The generation of competencies and standards for planning in South Africa: Differing views

Since the founding of planning in South Africa fifty-two years ago, the statutory bodies governing the profession have not set the competencies and standards in order to create a framework for curriculum development, the accreditation of schools, as well as the registration of planners and their professional practice. In 2010, the South African Council for Planners, a statutory body responsible for the regulation and quality assurance of the planning profession, initiated a process of generating Competencies and Standards to deal with the many challenges that had arisen as a result of the lack of the framework. The generation of a set of Competencies and Standards has stimulated much debate in the corridors of higher learning and between the Council and other related professional bodies in the built environment. This article first traces the motivating factors for the initiation of the Competencies and Standards process; secondly, it examines the history of this process; thirdly, it discusses the debatable issues raised in the various interactive workshops during the process and. lastly, it identifies the achievements of the process. The thrust of argument in the article is that the Competencies and Standards process marks a significant step towards curriculum reform, but more engagement will be required to facilitate transformation in the planning profession

Rural urban encounters in Swaziland: The peri-urban interface in Manzini City

The explosive growth of cities in most developing countries has dramatically reduced the division between the urban and the rural creating the so-called peri-urban interface (PUI) or peri-urban areas. The supply of land in the peri-urban areas cannot be entirely separated from urban land supply since in many respects they are two sides of the same coin. The rural and urban interaction has increasingly diluted the divide between the traditional and the modern. Notably, approximately 11,9% of the land that occur in the Manzini-Mbabane corridor in Swaziland is peri-urban land and an estimated 80% of this land is Swazi Nation land administered under the traditional "khonta" system. Whereas most people seek to acquire land from here because it is cheaper and not governed by formal planning controls, they also want to access the social facilities provided by the municipalities. Confusion, conflicts, contests and contradictions occur due to blurred roles and functions of the administrative, legislative and policy planning arrangements. This article explores the case of Manzini City by situating it in the context of cities in the development world. It looks at the planning challenges that are raised by the traditional khonta system and policy changes for the management of peri-urban areas. The thrust of argument in this paper is that an integrated development approach is crucial for harmonising the traditional-modern contrasts and contradictions in the urban management of the PUI of Swaziland. This argument is intended to speak to the experience of cities in the developing world and it suggests some approaches of dealing with these problems by deriving from the experience of "new regionalism" in the United States and in South Africa

Economic Analysis of the Milk Supply Chain in Swaziland

The Dairy industry in Swaziland is made of several of actors where small holder farmers are the main producers. A majority of the farmers sell their milk to informal markets rather than the formal market due to high prices offered by informal market. The study analysed the performance of the milk supply chain in Swaziland. A descriptive quantitative research design was used in the study and data were collected by personal interviews using structured questionnaires. The data were collected from 93 farmers, 16 retailers and 1 processor. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics and Gross margins. There were 73.1% male farmers and 50.5% had between 8 and 14 years of formal education. The channel that involved the processor had high marketing margins of E8.13, while the one involving cooperatives and shops had E4.00 and E3.00 respectively. There is a need for improving extension service, encourage cooperatives and improve the price of milk offered by the processor to enhance profitability of milk farmers. Keywords: Marketing margins, marketing channels, milk supply chain, Parmalat, producer’s shar

A stochastic frontier approach to technical efficiency analysis of smallholder dairy farmers in Swaziland

The Swazi nation is traditionally an agricultural nation with almost every homestead on Swazi Nation Land(SNL) keeping a variety of livestock for beef and milk. The country has potential to produce more milk but stillimports 85% of milk from South Africa. The study evaluated the technical efficiency and constraints of the milksupply chain. A descriptive quantitative research design was used in the study and data were collected in 2014using structured questionnaires. The data were collected from 93 farmers, 16 retailers and 1 processor. Data wereanalysed using descriptive statistics, Cobb Douglas function, and Tobit regression model. There were 73.1%males farmers and 50.5% had between 8-14 years of formal education. All the farmers fed their cows with forageand 97.8% used concentrates. The efficiency analysis results indicated that frequency of extension visit and ageof the farmer were negatively associated with technical efficiency, while market information positively affectedefficiency. The technical efficiency mean was 78.2%. This indicates that overall, there is potential to increaseefficiency among dairy farmers by 21.8%. Farmers had problems of scarcity of grazing lands, high feed costs,unavailability of inputs and shortage of water and labour. There is a need for improving extension service,encouraging cooperatives and improving producer’s price of milk in order to enhance productivity and efficiencyof farmers.Keywords: Dairy farmers, Swaziland Dairy Board, supply chain of milk, technical efficiency, stochastic frontierapproach

Vertical hydroponic production of leafy vegetables with human-excreta-derived-materials (HEDMs) from decentralised sanitation technologies.

