bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Challenges and Prospects of Litigating Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights of Women in Nigeria: Lessons from Comparative Foreign Jurisprudence
Authors: Akintayo Akinola
Published: September 2022

Available statistics revealed vulnerable and fragile conditions for women in Africa, including Nigeria. This is due to the persistent violation of their sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR), maternal heath rights, choice of spouse and right to determine whether or not to have children and the numbers of children to have, access to contraceptives, etc. These rights are violated due to cultural norms, medical negligence, lack of access to social and economic resources, etc. If this condition is left to fester, Nigerian women may never attain their full potential and capabilities to develop because of the links that exist between sexual and reproductive health and rights and equality, empowerment, economic growth and development. There is, therefore, a need to strengthen this fragile condition through the effective implementation and enforcement of international, regional and national laws relating to SRHR. Rights litigation strategy is an acknowledged tool of empowerment and transformation in this regard. Consequently, this article examines SRHR of women in Nigeria, highlighting the challenges with litigating cases involving SRHR. Also, the article considers the prospects for litigation through a comparative study of selected jurisdictions in order to explore how they have engaged with similar situations and challenges of litigating SRHR and to identify lessons for Nigerian courts.
Land Matters and Rural Development: 2020
Authors: Pienaar Juanita M , Du Plessis Willemien , Johnson Ebrezia
Published: September 2022

Covid-19 had a profound impact on South Africa, not only in relation to its health system but also in relation to matters such as access to land and adequate housing. This note discusses, amongst other, the case law focusing on evictions and housing reported during 2020. The note also indicates that restitution remains a complex matter that is not going to be resolved soon. The proposed 2020 amendments to the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996 and the proposed Expropriation Bill are further analysed. The proposed amendment legislation in relation to upgrading of land rights to give effect to Constitutional Court decisions is referred to. This note includes the most important 2020 land reform developments pertaining to section 25 of the Constitution and expropriation, land restitution, land reform legislation, unlawful occupation, housing, deeds, sectional titles land redistribution and rural development.
Sustainable Livelihoods and the Right of Access to Food: Achieving the National Development Plan 2030 Goals on Poverty Eradication
Authors: Mbajiorgu Grace
Published: September 2022

Poor and marginalised households often lack the basic resources and assets that would enable them to cope with shocks such as unemployment, droughts and illness, and stressors such as distorted economic policies, illiteracy and landlessness. As a result, these households suffer severe poverty and food insecurity and without government intervention, they are vulnerable to a perpetual state of deprivation. Against this background, this article examines the relevance and importance of the concept of sustainable livelihoods in promoting access to food, with specific reference to the goal of the National Development Plan 2030 (NDP 2030) to eradicate poverty. The strategies aimed at poverty eradication as proposed in the NDP 2030 are discussed in relation to the sustainable livelihood approach or capabilities approach as developed in international law. First, this article discusses the origin and development of the notion of sustainable livelihoods as advanced by international instruments central to socioeconomic development and various scholars. The potentials and shortcomings of the sustainable livelihood approach are also examined. Second, livelihood assets in the form of land and policy are examined to determine their significance in promoting access to food. Finally, a conclusion is drawn on the integral role of the sustainable livelihood approach in enhancing livelihood security and assisting households to adopt both coping and adaptive strategies aimed at reducing poverty and food insecurity.
Regulation and Implementation of Party Funding in Burkina Faso and Ghana: A Comparative Study
Authors: Vohito Sonia
Published: September 2022

There has been considerable momentum to address the issue of party finance and political corruption across the world, including in Africa; this is because political parties require funds to properly function and to actively participate in elections. This article will review the system of regulation and implementation of party funding in two West African countries, namely Burkina Faso and Ghana, and it will examine how financing of political parties is regulated and the impact on rule of law and good governance in both countries. Whether they have access to public or private funds, it appears that small political parties in Burkina Faso and Ghana continue to face challenges which ultimately affect their ability to function properly and to actively participate in elections. The article therefore submits that the phenomenon of party funding regulation in Burkina Faso and Ghana is a process in development which needs reinforcing in order to be fair and inclusive.
Reflections on Aspects of the Regime on the Amendment of Tariffs under the International Trade Administration Act 71 of 2002: a Discussion of Shoprite Checkers (Pty) Ltd v International Trade Administration Commission
Authors: Vinti Clive
Published: September 2022

