How Malleable is the ‘Gold Standard’?: A Case Study in Respect of South Africa’s Access to Information Regime

2013 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wilhelm Peekhaus
Keyword(s):  
South African ◽  
Gold Standard ◽  
Genetically Engineered ◽  
Access To Information ◽  
Government Information ◽  
Genetically Engineered Plants ◽  
Société Civile ◽  
Environmental Organisation ◽  
Information Regime

This paper examines the difficulties encountered by Biowatch, a South African civil society environmental organisation, in its attempts to obtain access to government information in respect of genetically engineered plants. The elaboration of the case is based on interviews conducted with the Director of Biowatch and the organisation’s legal counsel.Cette communication porte sur les difficultés rencontrées par Biowatch, une organisation environnementale de la société civile sud-africaine, lors de ses tentatives d’obtenir accès aux données gouvernementales relativement aux plantes issues du génie génétique. L’élaboration du cas se base sur des entrevues menées auprès du directeur de Biowatch et le conseiller juridique de l’organisation.

scholarly journals GIS and Data Management of Champedak and Local Wisdom of Champedak Gardener, Satun Province

2018 ◽  
Vol 250 ◽  
pp. 01011
Author(s):  
Aumnat Tongkaw ◽  
Sasalak Tongkaw
Keyword(s):  
User Interface ◽  
Data Management ◽  
Genetic Conservation ◽  
Genetically Engineered ◽  
Research Tool ◽  
Service Area ◽  
Application Development ◽  
Gis Application ◽  
Genetically Engineered Plants

This research is a GIS application for data management of the Champedak local wisdom. Champedak is a kind of plant, farmed in Satun Province. This research is an application development which practices computer innovation technology to help proceed, develop ideas and improve the ecological operations relating to the resources in the area. The application is for collecting Champedak information associated with the sustainable genetic conservation of Champedak plants. This will assist to record primary information, including the location of the Champedak tree and the figure of Champedak trees in each particular garden. A website was designed as a research tool which can display, search, and update the Champedak information. The case study of this research is in Khuan Done District, Satun Province, a service area of Songkhla Rajabhat University. The assessment results of the four satisfaction aspects are the installation process and the understanding of the application, the overview of the application, the aspects the user interface, and the usability. The average is at the highest level. Also, this research is a guideline for the conservation of genetically engineered plants and other plants with GIS in the future.

Mobility and Immobility in a Transnational Context: Changing Views of Migration among the Kazakh Diaspora in Mongolia

2006 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 49-62 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cynthia Werner ◽  
Holly R. Barcus
Keyword(s):  
Social Networks ◽  
Transnational Migration ◽  
Access To Information ◽  
Kazakh Population ◽  
Methodological Approaches

Inquiry into the causes and outcomes of transnational migration spans numerous disciplines, scales and methodological approaches.  Fewer studies focus on immobility.  Utilizing the Kazakh population of Mongolia as a case study, this paper considers how non-migrants view the economic and cultural costs of migrating.  We posit that three factors, including local place attachments specific to Mongolia, access to information about life in Kazakhstan and the importance of maintaining social networks in Mongolia, contribute substantially to their decision to not migrate. Our findings suggest that the decision to not migrate can be very strategic for non-migrants in highly transnational contexts.  

The Socio-Economic Challenges of South African Indigenous Musicians: A Case Study of Venda-Based Vho-Ntshengedzeni Mamphodo

2019 ◽  
Vol 29 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
N G Mugovhani ◽  
Lebogang Lance Nawa
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
South African ◽  
Empirical Data ◽  
Cultural Policy ◽  
Qualitative Case Study ◽  
Arts Management ◽  
Black South African ◽  
Indigenous Music ◽  
Entire Country

