Interrogating the post-apartheid socio-economic transformation in Mdantsane,Buffalo City

While scholarly concentration has been given to the challenges and opportunities for urban transformation in democratic South Africa, there are still pockets of areas which fall short of intensive examination, particularly in the topic of transforming hidden urban communities. In order to interrogate the socio-economic transformation of the hidden urbanites in a post-apartheid policy regime, this paper draws heavily from empirical evidence of Mdantsane, the second largest township in South Africa. It triangulates data obtained through unstructured in-depth interviews with that gathered from census surveys and other government reports. The study indicates that despite notable policy strides to facilitate the much sought after transformation, Mdantsane’s urban landscape still suffers from development gaps that are largely reflected in socio-economic spatial inequalities. Although these findings generally resonate with scholarly evidence established in other urban areas in South Africa, we argue about the peculiarity of Mdantsane’s case, which is chiefly associated with a complex matrix of policy events and physiographic constraints that would need a revisit if the envisaged development plans are to become a reality.     

Dimensions of drought: South African case studies

The recent drought in southern Africa has underscored the need for detailed analysis of the phenomenon. While geographers have researched the causes and impacts of drought in many African contexts, South Africa and in particular its Bantustans have not received sufficient similar attention. This paper outlines firstly the dimensions of drought in South Africa, including the biophysical and socio-economic factors. Issues such as land-use management, drought planning and relief are interrogated in the South African context. The final section of the paper highlights these debates with specific reference to case studies of past and present drought initiatives in South Africa.     

Sex offenders,housing and spatial restriction zones

Sex offenders are currently a major focus of crime control policies at the local, regional, state and federal levels throughout the United States. In part, the perceived threat of offender recidivism has motivated legislators to launch stringent community notification programs and to establish spatial restriction zones (SRZs) around schools, daycare facilities and public parks. The purpose of these restriction zones is to help protect children and minimize their exposure to convicted sex offenders living in the community. In addition to the concern that the implementation of SRZs dramatically reduces viable housing options for registered sex offenders, there are concerns that offenders will be forced to reside in socially disorganized areas that may encourage recidivism. The purpose of this paper is to explore the demographic and socioeconomic differences between areas inside and outside SRZs. Implications of these results for sex offender policies are discussed.

New housing/new crime? Changes in safety,governance and everyday incivilities for residents relocated from informal to formal housing at Hammond’s Farm,eThekwini

New state-subsidised ‘RDP’ housing in South Africa aims to provide former informally-housed residents with a better quality of life, stronger community and decreased levels of crime. Despite the state’s ambitions, this process is highly contradictory, increases in safety occurring alongside rising incivilities and tensions. This paper contributes to an emerging set of debates on the socio-political outcomes of state-led housing interventions in the global South, through an illustration of the limitations of efforts to produce ‘safe neighbourhoods’ in contexts of high unemployment alongside high levels of violence. The conceptual framing of ‘Southern Criminology’ (Carrington et al., 2015), centres the significance of histories of colonial and post-colonial violence, inequality, hybrid governance and justice practices, as well as informal living, and is employed to analyse recently housed residents’ experiences of crime and safety in South Africa, in a north eThekwini settlement, Hammond’s Farm. Recognising these ‘Southern’ factors, the paper argues that movement into new formal housing, is typified by significant material changes at the home and neighbourhood scale which foster privacy and safety, formalised governance practices and (partial) improvements in policing services. These occur in conjunction with access to new leisure activities including alcohol consumption and ‘township life’ which alongside ongoing poverty foster urban incivilities. A ‘Southern Criminology’ perspective frames concluding questions about the nature of crime in contexts of urban change, which are persistently shaped by inequality and wider historical and structural factors, challenging the state’s aspirations to achieve crime reduction through housing.     

