Making heroes, (un)making the nation?: ZANU-PF’s imaginations of the Heroes' Acre, heroes and construction of identity in Zimbabwe from 2000-

Abstract: This article explores the post 2000 national identity formation through the use of national heroes narrative and the Heroes’ Acre shrine in Zimbabwe. The Heroes’ Acre marks the country’s physical reminder of the past and acts as a tool for national identity and its symbolic maintenance through state presided rituals that happen at the shrine. Attached to the Heroes’ Acre as a permanent physical symbol of nationhood are the people the burial site was built for –the heroes, that is, the ‘war’ dead and the living who participated in the country’s liberation ‘war’. The argument made in this paper is that the definition and usages of heroes and Heroes’ Acre has mutated over the years to suit ZANU-PF’s shifting political agendas. Specifically the article addresses questions around conferment of a hero’s status on the dead, access to the Heroes’ Acre and the meanings of these to the emotive issue of nurturing a monolithic Zimbabwean national identity as imagined by ZANU-PF. The article concludes that the elite’s uses of the Heroes’ Acre and heroes’ status which excludes democratic public participation has served to carve a skewed and narrow narrative on the meaning of Zimbabweanness meant to bolster ZANU-PF’s hegemony. National identities, the article argues, are transient and always changing

Toxification of national holidays and national identity in Zimbabwe’s post 2000 nationalism

Abstract: National holidays are some of the oldest known forms of nation-mythologizing used for managing, producing and reproducing national memories and identities. They are calendrically set aside days free from work where a people pause and reflect on who they are as a nation. A study of national holidays in the Zimbabwean context exposes the malleability, fragility and contestability of ‘official’ notions of nationhood as imagined by Zimbabwean president and the ruling Zimbabwe National Union Patriotic Front’s (ZANU-PF) leader - Robert Mugabe. This article contends that national holidays have been adulterated by Mugabe who, when presiding over them, fuses the personal and national by speaking both as an individual, president of the country and leader of ZANU-PF for politically expedient ends. With this in mind, this article devotes its focus to the study and analysis of Mugabe’s speeches on three most cathartic national holidays, namely, Heroes Day, Defence Forces Day and Independence Day, as covered in state controlled The Herald newspaper between 2000-2014..

A consideration of the binding effect of section 15(6) of the Companies Act 71/2008

It is trite law that a company is an artificial being, existing only in contemplation of law and, being a creature of law, it possesses those properties which the constitution of its incorporation confers on it. It follows that the company’s existence is endorsed by the contractual binding force its constitution has over its incorporators, members (shareholders) and third parties. The Companies Act 71/2008 (hereinafter, the Act) introduced the Memorandum of Incorporation (hereinafter, MOI) as the company’s most important founding document and scholars considers it as the company’s constitution. This new development makes the company’s MOI the only document governing the affairs of the company

Soyabean as an emerging crop: A baseline survey on its potential uses in a mixed smallholder farming system in Zimbabwe

A diagnostic study was conducted to determine the potential uses of the soyabean crop and its residues in on-farm research in the Mushagashe smallholder mixed farming system. Farm sizes averaged 78.5 ha ± 6.3 (se) and ranged from 16 ha to 210 ha. Arable land averaged 10.7 ha ± 0.8 (se). Maize and groundnuts were the major crops grown in the area. Soyabean had been grown in the area for the past two seasons, and 17 % of the farmers were producing the crop. A lack of inputs was the major constraint to soyabean production. Poor soil fertility also affected crop production in general. As a result, 46 % of the farmers left some land fallow. Farmers aimed at maximizing manure output for use in their fields. All farmers owned cattle and 66 % of them engaged in dairy. Poor dry season nutrition was the major limitation to cattle production. Utilizing the soyabean crop to tackle some of the farmers' constraints appeared viable. SA Jnl. Agric. Ext. Vol. 33 2004: 64-7

The impact of subspecialty services on healthcare delivery - a community health centre based study

Objectives. The objective was to evaluate the role of a paediatric surgical consultant at a primary health care facility. Design. Descriptive and prospective. Setting. In the process of planning and implementation of the 2010 health plan of the Provincial Government of the Western Cape, a shift occurred in the delivery of health care to children from a provincially based hospital system to a municipally based primary health care system. To contribute towards enabling this process, the Department of Paediatric Surgery at Red Cross War Memorial Children’s Hospital established a paediatric surgical day clinic at a local community health centre during 2001. Subjects. Information was obtained from patient data sheets containing details of consultations at the sub-specialist surgical clinic at Michael Mapongwana Community Health Centre. Results. Over a 58-month period 1 171 children were seen, of whom 655 were male and 427 female. Their ages ranged from 0 to 19 years, the largest group being under 1 year. Eighty per cent of patients were accompanied by their mothers. The correct diagnosis was established by the nurse practitioners in 71%. General paediatric surgical conditions predominated, followed by medical, dermatological, orthopaedic, trauma, otolaryngo-pharyngology, infectious diseases, ophthalmology, urology, neurosurgery, malignancy and maxillofacial conditions. The details are set out in the report. In total 597 patients were referred directly to an appropriate care facility and 574 patients could be managed entirely at the clinic level. Conclusions. This study demonstrated the significant public health problem of paediatric surgical disease. It emphasised the preventative and cost-effective role of a surgical clinic at primary health care level. The clinic allowed for timely surgical intervention in 65% of surgical cases, thereby decreasing inappropriate tertiary referrals. We believe that bringing specialists into the community can only strengthen the 2010 health care plan

The utility of computed tomography for recent-onset partial seizures in childhood

No Abstract. South African Medical Journal Vol. 96(9) (Part 2) 2006: 945-94

CHINESE’S MESSIAH OR MONSTER ACTIVITIES ON ECONOMIC GROWTH IN SOUTHERN AFRICA?

