SCHOOL PRINCIPAL LEADERSHIP IN REMOTE SOUTH AFRICA: A LEADERSHIP AND MANAGEMENT CHALLENGE

2021 ◽  
pp. 301-309
Author(s):  
Leentjie Van Jaarsveld ◽  

To understand the circumstances under which principals in remote areas exercise their leadership and management, an investigation was conducted in the Northern Cape province, South Africa. This province is characterised by small towns with few residents. The infrastructure is not up to par, and in some cases, the socio-economic conditions are extremely poor. Unemployment is a big problem in the villages. The uniqueness of this study lies in the fact that after 1994, with the abolition of apartheid, the farmers withdrew their children from the schools and no longer supported the schools as before. As a result, the principals experienced many more challenges. The study followed a qualitative, phenomenological design from the interpretivist paradigm. The sample consisted of ten principals. Semi-structured interviews were conductedwith the principals. The inductive data analysis process was used. The required ethical clearance was obtained from the Research Ethics Committee of the North-West University and the Department of Education of the province. The results reveal that principals in remote areas, in the absence of technology, infrastructure, and support bases, have to use their skills creatively, and they need the support of the community, teachers, school management, and governing body.

Author(s):  
W.N. Minnaar ◽  
R.C. Krecek

Information on the socioeconomic aspects and the health status of dogs in 2 resource-limited communities in the North West and Gauteng provinces of South Africa was gathered using semi-structured interviews and a standardised questionnaire. The dogs were examined clinically to determine their health status, and their body condition and age were scored. Most of the dogs (93 % in Jericho and 90 % in Zuurbekom) were infected with hookworm, which poses a threat to animal and human health in the 2 study areas. Many dogs were also being given a protein-deficient diet, which together with hookworm parasites would impact considerably on the dog's health. Dogs were mainly kept for security reasons. The need indicated to be most important by the residents of the 2 commnities was a lack of available and affordable veterinary services.


PLoS ONE ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (8) ◽  
pp. e0255903
Author(s):  
Dominic Dzamesi Kumashie ◽  
Ritika Tiwari ◽  
Muhammed Hassen ◽  
Usuf M. E. Chikte ◽  
Mogamat Razeen Davids

Background The growing global health burden of kidney disease is substantial and the nephrology workforce is critical to managing it. There are concerns that the nephrology workforce appears to be shrinking in many countries. This study analyses trends in South Africa for the period 2002–2017, describes current training capacity and uses this as a basis for forecasting the nephrology workforce for 2030. Methods Data on registered nephrologists for the period 2002 to 2017 was obtained from the Health Professions Council of South Africa and the Colleges of Medicine of South Africa. Training capacity was assessed using data on government-funded posts for nephrologists and nephrology trainees, as well as training post numbers (the latter reflecting potential training capacity). Based on the trends, the gap in the supply of nephrologists was forecast for 2030 based on three targets: reducing the inequalities in provincial nephrologist densities, reducing the gap between public and private sector nephrologist densities, and international benchmarking using the Global Kidney Health Atlas and British Renal Society recommendations. Results The number of nephrologists increased from 53 to 141 (paediatric nephrologists increased from 9 to 22) over the period 2002–2017. The density in 2017 was 2.5 nephrologists per million population (pmp). In 2002, the median age of nephrologists was 46 years (interquartile range (IQR) 39–56 years) and in 2017 the median age was 48 years (IQR 41–56 years). The number of female nephrologists increased from 4 to 43 and the number of Black nephrologists increased from 3 to 24. There have been no nephrologists practising in the North West and Mpumalanga provinces and only one each in Limpopo and the Northern Cape. The current rate of production of nephrologists is eight per year. At this rate, and considering estimates of nephrologists exiting the workforce, there will be 2.6 nephrologists pmp in 2030. There are 17 government-funded nephrology trainee posts while the potential number based on the prescribed trainer-trainee ratio is 72. To increase the nephrologist density of all provinces to at least the level of KwaZulu-Natal (2.8 pmp), which has a density closest to the country average, a projected 72 additional nephrologists (six per year) would be needed by 2030. Benchmarking against the 25th centile (5.1 pmp) of upper-middle-income countries (UMICs) reported in the Global Kidney Health Atlas would require the training of an additional eight nephrologists per year. Conclusions South Africa has insufficient nephrologists, especially in the public sector and in certain provinces. A substantial increase in the production of new nephrologists is required. This requires an increase in funded training posts and posts for qualified nephrologists in the public sector. This study has estimated the numbers and distribution of nephrologists needed to address provincial inequalities and achieve realistic nephrologist density targets.


2018 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Salmon Makhubela ◽  
Mpho Ngoepe

Background: Knowledge retention plays an important role in combating organisational knowledge loss. However, some organisations, including mining companies, still lose organisational knowledge because of employees’ retiring, resigning, downsizing, attrition and so on. This leaves the organisations with a shortage of qualified senior experienced employees to meet production needs, which has a negative impact on the running of the operational functions on a day-to-day basis. Objectives: The purpose of this study was to investigate knowledge retention strategies in a platinum mine in the North West Province of South Africa. Method: The study used qualitative research approach. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews and document analysis. Results: The key findings of the study revealed that although the mine has a knowledge retention policy, some of the employees are not aware of its existence and there was not enough support of knowledge retention initiatives from the management. Conclusion: The study concludes by arguing that having knowledge retention policy, strategies and initiatives on paper but failing to implement is as good as not having it. The organisation needs to implement knowledge retention policy in order to benefit from the knowledge retention initiative.


Author(s):  
Patient Rambe ◽  
Livingstone A.K. Agbotame

Background: Globalisation has accentuated the need for small-scale agricultural businesses (SSABs) to network horizontally and vertically into world markets. However, the capacity of SSABs to cement foreign alliances to capitalise on business opportunities that the expansion of global markets presents, while simultaneously mitigating against the negative forces of globalisation remains a grey area.Aim: The study sought to contribute to internationalisation literature by examining: (1) the extent to which SSABs’ owner and/or managers in selected South African provinces establish foreign alliances, (2) whether there are any statistically significant differences in SSABs’ performance based on their extent of establishment of foreign alliances.Setting: The setting for this study was Vryburg-Pokwani in the North West and Northern Cape provinces of South Africa, respectively.Method: A survey was conducted on 151 SSAB owner and/or managers in the aforementioned study area.Results: The results revealed that although a majority (51.7%) had some (i.e. few) foreign alliances, 48.3% of SSABs had no foreign alliances at all. The results also demonstrated that the establishment of foreign alliances was positively and statistically significantly related to the performance of SSABs in the Vryburg-Pokwani area. Post-hoc comparisons (Bonferroni) results showed that while SSABs with 1–2 foreign alliances perform better than those with no foreign alliances at all, those SSABs with 6–10 foreign alliances perform better than those with none, 1–2 and 3–5 foreign linkages respectively.Conclusion: Since SSABs with foreign alliances tended to outperform those that were dependent on domestic links, the extent to which the economic benefits derived from internationalisation are reinvested into the businesses for the continued sustenance of businesses needs more rigorous investigation.


2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 64-75
Author(s):  
Fortunate Mtshali Thobile ◽  
Ntanganedzeni Mapholi Olivia ◽  
Tebogo Ncube Keabetswe ◽  
Farai Dzomba Edgar ◽  
C. Matelele Tlou ◽  
...  

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