The value-added statement: An appeal for standardisation

Owing to the absence of accounting standards for the preparation of a value-added statement (VAS), a large variety of methods are used in financial statements. In this study the published value-added statements (PVAS) of companies listed on the JSE Securities Exchange during the period 1976-2005 have been standardised by the Graduate School of Business of the University of Stellenbosch (USB) in order to quantify the differences between the standardised VAS (SVAS) and the PVAS. These differences consist of the inclusion of items that do not belong in the VAS, items that are erroneously allocated among the distribution to stakeholders, and interpretation differences in whether a certain item forms part of the calculation of value added or the distribution thereof. The greatest difference quantified was the overstatement of the distribution to government that amounted to 54.4% of total differences. For users, including government, to properly calculate and compare the value added of different business entities, a standard for the preparation and presentation of VAS ought to be published. In the South African context the need of a precise measurement of each business entity's contribution to the growth of the national economy is relevant, and this need should also be addressed.Value added, Gross Domestic Product, South Africa, financial statements

Agricultural, marketing and trade policies to promote food security in the SADCC region: a research proposal

A research paper on regional co-operation in agricultural marketing in Southern Africa to enhance and promote regional food security.In recent years, the nine member states of SADCC have voiced great interest in expanding intraregional trade as one strategy to increasing food security within the region. The fact that six of the nine countries are landlocked, transport costs are high, and dependence on trade with external countries (including South Africa) is viewed as precarious, has contributed to a sense of urgency which resulted in the funding of prefeasibility and feasibility studies to investigate establishing a regional food security scheme based on local grain reserves,The research supporting the preparation the proceedings papers was financed by the U.S. Agency for International Development, Bureau of Science and Technology; Bureau for Africa; and the Southern Africa Regional Programme

Urban Agriculture, Food Security and the Environment: Socio-economics, Land Use Conflicts and Cultivators’ Views

A DAEE working paper on urban agricultural activities in Zimbabwe.Crop production on open municipal and undeveloped lands has become a significant source of the food security and indirectly sources of household cash income generation or savings. Advent of economic reforms has exacerbated urban agriculture. This is because of the removal of subsidies on food commodities and retrenchments in the formal employment sectors. These have in turn contributed to falling real incomes and reduced food security status of urban households. Urban cultivation had become an important strategy through which families cope with the impact of the economic structure adjustment programme. Though a widespread practice, urban agriculture is not planned for or supported by other planners and managers as a legitimate form of urban land use. Urban agriculture comes into direct conflict with planning provisions for urban space. This study examines the socio-economics of urban crop on municipal lands, cultivators’ views and perceptions on the use of urban space for agricultural activities and related issues in Harare, Zimbabwe. Urban agriculture is used for subsistence maize production. It improves food grain availability, thus increasing household food security and real incomes available for other household requirements as contributes to savings on food expenditure. This is the incentive for cultivation on undeveloped urban land spaces. The study gives empirical insight on the uses of urban space for agricultural activities from the cultivators' perspectives. The findings of the study also show that there is a serious problem of lack of concern for the environment on the part of the cultivators. The majority of the cultivators were aware of but ignored the steam bank regulations. There was general lack of knowledge about the environmental effects of cultivation on the urban environment. Given the importance of urban agriculture to the cultivators and the concern on the environmental impacts, there is need to design extension programmes through which the cultivators would be provided with advice on proper land use husbandry

Residential caregivers’ perceptions of adolescents’ preparedness, as they transition from residential care

Magister Artium (Social Work) - MA(SW)The National Policy on Orphans and Vulnerable defines an orphan as a child, who has lost one, or both parents, and is under the age of 18, while a vulnerable child is one, who is in need of care and protection. The Orphans and Vulnerable Children (OVCs) are placed in residential childcare facilities (RCCFs), such as children’s homes, shelters, safe havens, or any other alternative form of care. They are provided with psychosocial support, depending on the facility, in which they are placed.Failure to provide proper and specialised care by the caregivers could prove harmful to the overall wellbeing of the child, resulting in children with developmental difficulties, poor interpersonal relationships, mental health difficulties, behavioural difficulties, and poor academic achievement

The value-added statement: An appeal for standardisation

Owing to the absence of accounting standards for the preparation of a value-added statement (VAS), a large variety of methods are used in financial statements. In this study the published value-added statements (PVAS) of companies listed on the JSE Securities Exchange during the period 1976-2005 have been standardised by the Graduate School of Business of the University of Stellenbosch (USB) in order to quantify the differences between the standardised VAS (SVAS) and the PVAS. These differences consist of the inclusion of items that do not belong in the VAS, items that are erroneously allocated among the distribution to stakeholders, and interpretation differences in whether a certain item forms part of the calculation of value added or the distribution thereof. The greatest difference quantified was the overstatement of the distribution to government that amounted to 54.4% of total differences. For users, including government, to properly calculate and compare the value added of different business entities, a standard for the preparation and presentation of VAS ought to be published. In the South African context the need of a precise measurement of each business entity's contribution to the growth of the national economy is relevant, and this need should also be addressed