Industrialization of the Chinese economy has made China a formidable force in the global economy. Similarly, Africa has witnessed increased Chinese activity as shown by rising figures in trade with China, Chinese foreign direct investments, Chinese aid and debt to Africa. Despite the rise in Chinese activities in Africa, there is doubt about the impact of such on growth of African economies. Chinese aid and debt are observed to bear hidden costs that outweigh the benefits. Whereas Chinese trade and investments are claimed to be resource seeking and not genuine. The World Bank also observed that Chinese finance is secretive and does not comply with the best practices of good governance. In this regard, this paper aims to assess the impact of Chinese activities in Southern Africa. The paper uses an explanatory research design. On determining the effect of Chinese activities, we adapt a Solow-growth model. A panel data set is assembled using individual countries’ time series data on the variables of interest. The study uses real GDP growth rate as the dependent variable. The explanatory variables in this paper are GDP per capita, trade with the rest of the world, rest of the world foreign direct investment, Chinese trade, Chinese debt, Chinese FDI, Chinese aid and population growth. Document analysis is the major data collection tool in this paper. Data on Chinese debt, investments, trade and aid is on documents of the Ministry of Commerce of China and John Hopkins University China Africa Research Initiative. Whereas, data on world trade, FDI inflows, population growth, real GDP growth and GDP per capita is on World Bank and IMF public data sets. We use Stata 15 for data analysis. The diagnostic tests showed that we have a problem of heteroscedasticity and auto-correlation. Whereas, the Hausman model choice test showed that the random effects model is the most efficient and consistent than the fixed effects model. We therefore adopt the Feasible Generalised Least Squares regression (FGLS); as this model is robust under autocorrelation and heteroscedasticity. The regression results show that GDP per capita and rest of the word FDI are the only statistically significant explanatory variables at 5% level of significance. All the other variables that is Chinese trade, Chinese debt, Chinese FDI, Chinese aid, population growth and trade with the rest of the world became statistically significant at 10% level. The study recommends that Southern African countries need to establish a thriving democracy and improve the quality of institutions as a way to attract long term investments from the rest of the world. On dealing with China, the paper observes that there is a possibility that all citizens can benefit from Chinese activities and as a region there is need to change the current systems that benefit the political elite and support corruption at the expense of sustainable and inclusive economic development

The temperature effect on electrokinetic properties of the silica–polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) system

The influence of polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) adsorption on the structure of the diffuse layer of silica (SiO2) in the temperature range 15–35 °C was examined. The microelectrophoresis method was used in the experiments to determine the zeta potential of the solid particles in the absence and presence of the polymer. The adsorption of PVA macromolecules causes the zeta potential decrease in all investigated SiO2 systems. Moreover this, decrease is the most pronounced at the highest examined temperature. Obtained results indicate that the conformational changes of adsorbed polymer chains are responsible for changes in electrokinetic properties of silica particles. Moreover, the structure of diffuse layer on the solid surface with adsorbed polymer results from the following effects: the presence of acetate groups in PVA chains, the blockade of silica surface groups by adsorbed polymer and the shift of slipping plane due to macromolecules adsorption

Presentations of perforated colonic pathology in patients with polymyalgia rheumatica: two case reports

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Introduction</p> <p>Polymyalgia rheumatica is an increasingly common disease in older people, which gives rise to arthralgia and is mainly treated with corticosteroids. Patients in this age group also have a higher incidence of other co-morbidities including colonic pathology. Corticosteroid usage may mask signs of sepsis or complications secondary to intra-abdominal pathology, thereby delaying diagnosis and treatment, with eventual adverse outcome. These two cases highlight the importance of awareness and prompt recognition of this condition in order to avoid significant morbidity and mortality.</p> <p>Case presentation</p> <p>Case 1</p> <p>A 73-year-old Caucasian woman with a diagnosis of polymyalgia presented with symptoms of an exacerbation in her right hip joint. Despite standard therapy with corticosteroids she failed to improve and started to develop features of widespread sepsis. Specific questioning revealed that, at the very onset of her symptoms, she had experienced mild diarrheal symptoms. Investigations revealed perforated diverticular disease with a peri-femoral abscess.</p> <p>Case 2</p> <p>A 69-year-old Caucasian woman with polymyalgia presented with left thigh pain and weakness associated with weight loss. A diagnosis of exacerbation of polymyalgia rheumatica was made and she was treated with corticosteroid therapy. Shortly afterwards she was admitted with generalized peritonitis. Laparotomy revealed a retroperitoneal abscess secondary to a perforated sigmoid colonic tumor.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Patients with polymyalgia may have perforated colonic diverticular disease which mimics their rheumatic pathology. In such cases steroid therapy, which is the mainstay of polymyalgia therapy, can be detrimental. Primary and hospital practitioners are encouraged to be vigilant regarding non-specific gastrointestinal symptoms and consider alternative diagnoses in those patients whose symptoms do not resolve with standard therapy, as this can lead to an overall better outcome.</p