This article evaluates aspects of the regime for the amendment of tariffs under the International Trade Administration Act 71 of 2002 (ITAA), with a specific focus on the decision-making powers of the International Trade Administration Commission (ITAC) and the Minister of Trade, Industry and Competition (Minister). This analysis is conducted through the conduit of the decision in Shoprite Checkers (Pty) Ltd v International Trade Administration Commission. The Shoprite decision incorrectly allowed a review of ITAC’s ‘recommendations’ based on the ground of ‘rationality’ emanating from the principle of legality outside of the Promotion of Administrative Justice Act 3 of 2000 (PAJA). It is settled law that all of ITAC’s ‘recommendations’ or ‘decisions’ constitute ‘administrative action’, and thus, the grounds of appeal reside in PAJA, which includes the ground of rationality. Thus, the Shoprite approach conflated the point of departure, thereby incorrectly displacing the place of the PAJA and flouting the principle of subsidiarity. This case also incorrectly classified the power of the Minister when considering the ITAC ‘recommendation’ to impose or vary a duty as a ‘constitutional’ power. It is trite law that this power is ‘executive’ in nature. Thus, the Shoprite formulation causes confusion since all power can technically be regarded as ‘constitutional’. The article concludes with an analysis of the seldom-used power by ITAC of revoking its recommendations under sections 26 and 48 of the ITAA.
A Critical Analysis of Zimbabwe’s Non-implementation of Constitutional Injunctions on Devolution
Authors: Mudau Paul , ‘Nyane Hoolo
Published: September 2022

Zimbabwe’s 2013 Constitution provides for a multi-level system of government whereby the government is constituted at national, provincial and local levels. Despite the new Constitution being relatively comprehensive about the devolution of powers to the subnational levels of government, the country is still trapped within the post-independence highly centralised unitary state design. Although the new Constitution was adopted in 2013, devolution has not yet been fully implemented in Zimbabwe. This non-implementation of the constitutional injunctions on devolution, almost a decade after the promulgation of the Constitution, brings into question the country’s commitment to the devolution of powers and constitutionalism. This article critiques this state of affairs, and identifies the politico-legal factors responsible for the country’s non-implementation of the constitutional injunctions on the devolution of powers to subnational levels of government. This article’s central thesis is that the full devolution of powers is one of the significant levers of constitutional transformation in Zimbabwe.
The Extent to which Pre-Service Teachers Use Moodle to Enhance Learning
Authors: Tshabalala Mswazi Gladson , Chibisa Admire , Maphalala Mncedisi Christian
Published: September 2022

The increase in student populations in higher education institutions means face-to-face service delivery is now very expensive. Most institutions are therefore exploring the possibility of online learning on a massive scale, which the restrictions of the Covid-19 pandemic have now expedited. This study aims to investigate the extent to which pre-service teachers use Moodle to enhance learning. The study used a quantitative approach in which quantitative data were gathered using a five-point Likert-scale questionnaire developed by the researchers, using previous studies. A stratified sample of 400 pre-service teachers selected from a population of 4 000 participated in the study. A total of 332 participants successfully completed and returned the questionnaires, giving a return rate of 83 per cent. The study used the Technology Acceptance Model as its theoretical framework. The results indicated that seven of the 13 hypotheses were statistically significant, leading to the adoption of all six model constructs. The coefficient of determination of the model was a substantial 69.8 per cent, which explained the extent to which pre-service teachers use Moodle to enhance learning. By using moderation, it was established that all three demographic factors of the study did not influence the pre-service teachers’ use of Moodle. The results indicated that the developed model is valid, robust and suitable for use by stakeholders. Pre-service teachers are therefore encouraged to use Moodle to enhance learning. Future research could be done to establish the 30.2 per cent of factors this model did not capture.
COVID-19 in South Africa and its Impact on Youth: The Media’s Representation of the 2020 Super-spreader Matric Rage Festival
Authors: Moola Sabihah
Published: September 2022

The article explores how the emergence of the coronavirus in 2020 affected the youth. Health communication and behaviour change communication theories are used to explain how the youth need to cognitively alter their mindsets about the seriousness of this virus. Health messages were communicated from the government (senders) to the youth (receivers) in relation to precautionary measures that could be taken to protect oneself from infection. Social distancing, sanitising and wearing of a mask were precautions communicated to the youth to inform them via health promotional campaigns. The Elaboration Likelihood Model (ELM) explains how youth (in the context of this article) need to understand and implement persuasive health communication for protection against COVID-19. The context of this article explains how the youth, as per the Precaution Adaption Process Model (PAMP), still engaged in risky behaviour and attended the Matric Rage Festival in Ballito, KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) during the second wave of the virus infection in South Africa (SA). The youth paid little heed to the health messages and partook in this “super-spreader” event. A qualitative research paradigm was used to purposively select news reports that were available in the public domain. A thematic analysis was used to interpret the news reports. Findings indicated that “super-spreader” events increase the risk of infection, which implies that protocols need to be adhered to as per government regulations.
The Fourth Industrial Revolution and high Unemployment Rates in South Africa: A Youth Context
Authors: Manamela Godfrey , Ngomane Thandi Susan
Published: September 2022

