AN EARLY WARNING SYSTEM FOR MALARIA IN MOPANI DISTRICT: DIVERGENT OR CONVERGENT APPROACHES

Abstract. Malaria is a tropical climate-change concatenated biological hazard that may, like any other hazard, leadto a disaster and requires a multidisciplinary divergent approach. This research was carried out in Mopani District ofSouth Africa. It sought find out whether the existing early warning system in Mopani District is adopting a convergentor divergent approach. Subsequently, this was to assist in developing a tool that covers the loopholes in the existingsystem to further mitigate malaria transmissions. The study took a mixed approach. Data was collected from 381selected participants through in-depth interviews, a survey, and a focus group discussion. Multiple sampling techniqueswere used in this study. In-depth interviews respondents were selected through snowballing, questionnaire surveyrespondents were sampled randomly, while for the discussants in the focus group discussion were purposivelysampled. The study applied constructivist grounded theory to analyse qualitative data and to generate theory.Results of the study show that people in Mopani District predict the malaria season onset by forecasting rainfall usingvarious indigenous knowledge-based indicators. The rainfall indicators mentioned by participants in the study wereused to develop an early warning system. In the design of the system, Apache Cordova, JDK 1.8, Node JS, andXAMPP software were used. The study recommends malaria management and control key stakeholders to adopt thedeveloped early warning system to further mitigate malaria transmission in Mopani District

Appraisal of Nuclear Energy as an Alternative Option in South Africa’s Energy Scenario: A Multicriteria Analysis

South Africa is being confronted with an irregular power supply, leading to persistent load shedding due to aged and unreliable coal-fired power plants. Connected with coal as a generating source for electricity from fossil fuels are environmental concerns such as emissions of greenhouse gases and climate change impacts. Nuclear energy can allay the country’s dependence on coal as a source of energy. This article, therefore, reviews the feasibility of nuclear energy using a multicriteria analysis technique. A combination of Strengths, weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats (SWOT) analysis and Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) was used to evaluate the external and internal factors that could either positively or negatively affect the country’s nuclear energy expansion drive. From the analysis, the country’s enabling laws and regulatory framework recorded the highest score of 39.2% under the strengths for the sector. In the case of the weaknesses, the high cost of construction and long construction framework recorded the highest weight, of 50.47%. Energy export and demand under the opportunities recorded a weight of 52.09%, ranking it as the highest opportunity for the sector. Seismic events were identified as the biggest threat for nuclear power expansion in the country, and the experts assigned a weight of 42.5% to this factor. © 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.Acknowledgments: The authors acknowledge with thanks the Centre for Postgraduate Studies and the Postdoctoral Fellowship/Research Committee of the Cape Peninsula University of Technology, and the Directorate of Research and Innovations of the University of Venda