CONTEXTUALISING ENTREPRENEURSHIP AS A PANACEA TO YOUTH UNEMPLOYMENT IN SOUTH AFRICA

Youth unemployment has bewildered governments across the globe, both in developed and emerging economies countries, with South Africa being no exception. This is captured through the accelerating youth unemployment rate in the country. Considering the positive contributions of excessive youth entrepreneurship policies in other countries, this paper, through the lenses of Schumpeter’s 1934 economic development theory, demonstrates that through entrepreneurship, the South African government should strive to accelerate the already implemented and discard the less effective youth policies. Consequently, creating an innovative environment centered around the youth eradicates the exacerbating percentage of inactive or discouraged youth due to unemployment. Longer spells of inactivity threaten their human development and their contribution to the South African economy. Therefore, a youth-driven entrepreneurship economy can assist the government in counter-solving upcoming and persistent negative effects of unemployed youth. Keeping the youth productive, and innovative, creating jobs and incomes

Quality education

This book investigates the intersections between education, social justice, gendered violence and human rights in South African schools and universities. The rich and multifarious tapestry of scholarship and literature emanating from South African classrooms provides a fascinating lens through which we can understand the complex consequences of the economies of education, social justice imperatives, gendered violence on the lives of women and children, and marginalised communities. The scholarship in the book challenges readers to imagine alternative futures predicated on the transformational capacity of a democratic South Africa. Contributors to this volume examine the many ways in which social justice and gendered violence mirrors, expresses, projects and articulates the larger phenomenon of human rights violations in Africa and how, in turn, the discourse of human rights informs the ways in which we articulate, interrogate, conceptualise, enact and interpret quality education. The book also wrestles with the linguistic contradictions and ambiguities in the articulation of quality education in public and private spaces. This book is essential reading for scholars seeking solid grounding in exploring quality education, the instances of epistemic disobedience, the political implications of place and power, and human rights in theory and practice

Mortality under early access to antiretroviral therapy vs Eswatini’s national standard of care : the MaxART clustered randomized stepped‐wedge trial

Objectives Current WHO guidelines recommend the treatment of all HIV-infected individuals with antiretroviral therapy (ART) to improve survival and quality of life, and decrease infection of others. MaxART is the first implementation trial of this strategy embedded within a government-managed health system, and assesses mortality as a secondary outcome. Because primary findings strongly supported scale-up of the 'treat all' strategy (hereafter Treat All), this analysis examines mortality as an additional indicator of its impact. Methods MaxART was conducted in 14 Eswatinian health clinics through a clinic-based stepped-wedge design, by transitioning clinics from then-national standard of care (SoC) to the Treat All intervention. All-cause, disease-related, and HIV-related mortality were analysed using the Cox proportional hazards model, censoring SoC participants at clinic transition. Median follow-up time among study participants was 292 days. There were 36/2034 deaths in SoC (1.77%) and 49/1371 deaths in Treat All (3.57%). Results Between September 2014 and August 2017, 3405 participants were enrolled. In SoC and Treat All interventions, respectively, the multivariable-adjusted 12-month all-cause mortality rates were 1.42% [95% confidence interval (CI): 0.66-2.17] and 1.60% (95% CI: 0.78-2.40), disease-related mortality rates were 1.02% (95% CI: 0.40-1.64) and 1.10% (95% CI: 0.46-1.73), and HIV-related mortality rates were 1.03% (95% CI: 0.40-1.65) and 0.99% (95% CI: 0.40-1.58). Treat All had no impact on all-cause [hazard ratio (HR) = 1.12, 95% CI: 0.58-2.18, P = 0.73], disease-related (HR = 1.04, 95% CI: 0.52-2.11, P = 0.90), or HIV-related mortality (HR = 0.93, 95% CI: 0.46-1.87, P = 0.83). Conclusion There was no immediate benefit of the Treat All strategy on mortality, nor evidence of harm. Longer follow-up of participants is needed to establish long-term consequences

Quality education

This book investigates the intersections between education, social justice, gendered violence and human rights in South African schools and universities. The rich and multifarious tapestry of scholarship and literature emanating from South African classrooms provides a fascinating lens through which we can understand the complex consequences of the economies of education, social justice imperatives, gendered violence on the lives of women and children, and marginalised communities. The scholarship in the book challenges readers to imagine alternative futures predicated on the transformational capacity of a democratic South Africa. Contributors to this volume examine the many ways in which social justice and gendered violence mirrors, expresses, projects and articulates the larger phenomenon of human rights violations in Africa and how, in turn, the discourse of human rights informs the ways in which we articulate, interrogate, conceptualise, enact and interpret quality education. The book also wrestles with the linguistic contradictions and ambiguities in the articulation of quality education in public and private spaces. This book is essential reading for scholars seeking solid grounding in exploring quality education, the instances of epistemic disobedience, the political implications of place and power, and human rights in theory and practice