This paper is conceptual and uses a desktop survey to gather literature about the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR), its advantages and disadvantages, and its impact on the South African job market. The paper intends to uncover the impact of the 4IR on the South African job market. In an attempt to deal with one of South Africa’s triple challenges (poverty, inequality and unemployment), namely unemployment, South Africa finds itself in the introduction of the 4IR, with which it must acquaint itself. It is, however, worrying when looking at the year-by-year escalation of South Africa’s high unemployment rate. When looking at the dire status and escalation of the unemployment rate (which is affecting South Africans, most particularly the youth), it is not ironic that South Africa is inadequately prepared and inept to embrace the changes that the 4IR brings. While the country is making amendments in the education sector in terms of preparing the youth for the skills that will be relevant to the changes and give them access to employment, this has come a bit late to be able to address the high unemployment rate. There is already a high rate of retrenchments within the banking sector, which is cause for concern in terms of labour unrest that the country is (in)famous for.
The Effects of On-Campus Residence on Academic Performance of University Students: A South African Perspective
Authors: Rakgogo Tebogo , Magedi Maboragane Jonas
Published: September 2022

The article is based on a comparative study that aimed to determine whether on-campus residence may exert an influence on students’ academic performance. Eighty participants from the Faculty of Humanities at one of the universities of technology in Soshanguve, South Africa, were sampled to participate in the study. The rationale behind this was that the Faculty of Humanities offers day classes and evening classes, which are attended by both on-campus and off-campus students. Quota sampling was used to select the participants. From an academic perspective, the study attempted to ascertain which of the afore-mentioned residences can contribute to students’ academic success. The study found that on-campus students have a greater chance of performing well, when compared to their counterparts, the off-campus students. The findings further revealed that there is a dialectical relationship between students’ academic performance and their residence. The study records the following qualitative variables to academic success: access to safety and an environment that is conducive to learning, academic tutorship and mentorship programmes, social and personal contact relationships, and library and internet resources. In this quest, these variables are crucial to the enhancement of students’ learning development.
Myth and Social Consciousness in Wole Soyinka’s Alapata Apata
Authors: Afolayan Kayode
Published: September 2022

The study of myths—their relevance and importance—has always generated interest among scholars over the ages. After the initial engagements before the twentieth century when most interventions, from scholars such as Xenophanes, Plato and Euhemerus, pronounced myths as intangible, many writers today have continued to use myth as an anchor of their works. In Africa, writers like Wole Soyinka have deployed myths in the interrogation of crises in the postcolonial space. Since the publication of his seminal work, Myth, Literature and the African World (1992), which laid out the essences of primordial forms in his Yoruba tradition, Soyinka has continued to deploy the capacities of those primordial “literary” forms, particularly Ogun, in his interrogation and interventions on diverse conditions in the African landscape. Using Alapata Apatata, Soyinka’s latest play, where the issues of culture and its renaissance, survival and politics in his home country generate great concern, this article re-examines the playwright’s ambivalent attraction to myth and its use to intervene in the diverse social contradictions in the postcolonial space. The author, after establishing the link between Ogun and Alaba, the protagonist in the play, identifies Soyinka’s paradigm shift in a new twist that sees Ogun in the comedy terrain. The conclusion of the paper draws on Soyinka’s “mythmaking” or “mythbreaking” in the play in a way that conceptualises the evolutionary trend in the playwright’s exploration of Ogun.
Labelling and Othering: (Re)Engaging Wangari Maathai’s Madwoman Tag in Unbowed: A Memoir
Authors: Muthoka Mutie Stephen
Published: September 2022

This article is an interpretive analysis of how Wangari Maathai’s autobiography Unbowed: A Memoir (2007) revises the author’s Otherness through theorising and practising intersectional environmentalism. The article argues that Unbowed becomes a space where Maathai’s struggle for environmental restoration and democracy intersects with her feminist agency. This article isolates Maathai’s practice of feminism as one that took cognisance of ecological justice to revise her Otherness, using it as a space enabling her to speak against societal injustice. To negotiate and, in effect, humanise the environment and use it as a locus for emancipating Kenyan women, Maathai reworks the label of madness attached to her and (re)uses it as a tag with some degree of privilege. Using literary criticism methodologies to engage Maathai’s autobiography, this article examines the implications of self-definition for those operating within liminal spaces. Of importance is how Maathai uses the madness label, aimed at silencing her, to create a hierarchy of privilege. The article concludes that through subtly agitating for ecological justice, Maathai found her voice to self-define herself, revising Otherness and liberating Wanjiku (the Kenyan poor). She does this by refocusing the hierarchies of subjectification embedded in the label “mad.”
BRICS and the Economics of Terrorism
Authors: Ndzendze Bhaso
Published: September 2022