Flooding trends and their impacts on coastal communities of Western Cape Province,South Africa

Climate change-induced extreme weather events have been at their worst increase in the past decade (2010–2020) across Africa and globally. This has proved disruptive to global socio-economic activities. One of the challenges that has been faced in this regard is the increased coastal flooding of cities. This study examined the trends and impacts of coastal flooding in the Western Cape province of South Africa. Making use of archival climate data and primary data from key informants and field observations, it emerged that there is a statistically significant increase in the frequency of flooding and consequent human and economic losses from such in the coastal cities of the province. Flooding in urban areas of the Western Cape is a factor of human and natural factors ranging from extreme rainfall, usually caused by persistent cut off-lows, midlatitude cyclones, cold fronts and intense storms. Such floods become compounded by poor drainage caused by vegetative overgrowth on waterways and land pollution that can be traced to poor drainage maintenance. Clogging of waterways and drainage systems enhances the risk of flooding. Increased urbanisation, overpopulation in some areas and non-adherence to environmental laws results in both the affluent and poor settling on vulnerable ecosystems. These include coastal areas, estuaries, and waterways, and this worsens the risk of flooding. The study recommends a comprehensive approach to deal with factors that increase the risk of flooding as informed by the provisions of both the Sustainable Development Goals framework and the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015–2030 in a bid to de-risking human settlement in South Africa.

     

非洲锰矿床成矿规律、开发利用与勘查建议

锰矿是我国重要的战略矿产资源,需求量不断增长,长期依赖国外资源保障供需关系。本文总结分析了非洲锰矿资源的特点、矿床类型与成矿规律等地质特征与勘查开发利用及贸易现状。分析表明：非洲是全球探明锰矿储量和资源量最多的地区,具有分布集中,规模大、品位高、杂质少的特点;锰矿床类型主要有条带状含铁建造（BIF）型、海相沉积型、海相火山-沉积型、陆相（湖相三角洲）沉积型、岩浆热液型等五大类,普遍遭受表生风化淋滤（溶蚀）作用改造;主要分布在卡普瓦尔克拉通、刚果克拉通西北部的加蓬地块和西非克拉通南缘的马恩-莱奥地盾中;成矿时代主要集中于前寒武纪,尤其是2.2~2.0Ga;非洲锰矿资源的勘查开发程度较高,其中南非是非洲锰矿勘查程度最高的国家,中非、北非国家的勘查开发程度较低;南非是全球最大的锰矿石生产国和锰矿产品出口国,目前占全球出口量的68.19%以上,我国是非洲锰矿产的最大出口地,占其出口总量的70.19%。建议：我国在非洲的勘查应重点关注非洲中部的条带状含铁建造（BIF）型锰矿和海相火山-沉积型锰矿;在非洲已有的中企基础上,组建大型的集团公司,建立多元的锰矿资源供应体系。     

Power and the hierarchy of knowledge: A review of a decade of the World Bank’s relationship with South Africa

This article presents a case study of the World Bank’s relationship with South Africa to argue that the Bank uses its knowledge brokering role as a device to facilitate the development of a lending relationship with countries that may initially be reluctant to enter into this kind of engagement. This article reviews the World Bank’s 10-year effort to develop a lending relationship with South Africa. The Bank inserted itself into the country in the early 1990s at the outset of its democratic transformation. Throughout the decade, South Africa acceded to the Bank’s policy interventions through technical assistance rather than through a concerted lending programme. In doing so, South Africa internalized the Bank’s market-driven political economy framework underlying its technical assistance programme. The country’s application of the Bank’s knowledge has had questionable outcomes for its development agenda. While the Bank’s ‘expert’ interventions may have offered valuable technical insights, it neglected the politics of distribution that are embedded in a more localized knowledge formation process. The result has led to the instrumentalization of local governance and undermined the engagement of civil society actors in the construction of a democratic state at the local level.     

Poverty, vulnerability and the impact of flooding in the Limpopo Province, South Africa

The article evaluates household vulnerability after the 2000 flood in two poor communities of the Limpopo Province, South Africa. The study analyses the forms of vulnerability which disasters such as floods present. Using data gathered from a survey of households, the study presents the impacts, coping and adapting strategies of households after the 2000 flood. The article argues that beyond the concern over socio-economic circumstances as the major determinant of household vulnerability, the management of the disaster can serve to perpetuate vulnerability.     

