Informality is growing with Africa’s rapid urbanization. Much like residents of other types of informal housing, backyard dwellers face overall poor living conditions and political marginalization. However, backyard residents are in an ambiguous legal area and have been far less politically active and organized to pursue their rights to adequate housing. Using a qualitative case study of backyard residents in three Cape Town neighborhoods, Harris, Scheba, and Rice bridge theories of infrastructural citizenship and collective action to shed light on how informality may undermine collective action, and they identify four factors influencing collective action.

English is imposed as the language of instruction in multiple linguistically diverse societies where there is more than one official language. This might have negative educational consequences for people whose first language (L1) is not English. To investigate this, 47 South Africans with advanced English proficiency but different L1s (L1-English vs. L1-Zulu) were evaluated in their listening comprehension ability. Specifically, participants listened to narrative texts in English which prompted an initial inference followed by a sentence containing an expected inference or an unexpected but plausible concept, assessing comprehension monitoring. A final question containing congruent or incongruent information in relation to the text information followed, assessing the revision process. L1-English participants were more efficient at monitoring and revising their listening comprehension. Furthermore, individual differences in inhibitory control were associated with differences in revision. Results show that participants’ L1 appears to supersede their advanced English proficiency on highly complex listening comprehension.

A number of reports have shown that workers with certain characteristics are disproportionately affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Since these characteristics are associated with vulnerable workers, we hypothesise that the income distribution in the pandemic era will be polarised compared to the pre-pandemic period. This article compares the pre-COVID income distribution (February 2020) with the one that prevailed just after the hard lockdown (April 2020). Consistent with the hypothesis, the result shows evidence of polarisation. Disaggregating the analysis by worker characteristics, we find that the polarisation was stronger in vulnerable groups. Our decomposition result suggests that, apart from job losses, returns to gender and job characteristics explain the location and shape differences in the COVID-19 era income distribution. Although this analysis only looks at the short-term effect of the pandemic on income distribution, the result suggests that the structure of labour markets in developing countries is not conducive to a future of work where disruptions (or pandemics) may become more frequent.

Food-based dietary guidelines promote consumption of a variety of nutritious foods for optimal health and prevention of chronic disease. However, adherence to these guidelines is challenging because of high food costs. The present study aimed to determine the nutrient density of foods relative to cost in South Africa, with the aim to identify foods within food groups with the best nutritional value per cost. A checklist of 116 food items was developed to record the type, unit, brand and cost of foods. Food prices were obtained from the websites of three national supermarkets and the average cost per 100 g edible portion was used to calculate cost per 100 kcal (418 kJ) for each food item. Nutrient content of the food items was obtained from the South African Food Composition Tables. Nutrient density was calculated using the Nutrient Rich Food (NRF9.3) Index. Nutrient density relative to cost was calculated as NRF9.3/price per 100 kcal. Vegetables and fruits had the highest NRF9.3 score and cost per 100 kcal. Overall, pulses had the highest nutritional value per cost. Fortified maizemeal porridge and bread had the best nutritional value per cost within the starchy food group. Foods with the least nutritional value per cost were fats, oils, foods high in fat and sugar, and foods and drinks high in sugar. Analysis of nutrient density and cost of foods can be used to develop tools to guide low-income consumers to make healthier food choices by identifying foods with the best nutritional value per cost.

The African Studies community has reinvigorated discussions about the racial and power dynamics of the field in the past few years. A core question has been how to Africanize knowledge production. Hadfield’s practical example as a white American historian involving Black South African oral history interview participants in different stages of the research process shows that successfully including interview participants in the interpretation stage requires clarity and transparency throughout. If meaningful dialogue is employed and human connections prioritized, the result should be a more accurate and inclusive process that satisfies all, even if scholars and participants disagree.

The focus of wildlife rehabilitation is the survival of the individual animal, often leading to rehabilitators being in conflict with government wildlife officials, who regulate the industry and whose focus is on the security of entire wildlife communities. In South Africa, wildlife rehabilitation has been the focus of recent attention from the general public, government and academics, due mostly to the development and adoption of norms and standards for the management of primates. Our study was initiated to provide the first survey of rehabilitation centres in South Africa. Questionnaires were returned by 65% known rehabilitation centres in South Africa, including all nine Provinces, through which several thousand injured, diseased and orphaned animals pass each year. It is clear there is a need for rehabilitation centres in South Africa. However, due to a lack of scientific research on the efficacy of rehabilitation methods for care and release, and minimal post-release monitoring, wildlife rehabilitation techniques and protocols have been based on work experience and subjective intuition. In conjunction with a lack of funds, there may be negative impacts on individual animal welfare and survival, as well as on conservation efforts for wildlife communities. Similar issues have been documented in other regions of the world. In the authors’ opinion, centralisation of wildlife rehabilitation to national or provincial government is a necessity. Furthermore, it is suggested that guidelines of minimum standards should be developed in consultation with experienced rehabilitators, veterinarians and conservation scientists; to be enforced by trained and dedicated conservation officials.

Links between gender politics and leadership in trade unions and how these impact collective bargaining gender agendas are explored in this study of trade unionism in Brazil and South Africa. What the International Trade Union Confederation and others refer to as ‘unexplained’ gender pay gaps are discussed in relation to the absence of women in the collective bargaining process. This examination draws on research in both countries and concludes that gender leadership gaps and gender pay gaps are related.