This article investigates the effect of security perceptions on inward foreign direct investment (FDI) in the BRICS countries. To do so, it traces correlations between annual changes in BRICS countries’ scores in the Global Terrorism Index (GTI) and new FDI influxes over the 2008–2018 period. I note differences in correlations between GTI and new FDI; for Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, the Pearson r correlation scores were ?0.903, ?0.7783, ?0.2793, ?0.2766, and -0.6309, respectively. Thus, the apparent role of low terrorism as a prerequisite for new FDI influxes is most demonstrable for Brazil, Russia, and South Africa. It is less significant for India and China, though still adversely correlated. The article discusses the causes of these intra-BRICS differences through the prism of the prevalent literature and case-specific factors and explores their implications. Examining whether terrorism is enough of an economic threat to justify allowing potentially intrusive BRICS-wide cooperation, this study’s findings imply that terrorism has not been a weighty enough threat to garner policy support behind such cooperation in the time studied.
Can ASEAN Play a Leading Role in Resolving Myanmar’s Crisis?
Authors: Dlamini Kenny
Published: September 2022

On 2 March 2021 representatives from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) member states convened a meeting to discuss the situation in Myanmar following the military coup on 1 February 2021 where the Myanmar civilian government was toppled by the military junta. The outcome of the meeting did not deviate from the bloc’s traditional response of non-interference; they strongly encouraged all parties concerned to seek a peaceful solution through constructive dialogue and practical reconciliation in the interests of the people and their livelihood.
Assessment of Media Literacy Skills of Undergraduates in Universities in Ogun State, Nigeria
Authors: Adekunmisi Sowemimo Ronke , Oyewusi Fadekemi O , Aramide Kolawole A
Published: September 2022

This study assessed the media literacy skills level of undergraduates in Ogun State, Nigeria. The study adopted the descriptive survey research design, while the multistage sampling procedure was adopted. The target population comprised 4 189 Level 200 undergraduates from eight departments of the selected faculties in the different universities in Ogun State, Nigeria. A validated questionnaire with Cronbach’s alpha (r=0.96) was used as the data collection instrument. The probability proportional to size sampling technique was used to select 837 undergraduates from the study population. A total of 754 copies of the questionnaires were retrieved and used for the analysis. Data were collated and analysed using descriptive statistics. Findings revealed that 69.0% (520) undergraduates possessed high media literacy skills, 28.5% (215) possessed moderate media literacy skills, while 2.5% (19) possessed low media literacy skills. This indicated possession of high media literacy skills among undergraduates. Further, the construct, ability to access media messages or content, was the most prevalent out of the four constructs used to measure the media literacy skills of the undergraduates. The study recommended the nurturing of abilities to access, analyse, evaluate and create media content and the provision of accessible internet connectivity with internet-enabled media devices in the various units of universities, among other suggestions.
Whoever Controls the Past, Controls the Future: Archives and Records Management Practitioners’ Response to COVID-19 Pandemic in South Africa
Authors: Momoti Nikiwe , Marutha Solomon Ngoako
Published: September 2022

The World Health Organisation (WHO) declared COVID-19 a pandemic in 2020. Most countries around the world, including South Africa, have imposed national lockdowns. COVID-19 was declared a national disaster in South Africa in March 2020, in accordance with the Disaster Management Act, 2002. The Act, among other things, recognises the importance of having access to reliable disaster information, as well as information management and communication systems for storing, disseminating, and exchanging information. Additionally, in April 2020, the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) issued a declaration calling for shared responsibility in preserving the documentary heritage that provides a historical perspective on how pandemics have been addressed in the past for future research. The declaration was supported by heritage organisations such as the International Council on Archives. This quantitative study used The UNESCO 2015 Recommendation Concerning the Preservation of, and Access to, Documentary Heritage Including in Digital Form to investigate how members of the South African Society of Archivists responded to the COVID-19 pandemic in terms of preserving and providing access to documentary heritage. A structured web questionnaire was used to collect data. The study revealed that while some archives and records management practitioners’ institutions had preservation, access, and disaster preparedness measures in place, others did not. From the findings, policy directions and a framework for records and archives management are proposed.
Shifting Vulnerabilities: Exploring Experiences of Unaccompanied Migrant Children in Johannesburg, South Africa
Authors: Nyuke Simbarashe
Published: September 2022

This paper draws on research on independent child migrants from Zimbabwe conducted in the city of Johannesburg, South Africa, in challenging the dominant narratives that inform the vulnerability and agency dichotomy in childhood studies. Through in-depth interviews, observations and a life histories approach, the daily experiences of the young people selected for participation in this study (between the ages of 13 and 19 years) highlight the shortcomings of the vulnerability and agency lens in capturing the nuances of independent child migrants. I challenge the idea that children are passive, vulnerable and incapable of defining and shaping their migration trajectories without overemphasising their agency. The intention is to show that children are not only passive victims at the mercy of adults, but are also capable aggressors in determining their experiences of migration. To capture this complexity, I coin the concept of “shifting vulnerabilities” and suggest that the vulnerability of the independent child migrants is always shifting and being shifted. These children are involved in social relationships as they make their journey to Johannesburg, which shapes and shifts their vulnerabilities. They meet people who make them feel and react in certain ways, and what they are experiencing are not always feelings of gratitude, but sometimes fear and pain. Even with the odds stacked against them in some of these relationships, the young people are not just docile players in this interaction, but they direct the outcome of these associations in creative ways.
Space and Text in Setswana Proverbs
Authors: Monyai Reginald Botshabeng
Published: September 2022