Privatising public space in post-apartheid South African cities through neighbourhood enclosures

In the past five years the numbers of enclosed neighbourhoods have significantly increased in South Africa. These are existing neighbourhoods that are closed off through gates and booms across the roads. Many of these neighbourhoods are fenced or walled off as well, with a limited number of controlled entrances/exits, manned by security guards in some cases. The roads within these neighbourhoods were previously, or still are public property and in most cases the local council is still responsible for public services to the community within the enclosed neighbourhoods. In this way public urban space is privatised, whether formally or informally. I will explore the distribution of enclosed neighbourhoods in South Africa on a national scale and within two metropolitan municipalities, viz., the cities of Johannesburg and Tshwane. Then I proceed to highlight the nature and impact of these neighbourhoods on the privatisation of public space and draw on a wide basis of empirical data obtained through a national survey and in-depth case studies. Finally I will conclude with examples of lessons learnt from South Africa and how these may relate to international experience and future research on gated communities.     

The changing geography of traditional medicine: Urban herbalism on the Witwatersrand,South Africa

While medical geographers have generally ignored medical pluralism in developing countries, a small but significant geographical literature on traditional medicine has emerged. Progress for research by geographers on traditional medicine lies through a broader contextualisation of medical pluralism sensitive to the socio-economic and political context of health and disease. In this paper, a brief overview of medical pluralism in South Africa is presented. Issues surrounding the changing geography of traditional medicine are illustrated with reference to urban herbalism on the Witwatersrand.     

Customary tenure systems under siege: contemporary access to land in Northern Ghana

Land in most of Africa is controlled under the customary tenure system which is governed by well intentioned social and cultural rules meant to grant equal access to families within groups with common interest in land. Rapid changes in the domestic situation of countries resulting from both refractions of policies and influences from the global economy and emerging complexities within the local socio-economic context has altered the traditional land tenure systems in most parts of Africa. In the rural setting and for agricultural purposes, the customary tenure system seems to be crumbling slowly, while in the urban centres and for housing, industrial and commercial purposes the system has collapsed in favour of a commoditised one. The emerging patterns of access in Northern Ghana show growing inequalities in access, control and ownership. There is the need for a new architecture of land rights negotiated by a participatory process and regulated by both state and traditional institutions.     

Functions and organizational structure of the proposed Natural Resources Management Facility in Mozambique

The proposed Natural Resources Management Facility (NRMF) seeks to achieve poverty reduction and employment generation through ecologically sustainable, economically viable and people-participatory management of natural resources (resources of waters and soils, coastal and marine resources, ecotourism, energy resources, mineral and other resources). The NRMF will have five functional divisions for technology policy, environmental education, extramural cooperation, technical facility and information network, and international cooperation. At the heart of the NRMF is a state-of-the-art analytical laboratory (with ICP-AES, GC-ECD, GC-MS, etc.) in Maputo. This will be networked with five field stations which will have portable instruments for water, soil, food, etc. analysis. The NRMF will custom-design integrated natural resource management models for different areas of the country, in the context of their particular biophysical and socio-economic environments. Innovative management techniques have been developed to make the NRMF sustainable and largely self-financing. The NRMF will cooperate with, and assist the member countries of SADC (Southern Africa Development Community) in environmental management for mutual benefit, and could, hopefully, serve as a pilot model for the countries of sub-Saharan Africa. Received: 30 September 1997 · Accepted: 3 February 1998     

Spatial patterns and correlates of mortality due to selected non-communicable diseases among adults in South Africa, 2011