Breeding and housing wild animals in captive environments can pose challenges for their welfare. In South Africa, thousands of lions (Panthera leo) are bred and raised at commercial captive breeding facilities, so called ‘lion farms’, for use in tourism, trophy hunting and traditional medicine. To gain a better understanding of the potential welfare challenges faced by lions on farms we reviewed 91 peer-reviewed articles relating to lion welfare, identified via a systematic review of the scientific literature. Across these studies, we identified 170 different terms relating to negative behaviours and physical health afflictions. The majority of these terms were associated with disease and injury (124; 73%), followed by negative behaviours (19; 11%), negative mental experiences (15; 9%), nutritional concerns (7; 4%), and environmental challenges or discomfort arising from the animal's surroundings (5; 3%). Of the 91 articles, 32 (35%) focused on data concerning captive lions. Only two studies focused specifically on data obtained from lion farms in South Africa, whilst the remainder reported on data collected from zoos, wildlife parks, sanctuaries, game reserves and private ownership. Our preliminary review of the scientific literature draws attention to some of the challenges associated with caring for lions in captivity, and outlines the potential significance of these welfare challenges for commercial lion farms. Our data highlight the apparent lack of scientific research involving captive lion welfare generally, particularly data collected at commercial breeding facilities in South Africa and the consequences this could have for the welfare of thousands of lions within the industry.

The coronavirus pandemic has changed the nature of work, with physical distancing regulations aimed at preventing infections necessitating work-from-home (WFH) arrangements. Studies indicate that many individuals prefer working from home due to fear of contracting the virus at work. However, not all work can be performed from home. Moreover, jobs that are amenable to be performed from home generally pay more, while the ability to WFH will likely increase income inequality. Therefore, we ascertained socio-economic inequalities in ability to WFH among South African employees during the pandemic. We used data from the National Income Dynamics Study-Coronavirus Rapid Mobile Survey, a nationally representative longitudinal survey of South Africans conducted during the pandemic. We found that the ability to WFH was pro-rich (i.e. concentrated on workers in higher socio-economic classes) in all study periods. The results were robust to the use of different ranking variables and varying the age cut-off. There was no gender difference in these inequalities. Casual employment, urban residence, being married/cohabiting, age and household size dampened the degree to which ability to WFH favoured those in higher socio-economic classes. Conversely, being non-African, living in a house/flat and having more education increased the pro-richness of the ability to WFH. This study highlights the significant inequalities associated with ability to WFH, a likely important positive determinant of welfare in the pandemic and post-pandemic periods. Interventions targeted at inequality-enhancing factors such as race, housing and education may be important in lowering these inequalities.

Each year, worldwide, large numbers of wild animals are taken to rehabilitation centres for treatment, care and release. Although analysis of intake records may provide valuable insight into the threats and impacts to wildlife, there are few such published reports. Four years of intake records from a large urban rehabilitation centre in South Africa were examined for trends. Animal intake rate was high (2,701 [± 94] per annum). Most of the intake (90%) was birds, with few mammals (8%) and reptiles (2%), and most of these were of locally common species (eg doves, pigeons). This reflects the findings of other studies, namely that species living in close association with humans are the most frequently admitted to rehabilitation centres. In total, most of the animals admitted (43%) were juveniles, which were assumed to be abandoned or orphaned. The implications of then rehabilitating these juveniles, which were largely uninjured, are three-fold: should humans be interfering with nature if the cause was not human-related, can each juvenile (especially in these large numbers) be adequately prepared to survive and thrive when released into the wild, and is there space in the environment for them, without causing harm to others already in the environment. This study suggests that the large numbers of animals currently being admitted to the centre may be reduced, possibly through increased public education; in particular to leave uninjured juveniles in the wild. Furthermore, improvements in the centre's recording system may allow for use in funding requests and various research opportunities.

This article aims to set out some progressive, mainly post-Keynesian, macroeconomic policy ideas for debate and further research in the context of macroeconomic challenges faced by South Africa today. Despite some successes, including at reducing poverty, the South African economy has been characterised by low growth, rising unemployment and increasing inequality, which together with rampant corruption and governance failures combine to threaten the very core of the country’s stability and democracy. The neo-liberal economic policies that the African National Congress–led government surprisingly adopted in 1996 in order to assuage global markets sceptical of its historical support for dirigiste economic policy, have simply not worked. Appropriate progressive macroeconomic interventions are urgently needed to head off the looming prospect of a failed state in the country which Nelson Mandela led to democracy after his release from prison in February 1990. What happens in Africa’s southern tip should still matter for progressives all around the world. The article draws on both history and theory to demonstrate the roots of such progressive heterodox economic thinking and support for a more carefully coordinated activist state-led macroeconomic policy, both in general terms and in the South African context. It shows that such approaches to growth and development – far from being populist – also have a rich history and respectable theoretical pedigree behind them and are worthy of inclusion in the South African policy debate.

This study evaluates the methods utilised to release and monitor three troops of rehabilitated vervet monkeys (Chlorocebus aethiops) in South Africa. In all cases, monitoring was poor and conducted over a short time-frame disallowing release outcomes to be fully assessed. Wild troops were present at two of the three locations, casting doubt upon sightings of released monkeys and indicating that the release sites chosen were unsuitable and presented disease risks to the wild vervets. Eighty-three percent of monkeys were unaccounted for at the end of monitoring. Any future releases should make use of radio or GPS collars to track the monkeys, have a planned monitoring schedule covering a period of at least one year, collect detailed data on behaviour, demographics and ecology and should follow the IUCN Guidelines for Non-Human Primate Re-introductions.