to the land occupations and the politics of agrarian reform since 2000

An analysis to investigate spatial cognitive factors which influence cycling patterns in Johannesburg

Abstract: Cycling in most African cities is done as either a mode of commuting or for recreational purposes. Apart from Smart cities encouraging a shift from cars to public transport by providing efficient last-mile connections, commuter cycling can take a significant share of end-to-end short distance trips. The ultimate realization of cycling merits by urban dwellers, (such as in Johannesburg, South Africa) is hindered by a lack of appropriate data to aid in understanding the dynamics of cycling behaviour. This paper seeks to be the first step in building a multi-model to govern the use of multi-modes of mobility in the city by initial focusing on promoting NMT usage as a mode of commuting in the city. Identification of these factors would go a long way in improving cycling uptake as well as inform policy strategies for non-motorized transportation in the city. Using an analytical approach, the authors conducted a survey along pre-known locations were cyclist choose to cycle. One route with newly developed cycling infrastructure and another without cycling infrastructure. A self-reported travel behaviour form, was used for the collection of spatial cognitive and attitudinal data on participants’ travel environment, attitude, behaviour, norm, intention, and habit was utilized to gather data to understand cyclist cognitive reasoning for choosing one path over another. The data collected from the survey was then overlaid with Strava Metro cycling data showing locations were cyclist prefer to cycle in the city. Findings from the analysis suggest perceived safe routes and routes that maximize health benefits are preferred. Based on the findings it is recommended that planners need to use crowd sourced data before developing infrastructure for cycling the city

Exploring the potential of open source data to generate congestion and emission trends in developing cities

Abstract: The growth in Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) has enhanced the way mobility in contemporary cities is managed. Given the growth in availability of traffic data that contains location-aware datasets, congestion and pollution indexes can be developed. Metropolitan cities such Johannesburg due to their economic activities, attract commuters into the city on a daily basis seeking greener pastures. This has led to major freeways and roads experiencing high levels of congestion. In 2020, due to a global pandemic of an outbreak of Corona Virus (COVID-19), the national government declared a national shutdown with only essential traffic being allowed to operate. Given the scenario of the national lock-down this allows for the statistical analysis of the impact of essential traffic on the overall transportation system. Consequently the aim of the paper was to explore the congestion and C02 emission impact of essential traffic for the City of Johannesburg. Using an exploratory approach, we monitored and collected traffic congestion data from the Tomtom traffic index for the metropolitan city of Johannesburg, South Africa. Using a mathematic model, we develop a relationship between congestion and pollution to visualise the variations in pollution and congestion levels during varies scenarios. We demonstrate this by comparing datasets for variations in congestion levels in two epochs, viz the period without movement restrictions and the period whereby movement is restricted. The results reveal essential traffic on the congestion index to be below 22 percent for both weekends and weekdays. A scenario common only during weekends in 2019. Whilst for the emission index, C02 levels are approximately less than 45 percent throughout the week. The paper concludes the investment into mining and analysing traffic data has a significantly role for future mobility planning in both the developed and developing world and, more generally, improving the quality of commuting trips in the city

Modelling of natural fire occurrences : a case of South Africa

Abstract: In contemporary literature there have been growing concerns regarding preservations of natural ecosystems. Given the global growth in awareness of global warming, the need for natural fire prediction models has grown rapidly. Using South Africa as a case study, we evaluate the potential of integrating several natural fire prediction models and geographical information system (GIS) platforms. Initially, natural fire prone regions in South Africa were spatially demarcated basing on municipal historical data records. Thereafter, the natural fire prediction models were applied/tested in parallel to identify the best prediction models that give optimum results in predicting natural fires. The models were assessed for accuracy using historical data. Preliminary results reveal locations in the North West, Mpumalanga and Limpopo province had the highest recorded potential for natural fires. In conclusion, the work demonstrates huge potential of prediction models in informing the likelihood of natural fire outbreaks. Lastly, the work recommends the adoption of natural fire prediction models and the subsequent formulation and use of relevant future natural fire mitigation policies and techniques to avert disasters in time

The Effect of financial sector development on International trade in South Africa

Even though improving international trade through financial sector development is one of the preoccupations of countries around the world, the empirical literature on the relationship between finance and trade has not been rigorous in its analysis. The main aim of this study is to explore the effects financial sector development has on international trade in South Africa. The study utilized quarterly data from 2001Q1 to 2018Q4 employing the Johnson cointegration method and Granger causality to analyse the relationship between the variables of interests. Cointegration, the Vector Error Correction Model was also used to capture dynamics of both the short run and the long run effect. The findings show that there is a long-term relationship between the two variables of interest and the causality flows from Financial Development to the international trade. System generalized method of moment’s reveals differential effects of finance on trade. In particular, some variables has a negative impact on trade, whereas others increases trade. These effects are robust to macroeconomic measures as well as to trade measures.Thesis (MCom) (Economics) -- University of Fort Hare, 202