South Africa has a high prevalence of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) compared to other African countries. Government has predicted that NCDs will be a major threat of health in the country in the next 20–30 years and recommended a significant reduction in NCDs. This research studies spatial patterns of deaths resulting from chronic lower respiratory diseases (CLRD), malignant neoplasms of digestive organs (MNDO), diabetes mellitus (DM) and cerebrovascular diseases (CVD) among adults aged 15–69 years in 2011 at municipality level. The study uses secondary data from the civil registration system; population census; and supplementary information from the Business Register and a database of public health facilities. Moran’s Index, hot spot analysis and geographically weighted regression were applied to measure spatial autocorrelation of age-standardised death rates; to identify municipalities of high risk of deaths due to selected NCDs; and associated socio-economic and demographic factors. Clusters of high risk of deaths from selected NCDs were identified, with those for CLRD and MNDO mainly in the urban municipalities around the mid and western parts of the country while for DM and CVD they occurred mostly in the urban and rural north-eastern part, as well as in the urban municipalities of Northern Cape for CVD. Hot spots showed differential socio-economic and demographic risk factors in NCDs, which included sex, urbanisation, density of public hospitals; death occurrence in health facilities; smoking; asbestos roofing; mining and quarrying businesses. Findings highlight the importance of community-specific interventions and the need for a neighbourhood-based approach in tackling NCDs.     

THE PREPARATION AND CERTIFICATION OF FOURTEEN SOUTH AFRICAN SILICATE ROCKS FOR USE AS REFERENCE MATERIALS*

This report describes the preparation, analysis and certification of South African Reference Materials (SARMs) 39 to 52. These materials, which comprise a suite of rock materials originally named SAROCs, were collected from many locations within the Republic of South Africa. Nineteen laboratories in five countries used a variety of analytical techniques to provide the analytical results. The certified and tentative values that have been assigned to a number of constituents are presented in tabular form in appendices.     

An imbalance of power: The geography of electricity provision in urban areas of South Africa

Astract The geography of electricity provision in South Africa is examined, indicating intra- and inter-urban inequalities. The fractured electricity supply industry is identified as being responsible for such variations. Interim strategies and long-term proposals to rectify spatial differentiations in electricity provision are explored. A spatial reconstitution of the electricity supply industry, based at the regional level and including new partnerships and community control, is proposed to redress inequalities in electricity provision.     

Language change in South Africa: A geographical perspective

In the changing multi-ethnic South African society of the nineties, language planning has become a top priority on the national agenda of reform. Comprehension of the territorial dimensions of language is crucial if we are to penetrate its true cultural, economic and political effect. South Africa's language policy, as defined in the interim constitution, focuses mainly on the fact that in future the country will accommodate eleven official languages with equal status. Obviously, the nine provinces do not each have eleven official languages. A provincial legislative may, by a two-thirds majority vote, declare any of the national languages a provincial official language for the whole province or a part thereof. In the light of this it is of vital importance that the country's regional language patterns be analysed on a geographical basis. A visual and statistical representation of the geolinguistic realities in South Africa could support the planning and transformation process currently taking place at all levels of government in this multilingual country. The aim of this paper is to address the following geolinguistic issues on a national scale:

• The spatial identification of the official language distribution on a macro level;
• The time-space pattern of language change between 1980 and 1991;
• The demographic and socio-economic profile of language speakers;
• The consequences of the findings for ethno-linguistic restructuring in a post-apartheid South Africa.

The analysis of the 37 million people's first home languages in South Africa has been accomplished by utilizing an ARC/INFO Geographical Information System linked with the 374 statistical districts. Although the country is ethnically and culturally very diverse, three language groups, namely isiZulu, isiXhosa and Afrikaans, dominate the linguistic scene. Their respective distribution patterns are fairly segregated within specific regions, while their relative change patterns are substantially influenced by urbanization trends and political restructuring.     

From networks to uses patterns: the digital divide as seen from Africa

This paper gives an account of the work carried out in the AFRICA’NTI research network, which gathered together a hundred, mostly African, researchers. The results were presented at the conference on “the North–South Digital Divide” in 2003 and 2004 (see www.africanti.org). From network to uses patterns, it first questions the way in which the subject is defined. This is a controversial question; should we speak of a “ditch” rather than of “fracture”? This depends on the point of view, but also on the geopolitical situation, and is difficult to measure. The digital divide may be less important than it is usually believed. This paper presents several types of approaches dealing with the opportunities of new technologies for Africa, geographical aspects stressing the diversity of the situations considered, and the importance of a multilevel systemic analysis based on case studies. It is shown that a slow down in the dynamics of equipment has been observed in Africa for both mobile telephony and the Internet. This then raises the question of a risk of regression for the continent, based on the idea that inequalities in access and uses of ICTs matter less than whether these uses improve the living conditions of the poor people concerned.     

