Exploring curriculum responsiveness for public administration graduate employability: a case of the University of KwaZulu-Natal.

Masters Degree. University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban.This study sought to gain an in-depth understanding of the public administration curriculum and how it is responding to the needs of both the students and employers. The study further establishes the extent to which graduates produced at the University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN) in the Discipline of Public Governance, are skilled enough and meet the requirements of the employer. Data from several studies reveal that a university that fails to produce qualified graduates does not offer its graduates the opportunity to compete with the outside world which then leads to a high unemployment rate. The literature review revealed that graduates need to possess qualities that assist them to take adaptive, proactive approaches to their careers, which involves managing their employability. Developing graduates’ attributes through effective communication between UKZN, School of Public Governance, and the employer requires commitment and support from management for the process to become successful. A mixed-method approach was employed to collect, analyse, and interpret the qualitative and quantitative data, which included the administration of questionnaires to UKZN academic staff, and to students/graduates at all study levels at the UKZN particularly those who are enrolled in the Public Administration course at the School of Management, Information Technology and Governance. The study conducted seven online in-depth interviews, and one online focus group discussion involving first-year students and undertook an online survey involving fifty-seven students from the Public Administration discipline. Parametric inferential analysis was used to provide a detailed understanding of the study population through the study sample, it helped generalise the results. The findings reveal that the discipline of Public Administration curriculum is in line with the Employability Model. It further reveals that there are challenges that compromise the skills development of students/graduates. Findings also revealed that there is space for improvement in all challenges that were posed during the study. The study further recommends that the input of public sector employers will make the Public Administration curriculum more effective. The study also recommends that the allocation of sufficient resources is necessary to achieve the skills development of students/graduates in the Public Administration discipline

The application of the single economic entity doctrine to combat cartels in South Africa: lessons from Germany

A research report submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Laws by Coursework and Research Report at the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2023The relationship between holding companies and their subsidiary companies is determined principally by the degree to which holding companies can exercise control over their subsidiary companies. The Companies Act regulates this relationship by assessing the control that holding companies exercise over subsidiary companies. The way these companies conduct their business can attract issues relating to competition which may attract the application of the Competition Act 89 of 1998. The anticompetitive behaviour of subsidiary companies has sparked controversy relating to whether holding companies should be held liable for their conduct. This research report discusses the Single Economic Entity Doctrine which deals with the attribution of liability of the conduct of a subsidiary company to a holding company. In particular, it assesses whether given the control that holding companies exercise over their subsidiary companies, they can be held liable for cartel infringements under section 4(1) of the Competition Act using the Single Economic Entity Doctrine. Drawing on the experiences of the European Union and Bundeskartellamt in Germany, this report argues that there is a need to expressly introduce and apply the Single Economic Entity Doctrine in South Africa with a view to allow the Competition Commission to hold holding companies liable for the cartel conduct of their subsidiaries which often cease to operate when cartel related charges are brought against themMM202

Competition regulation for digital markets: The South African experience

The study examines the recent experiences of South Africa’s competition authorities in engaging with competition matters in the country’s digital markets. Specifically, the authors examine engagements by the Competition Commission South Africa (CCSA), the Competition Tribunal of South Africa, and the Competition Appeal Court (CAC) with three regulatory elements: (1) mergers, examined through the MIH and WeBuyCars and Google and Fitbit cases; (2) abuse of dominance, examined through the GovChat v Facebook case; and (3) cartel conduct, examined through the Competition Commission v Bank of America Merrill Lynch International Limited & Others case. In reviewing the decisions made in these cases, the authors highlight regulatory considerations that are coming to the fore in response to competition matters in digital markets

Isisekelo Sempilo 2x2 factorial randomised controlled trial of the effectiveness of integrating HIV prevention within sexual reproductive health (SRH) services with or without peer support amongst adolescents and young adults in rural KwaZulu-Natal

