Collective agency and resistance to imposed development in rural South Africa

"Mbizana, in Pondoland, along South Africa’s Wild Coast, is at the centre of a struggle between local residents, a multi-national mining company and the South African Government. In 2007 the local residents formed the AmaDiba Crisis Committee (ACC) in opposition to a government-supported proposal by Mineral Commodities Ltd, an Australian company, to mine their communal land. According to the ACC, the mining company and the government had violated established democratic processes and undermined the local villagers’ control over their communal land. In 2008, a mining licence was granted by Government, however, in 2011, after protests and petitions by the ACC to Government, the Minister of Mineral Resources revoked the licence. The mining company’s response was to submit a new application for prospecting rights. In public demonstrations against the mining of their land, the protesters have made reference to the well-known Mpondo Revolt3 of 1959-1960; and, in interviews they have also mentioned resistance to the Mbizana sugar project in 1985-86 and the Gum Tree Rebellion in 1999. These references locate their struggle to retain the right to decide how best to develop their land in a history of resistance that started in the era of Apartheid, and has continued under the new democratic dispensation. At the heart of the activism is a collective consciousness that is best conceptualised as collective agency. This paper focuses on current resistance to imposed development, and its connections to past resistance, especially the Mpondo Revolt of 50 years ago. I argue that, contrary to popular perception, rural people of Pondoland have a long history of resisting imposed development and actively participating in their own development." (author's abstract

Friends, enemies or "frienemies": development and civil society organisations relations with the state in a Democratic South Africa

"In 2004 the then president of South Africa Thabo Mbeki referred to a number of civil society organisations (more commonly known as non-profit organisations or NPOs) as "enemies of the ruling party" because they were publicly extremely critical of the ANC government's neoliberal policies and development strategies (Mngxitama 2004). NPOs which work in collaboration with state agencies and act as conduits for delivering services were regarded as friends of the ruling party. This discourse has prevailed within the ANC until today. However, a third category of NPOs engages with the African National Congress (ANC) government. They sometimes characterise what Mbeki called enemies and at other times they behave as friends of the ANC government. One could call them "frienemies". In this paper the discussion of NPOs is situated in the context of civil society's relations with the state in a democratic South Africa. I briefly discuss the recent history of NPOs relations with the state. I then consider why NPOs that engage with the state find it easier to be either friends or enemies with the ANC government and why the government has so few "frienemies" - despite its recognition that their dual role is valuable for development. I end the paper by briefly examining the Treatment Action Campaign and the Surplus People Project as examples of NPOs that have managed, successfully, to play the dual roles as "frienemies" of the ANC government. These examples illustrate ways in which some NPOs can manage to perform both roles, as well as the difficulties they experience in trying to balance these two roles. This paper is not suggesting that all NPOs ought to perform both roles, for that would deny the benefits that diversity among organs of civil society can bring, but it does draw attention to the advantages for development of some South African NPOs performing both these roles." (author's abstract

A study of change and continuity in the world-views of isiXhosa-speaking school leavers in their quest to succeed in the world of work without abandoning their African identity

Bibliography: leaves 315-319.The people with whom this thesis is concerned have chosen to participate in charge and technological advancement. They are engaged in development. Development, as here understood, requires that individuals contribute to the advance of a technological society while affirming their Africanness, albeit a changing Africanness. The study addresses the basic question "How can African youths, who desire to succeed materially, maintain some sort of integrated sense of self in a working environment dominated by a Western style of operation which potentially undermines their Africanness?" The answer is sought in terms of "mediation" between the conflicting African Traditional and Western Industrial world-views in such a way as to enhance development, while not being inconsistent with economic imperatives. It investigates empirically the content of what is being mediated and the mechanisms of the mediation

The translation of the Vertigo Symptom Scale into Afrikaans: A pilot study

Vertigo is a common clinical problem that is challenging to diagnose and treat. While it has a broad range of aetiologies, the association between vestibular disturbance and anxiety is well established. The Vertigo Symptom Scale (VSS) is a questionnaire that assesses both dizziness and dizziness-related anxiety. The aim of this study was twofold. First, a translation of the VSS into Afrikaans was evaluated using the Delphi technique. Consensus was achieved within the Delphi rounds and a final tool was agreed upon. Second, the Afrikaans Vertigo Symptom Scales (AVSS) was piloted on a sample of vertiginous and control participants. The results of the pilot study yielded significant statistical differences between the groups on both subscales of the tool (vertigo symptom scale and anxiety and autonomic symptom scale). Results suggest that the AVSS is able to identify patients with vertiginous disturbance and anxiety. The AVSS presents with good sensitivity and specificity as measured by the ROC curve. Clinical implications are discussed

The translation of the Vertigo Symptom Scale into Afrikaans: A pilot study

Vertigo is a common clinical problem that is challenging to diagnose and treat. While it has a broad range of aetiologies, the association between vestibular disturbance and anxiety is well established. The Vertigo Symptom Scale (VSS) is a questionnaire that assesses both dizziness and dizziness-related anxiety. The aim of this study was twofold. First, a translation of the VSS into Afrikaans was evaluated using the Delphi technique. Consensus was achieved within the Delphi rounds and a final tool was agreed upon. Second, the Afrikaans Vertigo Symptom Scales (AVSS) was piloted on a sample of vertiginous and control participants. The results of the pilot study yielded significant statistical differences between the groups on both subscales of the tool (vertigo symptom scale and anxiety and autonomic symptom scale). Results suggest that the AVSS is able to identify patients with vertiginous disturbance and anxiety. The AVSS presents with good sensitivity and specificity as measured by the ROC curve. Clinical implications are discussed