This article looks at the concept of space and text embodied in proverbs, with reference to Setswana—an African language spoken in South Africa, Botswana and Namibia. The study follows the theory of Structuralism to understand the use of proverbs among the Batswana. It is argued that the Batswana are a performative nation; their idiom, represented by their sayings, expresses how they relate to their land—terrestrial and celestial. A catalogue of Setswana proverbs is presented, accompanied by their European equivalents, where applicable, as contained in Sol Plaatje’s Sechuana Proverbs with Literal Translations and Their European Equivalents (1916).
Folklore and the Dynamics of Gender Differentiation: A Feminist Approach
Authors: Maluleke Malehu , Baker Sannah , Masoga Mogomme
Published: September 2022

Culture dictates how people should live, and how they should interact with each other as men and women. A plethora of literature displays that in most African cultures women and men perform different tasks by virtue of their biological make-up. The division of labour between men and women can be traced from the patriarchal system, which is culturally determined. In most African cultures gender differentiation shaped the behaviours of indigenous societies in that it was believed that women are weak and even inferior to men. From an early age, children develop beliefs that are gender-based; this quite often results in different gender roles established for people of different genders. This article aims at critiquing how folklore, through expressions, proverbs, and cultural songs, shapes gender differentiation in the balance of power, as well as the distribution of roles in indigenous communities. The article also seeks to answer the following questions: How does folklore impact on the socialisation of boys and girls? To what extent does folklore impact on gender relations? What role do stories and storytelling play in the maintenance and the transformation of stereotypic gender role behaviour? This article is grounded on a survey of some selected Sesotho sa Leboa literature, both written and oral, amongst others folksongs, proverbs and also language expressions, which to some extent play a role in the division of labour between men and women. In analysing the folksongs, linguistic expressions and proverbial expressions, the article shows how women were portrayed in the context of patriarchal culture.
Narratives of Heroin Users in the Metro South in Cape Town, South Africa: A Subcultural Perspective
Authors: Caswell Dominique , Henderson Neil , Florence Maria , Booley Shakierah
Published: September 2022

Heroin use in the Western Cape, South Africa, has grown exponentially over the last 10 years, more specifically in the Metro South of the Cape Metropole. The objective of this study was to qualitatively explore and explain the existence of a heroin subculture among people of colour in this particular district. The theoretical framework that underlies this study is subcultural theory. The study used snowball sampling with 15 participants (n = 15). In-depth semi-structured interviews were conducted with the participants and transcribed verbatim. The data were analysed via a thematic analysis. Ethics considerations were adhered to. The findings indicated that the participants constructed a subculture in the Metro South, which allowed them to sustain their heroin usage. Dealers, vendors, and police officials contributed to maintaining this subculture. Recommendations suggest that alternative interventions be properly implemented so that the subculture could be dismantled, and that heroin users receive treatment and be reintegrated into society. Furthermore, social workers need to assume more responsibility in preventing heroin usage in the Metro South and other areas.
An Exploration of Social Assistance Programmes in Eswatini, South Africa and Zambia
Authors: Sakala Beatrice , Noyoo Ndangwa , Mabundza-Dlamini Lungile
Published: September 2022

Presently, many countries in the Global South are increasingly recognising the critical role that social assistance programmes play in poverty reduction and the strengthening of the livelihoods of vulnerable groups. This trend has been gaining momentum in Africa, especially in the last decade, with many countries implementing social assistance programmes or social cash transfers to improve people’s living standards. Despite this, there is still a lack of information and evidence on the way in which these programmes are being rolled out in Africa and particularly in southern Africa. In this article, we discuss social assistance programmes in three southern African countries, namely, Eswatini (formerly known as Swaziland), South Africa and Zambia. We attempt to fill the said gap by providing an account of social assistance programmes in the three countries. We examine the way in which national institutions and systems are evolving in response to the provision of social assistance to the citizens of Eswatini, South Africa and Zambia. Through an exploratory study and review of secondary data, we attempt to tease out the key drivers of social assistance programmes in the three countries. Some suggestions are made for improving the social assistance in the three countries.
Bringing Theory to Life in Social Justice Research
Authors: Ulriksen Marianne S. , Plagerson Sophie
Published: September 2022