Background: approximately 200,000 South Africans acquired HIV in 2021 despite universal HIV test and treat (UTT) and Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP).Methods: we conducted a 2x2 factorial open label randomised controlled trial. N=3000 potentially eligible 16-29-year-olds, randomly sampled from a population surveillance area in a mostly rural part of KwaZulu-Natal, were randomised to one of 4 arms: 1) enhanced Standard of Care (SoC): access to mobile youth-friendly services for differentiated HIV prevention (condoms, UTT, PrEP if eligible); 2) Sexual and Reproductive Health (SRH): baseline self-collected specimens for sexually transmitted infection testing and referral to differentiated HIV prevention services; 3) Peer-support: referral to a peer navigator for support, condom provision and facilitation of attendance for differentiated HIV prevention services; 4) SRH + peer-support. Co-primary effectiveness outcomes were: 1) linkage to differentiated HIV prevention services within 60 days of enrolment; 2) transmissible HIV (HIV viral load ≥400 copies/mL) measured from dried blood spots (DBS) at 12 months. 3) the proportion of sampled individuals who consented to participation and gave a DBS for HIV testing at 12 months. Logistic regression was used for analyses, adjusted for age, sex and rural/peri-urban area.Findings: between March 2020 and August 2022, 1743/2301(76%) eligible individuals were enrolled, with a 12-month DBS collected from 1168 (67%). Baseline characteristics and 12-month outcome ascertainment were similar by arm. 755 (43.3%) linked to services by 60 days; SRH increased linkage (aOR 1.68;95%CI=1.39-2.04) but peer-support had no effect. At 12 months, 227 (19%) tested ELISA-positive for HIV, of whom 41 (18%) had a viral load ≥400 copies/ml. The overall prevalence of transmissible HIV was 3.5%. There was no evidence of an effect of either intervention on transmissible HIV (main effects: SRH aOR 1.12; 95%CI=0.60-2.11; peer-support aOR 1.03; 95%CI=0.55-1.94). Interpretation: in this representative sample of adolescents and youth in a mostly rural area of South Africa, STI testing and SRH (but not peer support) increased uptake of differentiated HIV prevention. While the UNAIDS target of 90:90:90 was exceeded, neither SRH nor peer support showed evidence of reducing transmissible HIV

Computer-aided interpretation of chest radiography reveals the spectrum of tuberculosis in rural South Africa

AbstractComputer-aided digital chest radiograph interpretation (CAD) can facilitate high-throughput screening for tuberculosis (TB), but its use in population-based active case-finding programs has been limited. In an HIV-endemic area in rural South Africa, we used a CAD algorithm (CAD4TBv5) to interpret digital chest x-rays (CXR) as part of a mobile health screening effort. Participants with TB symptoms or CAD4TBv5 score above the triaging threshold were referred for microbiological sputum assessment. During an initial pilot phase, a low CAD4TBv5 triaging threshold of 25 was selected to maximize TB case finding. We report the performance of CAD4TBv5 in screening 9,914 participants, 99 (1.0%) of whom were found to have microbiologically proven TB. CAD4TBv5 was able to identify TB cases at the same sensitivity but lower specificity as a blinded radiologist, whereas the next generation of the algorithm (CAD4TBv6) achieved comparable sensitivity and specificity to the radiologist. The CXRs of people with microbiologically confirmed TB spanned a range of lung field abnormality, including 19 (19.2%) cases deemed normal by the radiologist. HIV serostatus did not impact CAD4TB’s performance. Notably, 78.8% of the TB cases identified during this population-based survey were asymptomatic and therefore triaged for sputum collection on the basis of CAD4TBv5 score alone. While CAD4TBv6 has the potential to replace radiologists for triaging CXRs in TB prevalence surveys, population-specific piloting is necessary to set the appropriate triaging thresholds. Further work on image analysis strategies is needed to identify radiologically subtle active TB.</jats:p