Does otitis media in early childhood affect later behavioural development? Results from the Western Australian Pregnancy Cohort (Raine) Study

OBJECTIVES : To examine the relationship between early life episodes of otitis media and later behavioural development with adjustment for confounders. DESIGN : Longitudinal cohort study. SETTING : The Western Australian Pregnancy Cohort (Raine) Study recruited 2900 pregnant women from King Edward Memorial Hospital (KEMH) in Perth, Western Australia, between 1989 and 1991. PARTICIPANTS : Data from the children born were collected at both the Year 3 and Year 5 follow‐up. At Year 3, n = 611 were diagnosed with recurrent otitis media through parent‐report and clinical examination. At Year 5, n = 299 were considered exposed to otitis media based upon tympanometry results. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES : Performance in the Child Behaviour Checklist (CBCL), a questionnaire completed by the primary caregiver at Year 10. RESULTS : Significant associations were found between recurrent otitis media at Year 3 and internalising behaviours (P = .011), and the somatic (P = .011), withdrawn (P = .014), attention (P = .003) and thought problems domains (P = .021), and the total CBCL score (P = .010). A significant association was also found between exposure to otitis media at Year 5 and externalising behaviours (P = .026). CONCLUSIONS : A modest association was seen between recurrent otitis media at Year 3 and exposure to otitis media at Year 5 and a number of behaviour domains at Year 10.The Raine Study is funded by the Raine Medical Research Foundation, the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC), The University of Western Australia, Curtin University, Edith Cowan University, The Telethon Kids Institute, and the Women and Infants Research Foundation. AJOW is funded by a Senior Research Fellowship from the NHMRC (#1077966); CGBJ is funded by a Health Professional Research Fellowship from the NHMRC (#1142897).http://wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/coa2019-08-02hj2018Speech-Language Pathology and Audiolog

Clinical characteristics of women captured by extending the definition of severe postpartum haemorrhage with 'refractoriness to treatment': a cohort study

Background: The absence of a uniform and clinically relevant definition of severe postpartum haemorrhage hampers comparative studies and optimization of clinical management. The concept of persistent postpartum haemorrhage, based on refractoriness to initial first-line treatment, was proposed as an alternative to common definitions that are either based on estimations of blood loss or transfused units of packed red blood cells (RBC). We compared characteristics and outcomes of women with severe postpartum haemorrhage captured by these three types of definitions. Methods: In this large retrospective cohort study in 61 hospitals in the Netherlands we included 1391 consecutive women with postpartum haemorrhage who received either ≥4 units of RBC or a multicomponent transfusion. Clinical characteristics and outcomes of women with severe postpartum haemorrhage defined as persistent postpartum haemorrhage were compared to definitions based on estimated blood loss or transfused units of RBC within 24 h following birth. Adverse maternal outcome was a composite of maternal mortality, hysterectomy, arterial embolisation and intensive care unit admission. Results: One thousand two hundred sixty out of 1391 women (90.6%) with postpartum haemorrhage fulfilled the definition of persistent postpartum haemorrhage. The majority, 820/1260 (65.1%), fulfilled this definition within 1 h following birth, compared to 819/1391 (58.7%) applying the definition of ≥1 L blood loss and 37/845 (4.4%) applying the definition of ≥4 units of RBC. The definition persistent postpartum haemorrhage captured 430/471 adverse maternal outcomes (91.3%), compared to 471/471 (100%) for ≥1 L blood loss and 383/471 (81.3%) for ≥4 units of RBC. Persistent postpartum haemorrhage did not capture all adverse outcomes because of missing data on timing of initial, first-line treatment. Conclusion: The definition persistent postpartum haemo

Identity and worldview issues in rural development : a case study : reintegration of ex-street children into communities in rural Transkei

Bibliography: leaves 93-97.This study explores the complex problem of socio-cultural change and continuity in Africa; the basic human drives for physical survival and identity; and how the danger of self-alienation and anomie might be overcome. Worldview Analysis and Human Scale Development are brought together and focused on a particular context of socio-economic development in a situation of competing worldviews in rural Transkei. People in rural Transkei experience competing worldviews and values out of a dual quest for economic advancement in an increasingly industrialized society, on the one hand, and the maintenance of identity, on the other. The prioritizing of economic development is seen to contradict the value of an African cultural identity. In the absence of a mediating symbolic network to facilitate the renegotiation of identity, these values remain in tension. In PART ONE I discuss the problem in the context of the necessity for economic growth and Human Scale Development in a democratic South Africa. My general research hypothesis is founded on this discussion. It states that "Social and economic development, in a situation of competing worldviews, depends on the mediation of conflicting symbols in a manner which is not inconsistent with the economic imperatives." In PART TWO this macro-study is scaled down to an empirically testable, research project. The hypothesis of the micro-study reads as follows: "Integrated identity and belonging for ex-street children, in a situation of competing worldviews, depends on the mediation of conflicting paradigmatic symbols." Both hypotheses are informed by theories of religion, identity and development drawing on the works of Max-Neef and Cumpsty. The situation of competing worldviews experienced by a group of ex- street children is described. I then show that social development in this context is impeded by the lack of mediation between conflicting paradigmatic elements and values. Thereafter, much attention is given to the difficult task of designing tools to map identity and values of individuals, locating critical points of tension between conflicting values and, finding mediating symbols. Finally, I examine a range of corporate strategies that demonstrate ways of mediating between the conflicting paradigmatic symbols