This article discusses and raises awareness about the socio-economic plight of indigenous musicians in South Africa. Through a qualitative case study of the Venda musician, Vho-Talelani Andries Ntshengedzeni Mamphodo, dubbed the “Father of mbila music,” the article highlights the fact that the welfare of Black South African artists, particularly indigenous musicians in South Africa, is generally a precarious affair. Their popularity, at the height of their careers, sometimes masks shocking details of exploitation, neglect, and the poverty they are subjected to, which are exposed only after they have died. Empirical data identifies this as a symptom of, among other things, cultural policy and arts management deficiencies in the promotion of indigenous music. The article aims to find ways to redress this unfortunate situation, which is partially a product of general apathy and scant regard that these artists have perennially been subjected to, even by their own governments, as well as some members of their societies. All these factors mentioned are compounded by ignorance on the part of South African artists. Part of the objective of this study was to establish whether the exposition of the Vhavenda musicians is a typical example of all Black South African indigenous musicians and, if this is the case, whether the suggested ways to redress this unfortunate situation could contribute to or play a role in alleviating the plight of such artists in the entire country.

What Matters to South African Bank Customers? A Case Study of four Main South African Banks

2015 ◽  
Vol 6 (1and2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Kingstone Mutsonziwa
Keyword(s):  
Customer Satisfaction ◽  
South African ◽  
Language Usage ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
Bank Resolution ◽  
African Context ◽  
Key Drivers ◽  
Investment Advice

This paper is a follow-up article based on the first article titled Customers speak for themselves: A case of Customer Satisfaction in the four Main South African Banks. Customer satisfaction within the banking industry is very important in the South African context. Although banks are trying their best to give their customers the best service, it is important to continuously measure customer satisfaction and identify service attributes that contribute to overall customer satisfaction for the banks. The data used in the analysis is based on a quantitative survey of 500 randomly selected customers in Pretoria, Johannesburg, Durban and Cape Town were interviewed using a face to face methodology. The key drivers of overall customer satisfaction based on regression analysis for the different banks were helpfulness and innovativeness (ABSA), helpfulness, innovativeness of the bank, resolution of problems and investment advice (FNB), language usage and friendliness of service consultants (Nedbank), innovativeness of the bank, investment advice and use of language (Standard bank). These attributes were important to the overall customer satisfaction and need to be closely monitored by the management of these banks.

Opera and the South African Political

2019 ◽  
pp. 289-311
Author(s):  
Christopher Ballantine
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
South African ◽  
Singing Voice ◽  
The South ◽  
Sociopolitical Context ◽  
Creating Meaning ◽  
Empirical Means

Christopher Ballantine’s focus is on timbre, in particular the timbre of the singing voice, and how this combines with the imagination to create meaning. His investigation is largely philosophical; but the growth in popularity of opera in post-apartheid South Africa provides empirical means for Ballantine to indicate this powerful but analytically neglected way of creating meaning in the performance of music. His case study shows how timbre can produce musical experiences that have a particular, and often surprising, resonance. Through interviews with leading figures in South African opera, Ballantine demonstrates that timbre is a vital wellspring of imagined meaning; it should especially be seen thus if we seek to understand the singing voice in a sociopolitical context such as that of South Africa during and after apartheid.

Reimagining Intersectionality and Social Exclusion in South Africa

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Khosi Kubeka ◽  
Sharmla Rama
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
South African ◽  
Social Exclusion ◽  
Social Relations ◽  
South African Context ◽  
Social Division ◽  
Common Reference ◽  
Local Contexts ◽  
African Context

Combining the theories of intersectionality and social exclusion holds the potential for structural and nuanced interpretations of the workings of power, taking systemic issues seriously but interpreting them though social relations that appear in local contexts. An intersectional analysis of social exclusion demonstrates to what extent multiple axes of social division—be they race, age, gender, class, disability or citizenship—intersect to result in unequal and disparate experiences for groups of youth spatially located in particular communities and neighborhoods. A common reference point is therefore power and how it manifests at the intersection of the local and global. A South African case study is used to explore the subjective measures and qualitative experiences of intersectionality and social exclusion further. The unique ways that language intersects with space, neighborhood, and race in the South African context, enables opportunities in education and the labor market, with profound implications for forms of social exclusion.

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