This article is written in honour of Professor Tessa Hochfeld’s life and work, as part of the special issue on social and gender justice. In the article, we seek to show that Hochfeld positioned herself within the social justice research tradition but was not satisfied with normative ideas of utopian societies; rather theory was only useful in its ability to present solutions to and highlight gaps in states’ efforts to create just societies. We propose several characteristics of theory within social justice-oriented research aiming towards positive change, which Hochfeld through her methodological approach and empirical investigations contributed to. These characteristics of social justice theory are that it is instrumental, emancipatory, incomplete, paradox-sensitive, and relational. We end by bringing these characteristics together to discuss implications for the epistemology of social justice research, for the nature of the state and for the nature of social policy solutions.
Retrieving the Voices of Black African Womanists and Feminists for Work Towards Decoloniality in Social Work
Authors: Rasool Shahana , Harms-Smith Linda
Published: September 2022

The voices of Black African feminists and womanists are often excluded in debates about decoloniality and racism, despite their important scholarly contributions. In this article, we retrieve some of these voices with respect to research and scholarship about decoloniality generally and in work towards decoloniality in a social work programme specifically. During a previous critical and reflective participatory action research process, findings emerged that identified a number of thematic principles. These principles were deemed valuable for further work to disrupt coloniality and work towards decoloniality. These included positioning Afrika as the centre; analysing power dynamics at all levels; foregrounding race, class, and gender as interlocking forms of oppressions in the South African context; maintaining consciousness of structural issues; developing critical conscientisation; privileging the “voice” of those who are silenced; and embracing ubuntu without arrogating it. In this article, we revisit these emergent principles for work towards decoloniality, to recentre and situate Black African feminist and womanist perspectives more prominently. This is critical since Black African feminist and womanist voices are marginalised and elided while there is a critical imperative that they be brought to bear on these principles. These voices not only develop the work towards disrupting the coloniality of gender and patriarchy, but also provide greater depth and criticality to the set of principles.
Understanding the Type of Academic Infractions by Students at an Open Distance University to Design Better Interventions
Authors: Marais Ingrid E
Published: September 2022

Low academic integrity has been highlighted as a threat to the very core of universities, with COVID-19 and remote exams seen as a further risk. Understanding what academic infractions students commit can assist in identifying interventions focused on specific groups and infractions. In this article, I analyse five years’ worth of records from a central disciplinary committee at a distance university. The data are part of a study that I conducted to holistically understand academic integrity at a distance university through conducting interviews, reviewing policies and analysing student disciplinary data. The disciplinary records were obtained from the disciplinary office, captured and students de-identified. The data were then analysed both numerically and qualitatively. In this article, I consider what these records show about the changes over time with regard to the number of cases, the national qualifications framework level, the faculty in which the infractions occur, and the type of infraction. I present the ways in which the type of offences started to change over time from infractions at venue-based exams to online exam infractions. I found that despite more frequent use of online assessments, the institution was largely unprepared for the online examinations that were implemented as a result of COVID-19 in 2020. I conclude that although the last year indicated a significant increase in cases, the number is small when considering the large student body. I argue that to manage academic infractions by students effectively, we should understand and use data not only to inform policy but also to design programmes about academic integrity.
Online Absenteeism and Strategies for Optimising Students’ Participation During COVID-19-Induced Online Learning
Authors: Svongoro Paul
Published: September 2022

Since the last quarter of 2019, the COVID-19 outbreak has spread rapidly around the world which prompted the World Health Organization to declare it a public health emergency and, then, a global pandemic. To reduce the impact of the pandemic, many countries, including Zimbabwe, adopted strategies based on social distancing rules and stay-at-home lockdowns. These strategies had severe disruptive consequences on many sectors, including all levels of education. In the case of the education sector, traditional face-to-face teaching was replaced with online teaching and learning. Although online learning was a necessary intervention which ensured that students continued with learning, it poses some ethical challenges related to genuine participation with regard to both class participation and the completion of assigned exercises, quizzes and tests among other methods of assessment. Put differently, when students are part of online classes, it becomes difficult to tell whether they are in class or not. When using Zoom or Google Meet for instance, students may not have an obligation to unmute their audio and video tools during classes. Second, when assignments and tests are administered and completed online, it is difficult to tell whether students have honestly completed the assigned work on their own or whether third parties were involved.
ANALISIS TINGKAT PEMAHAMAN MASYARAKAT TERHADAP PRODUK PEMBIAYAAN MURABAHAH BANK SYARIAH DI KOTA PEKANBARU
Authors: Melina Ficha , Zulfa Marina
Published: September 2022

Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mengetahui bagaimana tingkat pemahaman masyarakat terhadap produk pembiayaan murabahah bank syariah di Kota Pekanbaru. Adapun metode penelitian ini adalah random sampling yang mana jumlah populasinya sebesar 1.117.359 orang, dengan pengambilan sampel menggunakan rumus Krejcie-Morgan sehingga sampel dalam penelitian ini sebanyak 384 orang. Berdasarkan hasil penelitian ini bahwa pemahaman masyarakat Kota Pekanbaru tentang produk pembiayaan murabahah diukur dari interprestasi, memberi contoh, klarifikasi, meringkas/menyimpulkan, membandingkan dan menjelaskan dapat disimpulkan bahwa pemahaman masyarakat Kota Pekanbaru tentang produk pembiayaan murabahah dikatakan kuat dengan persentase 77.03% atau berada pada wilayah “cukup paham” dan “paham”. Ini maknanya adalah masyarakat Kota Pekanbaru memiliki pemahaman yang cukup atau paham terhadap produk pembiayaan murabahah.
Designing of casual wear for wheelchair users
Authors: Sadretdinova Natalija , Bereznenko Sergij , Bilotska Larysa , Szafrańska Halina , Pawlowa Maria
Published: September 2022

Functionality and comfort are important requirements for adaptive clothing. To ensure the compliance of clothing with these requirements, it is necessary to take into account, on the one hand, consumer conditions, on the other hand specific needs driven from social and psychophysiological adaptation to the living conditions. Thus, for people who are restricted to the sitting position for their entire life due to their disabilities, it is important to avoid skin diseases that occur in conditions of constant contact of the skin with hard surfaces under pressure. Therefore, the aim of our work was to improve functional clothing for disabled people based on the analysis of ergonomics and consumer requirements through the application of new technologies.
On the Mechanisms of Formation of Density Cavities under Instability of Intense Langmuir Oscillations in a Plasma
Authors: Kuklin Volodymyr
Published: September 2022

The paper considers the instability of intense Langmuir oscillations in nonisothermal (Zakharov's model) and cold (Silin's model) 1D plasma. The main attention is paid to the formation of plasma density caverns in the hydrodynamic and hybrid (electrons are described hydrodynamically, ions are described by model particles) representations. In the hydrodynamic representation, with a small number of spectrum modes, large-scale plasma density caverns are observed, which rapidly deepen. This process is supported by the appearance of small-scale perturbations, and phase synchronization of the Langmuir waves of the instability spectrum is observed. This phase synchronization of the spectrum modes is quite capable of fulfilling the role that was previously proposed to be given exclusively to the effect of extrusion of particles from the cavity by the field. In hybrid models, in the region of consideration, ions are described by model particles, the number of which in the one-dimensional case 104-5*105 (which in the three-dimensional case corresponds to the number of particles 1012-1014). The initial spectrum of perturbations is very wide and rather intense, which leads to an explosive growth of perturbations in the Zakharov model and a rapid development of instability in the Silin model. In this case, in the developed instability regime, the formation of many small-scale plasma density caverns is observed. It is the presence of this small-scale modulation due to the Fermi effect that quickly forms the normal distribution of ions over velocities. In this case, the effect of particle heating due to Landau damping loses its primacy. It is shown that the caverns practically do not change their position; phase changes for the spectral components of the plasma density were not observed. Only individual small-scale caverns demonstrate dynamics similar to the development of caverns in the hydrodynamic representation.
The Study of Electronic States of Ni and ScI Molecules with Screened Kratzer Potential
Authors: Inyang Etido , Obisung Effiong
Published: September 2022

In this study, the analytical solutions of the Schrödinger equation with the screened Kratzer potential model is solved using the well-known Nikiforov-Uvarov method. The energy spectrum and the normalized wave function with the Greene-Aldrich approximation to the centrifugal term are obtained. The energy spectrum is used to generate eigenvalues for X3Σ- state of NI and X1Σ+ state of ScI molecules respectively. The calculated results agree excellently with the experimental data. This research finds application in chemistry, industry, molecular physics and studies on magnetocaloric effect for several molecules. Our findings also demonstrate that the approximation scheme is well suited for this potential.
Comprehensive Assessment of Biological Substrates of Professional Sick Person Group by Chemometric and Nuclear Physical Methods
Authors: Коzhevnikova Maryna , Levenets Volodymyr , Omelnyk Oleksandr , Shchur Andriy
Published: September 2022

