The National Government’s Intervention in the Provincial Government: A Case of Limpopo Province in South Africa

This paper seeks to highlight whether the administration of the Limpopo Province by the national government was necessary, and whether there has been a difference (improvement) in terms of the audit findings before and after the intervention of the national government. The South African national government, through the national treasury, placed the Limpopo Province under administration in 2011 to ensure sound financial footing and enable the province to exercise proper financial management, fair and transparent procurement. They also sought to address poor assets management, over expenditure, violation of supply management regulations and deliver appropriate services at the correct costs. However, the 2012/13 audit findings in the Limpopo Province indicate that there has not been an improvement regarding the audit outcomes in the specified areas. This has happened after the national government took control of the province in terms of section 100 (1) (b) of the Republic of South African Constitution of 1996. Nine departments did not achieve 20% or more of their planned targets compared to five in the previous year. The paper concludes that the intervention by the national government in the Limpopo Province did not bring about the desired improvement. Even worse, there has been an overall regression of provincial audit outcomes from the results of past years. DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2014.v5n20p69

African WordNet: a viable tool for sense discrimination in the indigenous African languages of South Africa

In promoting a multilingual South Africa, the government is encouraging people to speak more than one language. In order to comply with this initiative, people choose to learn the languages which they do not speak as home language. The African languages are mostly chosen because they are spoken by the majority of the country’s population. Most words in these languages have many possible senses. This phenomenon tends to pose problems to people who want to learn these languages. This article argues that the African WordNet may the best tool to address the problem of sense discrimination. The focus of the argument will be on the primary sense of the word ‘hand’, which is part of the body, as lexicalized in three indigenous languages spoken in South Africa, namely, Tshiven a, Sesotho sa Leboa and isiZulu. A brief historical background of the African WordNet will be provided, followed by the definition of the word ‘hand’ in the three languages and the analysis of the word in context. Lastly, the primary sense of the word ‘hand’ across the three languages will be discussed

South African public sector procurement and corruption: Inseparable twins?

The article seeks to explore the relationship between procurement in the public sector and corruption. Corruption in the procurement process is one of the biggest challenges facing the South Africa government. Procurement in the South African public sector through the tendering process has been used with a particular aim of addressing the past discriminatory practices and policies by empowering the previously disadvantaged majority. It ought to operate within a certain legislative and regulatory framework. However, the article argues that in the process of implementing the good intentions of the government, corruption illegitimises the process. There are also challenges that are associated with public sector procurement, with corruption being the main protagonist. The article also seeks to suggest possible solutions that could be used to address the anomalies. The article further concludes that the main reason for the rife corruption in the public sector is that there is nonadherence to policy prescripts including the Public Finance Management Act, 1999 (Act 1 of 1999) and the Municipal Finance Management Act, 2003 (Act 56 of 2003). This enormous predicament may only be addressed if the government were to show will and commitment by punishing offenders who do not comply with the said legislative framework

Characterization of diarrhoeagenic escherichia coli and human norovirus from daycare centres in the Vhembe Region of the Limpopo Province

MSc (Microbiology)Department of MicrobiologyBACKGROUND: Child daycare centers (DCCs) host a variety of pathogenic enteric microorganisms which may be found in various areas within the compound. Enteric pathogens are the most common cause of diarrhoea worldwide in children under the age of 5 years and are a burden in developing countries with high numbers of diarrhoeal diseases leading to a high mortality rate. OBJECTIVE: To perform a pilot study to characterize diarrhoeagenic E. coli and Norovirus strains from child daycare centers in the Vhembe Region in Limpopo Province, South Africa. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Two daycare centers were randomly selected in the Vhembe District for this study. A total of 83 samples were collected from various areas within the daycare centers. For E. coli, the environmental and handwash samples were analysed using the Colilert®/ Quanti-tray® 2000 technique and stool samples were cultured on Eosin Methylene Blue agar: presumptive E. coli isolates were confirmed using three biochemical tests (Kliglers Iron Agar test, Indole test and Urease test). Total nucleic acid was extracted from presumptive E. coli isolates using a semiautomated method and DNA was used for further m-PCR confirmation. For human norovirus identification, environmental and handwash samples were subjected to membrane filtration and RNA was extracted using the semi-automated system. RNA was extracted from stool samples (clinical samples) using the Allprep® Powerfecal® RNA Kit. For detection of Norovirus, RNA extracts were subjected to the Seegene Allplex™ Gastrointestinal Full Panel Assay. Positive samples for Norovirus were amplified using a One-step Ahead RT-PCR followed by Sanger sequencing. Phylogenetic analysis was done using MEGA 7 software. RESULTS: E. coli was isolated from the environmental samples (10%), stool samples (100%), handwash samples of daycare workers (40%) and handwash samples of children (13.6%); several bacterial co-infections among pathotypes were observed. Norovirus prevalence in this study, was detected in 5% of handwash samples of the children, 10% from handwash samples of the workers and 27% were stool specimens. All detected samples were co-infection between bacterial pathotypes (90.4%) as well xi as bacterial-viral co-infections (9.6%). Norovirus genotype GII.1 was shown through sequencing of one positive sample. CONCLUSION: The study findings showed genetic diversity of E. coli in these settings. The phylogenetic analysis revealed NoV genotype GII.I capsid sequenced to share a common ancestor with previously reported strains associated with outbreaks of NoV globally. The high prevalence of E. coli and NoV detected in this study will aid in setting guidelines for hygiene in the DCC environment.NR