Robustness of the holistic seismic risk evaluation in urban centers using the USRi

The Urban Seismic Risk index (USRi) published in a previous article (Carreño et al., Nat Hazards 40:137–172, 2007) is a composite indicator that measures risk from an integrated perspective and guides decision-making for identifying the main interdisciplinary factors of vulnerability to be reduced or intervened. The first step of the method is the evaluation of the potential physical damage (hard approach) as a result of the convolution of the seismic hazard with the physical vulnerability of buildings and infrastructure. Subsequently, a set of social context conditions that aggravate the physical effects is also considered (soft approach). According to this procedure, the physical risk index is evaluated for each unit of analysis from existing loss scenarios, whereas the total risk index is obtained by multiplying the former index by an impact factor using an aggravating coefficient, based on variables associated with the socio-economic conditions of each unit of analysis. The USRi has been developed using the underlying holistic and multi-hazard approach of the Urban Risk Index framework proposed for the evaluation of disaster risk in different megacities worldwide. This article presents the sensitivity analysis of the index to different parameters such as input data, weights and transformation functions used for the scaling or normalization of variables. This analysis has been performed using the Monte Carlo simulation to validate the robustness of this composite indicator, understanding as robustness how the cities maintain the ranking as well as predefined risk level ranges, when compared with the deterministic results of risk. Results are shown for different cities of the world.     

An analysis of gender-based reversal in life expectancy in southern Africa

This paper uses a geographic perspective in discussing the social inequalities in health between men and women in southern Africa. Keeping in mind the reality of data scarcity that show male and female differences in mortality, this paper uses life expectancy data to illustrate the widening gender inequalities in access to health. The analysis in the paper addresses two main objectives. First, the paper reviews the literature on the underlying factors behind the presence of drastic differences between male and female life expectancies. Secondly, the paper examines in greater detail the trends and geographical patterns in life expectancy in southern African countries, particularly the reversal of life expectancy in favor of men during the past 30?years or so. The results of the analysis show a worrisome trend in life expectancies with regard to gender. The advantage in life expectancy that females had over men before 1980 has all but disappeared during the past 25?years. To make matters worse, life expectancy declined dramatically for both males and females, and in some cases the declines were more than 10?years. Women experienced greater declines in life expectancy lowering them to below those of men, a condition contrary to what existed before the 1980s. The upsurge in HIV infections and the attendant high female mortality rates as well as other factors have combined to result in the unequal gender realities in as far as life expectancies are concerned in the countries of southern Africa.     

岛礁吹填珊瑚砂力学行为与颗粒破碎特性试验研究

珊瑚砂是岛礁陆域吹填唯一的材料,因其特殊的海洋生物成因和孔隙结构特征,珊瑚砂颗粒在常规工程应力水平下就会发生破碎。通过对取自南海某吹填岛礁的珊瑚砂开展室内三轴固结排水剪切试验,研究珊瑚砂强度、变形参数和颗粒破碎程度随相对密实度、围压的演变规律,并与其他研究成果中的南海珊瑚砂强度参数进行对比分析。研究结果表明:珊瑚砂应变软化及剪胀特征随有效围压的增大、密实度的减小而逐渐减弱;在常规应力范围内,得到珊瑚砂峰值摩擦角和临界状态摩擦角的取值范围分别为33°～58°和28°～47°,且均随有效围压的增大而减小;建立了珊瑚砂割线模量E₅₀与相对密实度、有效围压间的关系式;珊瑚砂峰值摩擦角与修正相对破碎指数B_r^*间的关系可用指数为负数的幂函数关系式拟合,且当颗粒破碎程度较高时,峰值摩擦角随修正相对破碎指数的增大而减小的趋势变缓;珊瑚砂修正相对破碎指数随塑性功的增大近似以双曲线的形式增长,密实度对两者间的关系影响不大。该研究成果可为南海岛礁基础设施的安全设计提供参考。