Masters Degree. University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg.Hydroponic production of leafy vegetables with human-excreta-derived-materials (HEDMs) extracted by decentralised sanitation technologies is projected to reduce food shortages while improving sanitation services in peri-urban communities, particularly in informal settlements. This study investigated the potential use of HEDMs generated by decentralised sanitation technologies for hydroponic production of leafy crops. HEDMs generated by decentralised sanitation technologies, namely: Anaerobic Baffled Reactor (ABR) and Nutrients, Water and Energy Generator (NEWgenerator) were used as treatments. A vertical hydroponic system called ZipGrow Farm Wall was assembled to conduct horticultural trials at Newlands Mashu Research site in Durban, South Africa. The vertical hydroponic system had eight vertical growing towers. Four vertical growing towers were fertigated with commercial hydroponic fertiliser mix (CHFM) as a control and the other four fertigated with HEDM as a treatment. A literature review was undertaken on open field and hydroponic production of crops with HEDMs. Previous and current studies indicated that nutrients derived from human-excreta have the potential to support the growth of plants even though low yields are obtained in some instance, and faecal pathogen contamination in crops occurs due to fertigation with infected nutrients. Only drip irrigation systems were reported to limit the transfer of faecal pathogens from nutrient source to plants. The first research study investigated the potential use of anaerobic baffled reactor (ABR) effluent on growth and yield of Swiss chard in a vertical hydroponic system. The results revealed that Swiss chard grown with CHFM performed better than those in ABR effluent and gave a significantly (p<0.05) higher plant height and fresh yield. Fresh leaf mass of Swiss chard was reduced in ABR effluent by 78 % when compared to CHFM. Sodium toxicity, ammonium toxicity, aphids and flea beetles reduced the growth and yield of Swiss chard grown with ABR effluent. Amaranthus in planted wetlands of ABR system hosted aphids and flea beetles who moved to defoliate matured Swiss chard leaves grown with ABR effluent as they thought it is a similar crop. In contrast, Swiss chard fertigated with CHFM suffered minimum effects of pest outbreak due to absence of faecal smell and nutrient stress. The second research study investigated the potential of diluted NEWgenerator permeate + hydroponic fertiliser (DNP + HF) on growth, and yield of hydroponically grown non-heading Chinese cabbage. The results revealed there was no significant difference in all determined growth parameters except for fresh yield (p>0.05) between plants fertigated by CHFM and DNP + HF. Fresh leaf mass of non-heading Chinese cabbage leaves was reduced in DNP + HF by 26 % when compared to CHFM. Significant yield decline in non-heading Chinese cabbage grown with DNP + HF was a result of nutrient conditions affecting the uptake and accumulation of nutrients in leaf tissues. Plant analysis revealed that uptake of macronutrients and micronutrient significantly varied in leaf tissues of non-heading Chinese cabbage between fertigation with CHFM and DNP + HF. Leaf tissues of non-heading Chinese cabbage showed higher levels of N, P, Mg, Mn, Na, Cu, Fe and Al while lower levels of K, Ca and Zn were observed when compared to plants grown with CHFM treatment. The deficiency and toxicity of nutrients in leaf tissues led to interference in photosystem activity of non-heading Chinese cabbage grown with DNP + HF which resulted on decline in final yield. On a positive note, harvested leaves were without faecal coliforms. These findings show that fertigation with ABR effluent and DNP + HF has the potential to support the growth of leafy vegetables in a hydroponic system. However, there is a need for further research to look at other aspects with negatively affected the final yield of crops

The Invisible Hand of the Family in the Underdevelopment of Africa Societies: An African Perspective

The main thrust of the argument in this paper is that underdevelopment of African countries lies with the differences between the Eurocentric and African values. As Eurocentric values informs the development paradigm and planning models in African societies, the models of development have become conformist depriving African societies of self-reliance and self-determinism. The result has been dependence and underdevelopment of African societies through exploitation on the basis of cultural deprivation. Therefore, the dependence and underdevelopment of African societies is a function of the marginalisation and undermining of African values to an extent that underdevelopment of the African societies becomes a function of capital penetration and affluence through unfavourable division of labour, trade and exchange systems that are informed by world dominating values which are inimical to African values

The rhotoric of Africanism in Johannesburg as a World African City

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Roothless and ruthless

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