The article deals with the influence of negative factors of working conditions on the health status of NSC KIPT personnel when working with beryllium. Beryllium and its compounds render a general toxic, allergenic and carcinogenic effect on the organism. The high biological activity and toxicity of Be is due to its chemical activity and penetrating ability. The chronic professional disease such as berylliosis occurs as a result of prolonged systematic exposure on the organism of adverse factors. Elemental analysis of biosubstrates provides important information, that in combination with symptoms and other laboratory parameters, can help in the early diagnostics of physiological violations associated with metabolic disorders and exposure of toxic elements. The blood and hair samples were taken from 28 people, among which 5 patients were selected as a control group, and a group of 23 people were former employees of the beryllium production. The content of chemical elements in the biological substrates (blood and hair) of employees was determined by nuclear-physical methods. An elemental analysis was performed on the analytical nuclear physics complex appliance “Sokol”. The methods based on registration of characteristic X-ray radiation of atoms and g-radiation of nuclei excited by accelerated protons is used. After measurements, data arrays were obtained on the content of 14 chemical elements (N, Na, S, Cl, K, Ca, Ti, Mn, Fe, Cu, Zn, Br, Sr, Pb) in blood and hair. The processing of data arrays was carried out using the principal component method which is related to chemometrics technologies. As a result of the work, an analytical program was composed in MATLAB codes which were used to determine the content of elements in biosubstrates that are most sensitive to changes in external conditions. This made it possible to identify certain groups of patients who have different health state indicators, as well as to see the similarities or differences between patients depending on the different concentrations of chemical elements in the blood or hair.
Contour based x-ray image classification system for detection of covid-19
Authors: Neelapala Anil Kumar , Ravuri Daniel , Prudhvi Kiran Pasam
Published: September 2022

COVID-19 is a worldwide epidemic in recent times, as announced by the World Health Organization in early 2020. The disease is extremely contagious, affecting the respiratory system and affecting oxygen saturation in the circulatory system. In the current scenario, there are many testing procedures and processes to diagnose COVID-19. These procedures majorly face the challenges of accuracy and delay response because of their testing mechanisms. Machine learning techniques make it easy to support effective diagnostics with images and text data, but it requires a huge amount of test and training data, which requires a huge amount of memory and processing time. In support of efficient quality inference and minimal latency as the main challenge of COVID-19 detection, there are several methods that can provide a better solution to overcome these challenges through the use of cutting-edge trending technologies such as digital imaging techniques. In this study, as a first step to demonstrate machine learning algorithms to achieve high performance, digital imaging techniques were tested through the analysis, classification, and segmentation of chest x-ray (CXR) images. The proposed model starts with feature extraction from input chest x-ray images to determine if the image is COVID-19 or non-COVID-19. This diagnostic model delivers the most interesting results with 96.5% accuracy, minimal latency, and cost-effective standardized COVID-19 tests.
Roll for Mixed Reality
Authors:   , Trengrove Thomas
Published: September 2022

Mixed-Reality (MR) is a growing area of interest in the tabletop board game market as a way of heightening the ways we can interact with our physical games. Traditional table-top roleplaying games (TTRPG) such as Dungeons & Dragons (D&D) and Warhammer are well known for their immersive phenomenological narrative experiences (White, 2014) and engaging analogue interaction with tangible game pieces (Liu et al, 2021). MR offers new ways of building on these elements to enhance the immersive and haptic interactive gameplay experience while retaining the popular elements of TTRPGs. This research explores the technical possibilities and limitations of holographic headsets such as the Microsoft Hololens with the purpose of enhancing immersion within encounters in the TTRPG experience.
ИННОВАЦИОННОЕ РАЗВИТИЕ ПРОМЫШЛЕННОСТИ В УСЛОВИЯХ ДЕИНДУСТРИАЛИЗАЦИИ РОССИЙСКИХ РЕГИОНОВ
Authors: Идзиев Гаджимурад Идзиевич
Published: September 2022

Цель работы. В современных политических условиях санкций, закрытия границ и ограничения импорта технологичной продукции для регионов открывается возможность инновационного развития и обеспечения конкурентоспособности экономики на основе новой индустриализации. Реализация этой стратегии, прежде всего, ставит своей целью повышение удельного веса высокотехнологичной продукции и закрепление за регионом соответствующей специализации. Метод или методология проведения работы. В статье приводится анализ данных по удельному весу продукции высокотехнологичных и наукоемких отраслей и доли обрабатывающих производств в ВВП страны за последние 15 лет. Низкий уровень данных показателей в сравнении со странами Западной Европы и США является свидетельством деиндустриализации страны, низкой производительности труда, высокого уровня энергоемкости и материалоемкости производства, отставания по уровню и качеству жизни населения. Результаты. Обосновывается тезис о необходимости смены вектора развития национальной промышленности в направлении реиндустриализации, ориентированной на развитие высокотехнологичных производств особенно в региональных экономиках. Такой путь проведения процесса реиндустриализации предполагает развитие промышленной базы, являющейся основой для инноваций и использующей эти инновации для собственного развития. Индустриальные регионы – это фундамент для развития национальной экономики. Выводы. Формирование и реализация индивидуальной региональной стратегии развития, прежде всего, ставит своей целью изменение структуры регионального производства, повышение удельного веса высокотехнологичной продукции и закрепление за регионом соответствующей специализации.