Academy of Science of South Africa (ASSAf): Open Journal Systems
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Section 30P of the Pension Funds Act: A Review, Appeal or What?
No full textSection 30P of the Pension Funds Act 24 of 1956 (hereafter PFA) is an important procedural tool that allows those dissatisfied with the Pension Funds Adjudicator's determinations to apply to the High Court for such determinations to be set aside. This article discusses this section and demonstrates that neither the legislature nor the courts have provided clarity on whether what is intended by this section is an appeal, a review or a reconsideration of determinations of the Pension Funds Adjudicator. It also illustrates the confusion that has been created by the courts with the High Court referring to this procedure as sui generis and the Supreme Court of Appeal, without referring to previous High Court decisions, referring to this procedure as an appeal in the wide sense. In this article a reflection on whether these two formulations are synonymous or if there is a need to settle for only one of them will be made. Furthermore, a call for judicial reconsideration of the applicability of the Plascon-Evan Rule in section 30P applications will be made in this article
Prevalence and associated factors with mental health symptoms among semi-professional cricket players after the resumption of sporting activities following an extensive lockdown
Get PDFBackground: Mental health of cricket players has been a topic of debate for a considerable time across the globe.
Objectives: The purpose of this study was to investigate the prevalence of mental health symptoms among semi-professional male cricket players experienced during COVID-19, as well as the relationship between age and the Depression, Anxiety, Stress Scale (DASS-21) sub-scale.
Methods: Mental health symptoms were assessed among cricket players (n = 90) using the following instruments, respectively: Depression, Anxiety, Stress Scale – 21 (DASS – 21); Athlete Burnout Questionnaire (ABQ) and Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS). Descriptive (means ± standard deviations) and inferential (Spearman’s correlations) statistics were calculated using SPSS (IBM Version 27.0) at a significance level of p < 0.05.
Results: The study reported that 5.6% (n = 5) of cricketers believed life was futile, and 10% (n = 9) thought they were useless most of the time. However, on the anxiety sub-scale, 27% (n = 24) of cricketers indicated low confidence. In addition, 23% (n = 21) of cricketers reported being stressed. Spearman's correlations revealed a positive and significant association between the DASS-21 sub-scales and that cricketers' DASS-21 sub-scale symptoms are unrelated to age.
Conclusion: The study found that there were moderate levels of anxiety, a reduced sense of achievement and a neutral feeling towards satisfaction with life. Reducing mental health symptoms would extend the playing careers of cricket players. De-stigmatising mental health may result in more robust and accurate self-reports of mental health illness among elite athletes, which can enable sustainable change
Partnerships between players, practitioners and researchers: the story of three stumps and two bails
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Are you responsible and accountable for your actions?
Get PDFIn all walks of life we are accountable for our actions. However in dentistry the scope and extent of one’s responsibilities may not always be obvious. This paper aims to remind clinicians of their need to be cognisant of some fundamental principles, and to ask themselves certain relevant questions before embarking on any procedure. It makes special reference to the obligations associated with the increased use of dental imaging modalities. It does not purport to be a comprehensive review into any specific dental condition or treatment modality, but is rather a broad overview and reminder of their ethical obligations with respect to their “duty of care”
What’s new for the clinician – summaries of recently published papers (April 2023)
Get PDFDental implants are a common treatment modality that is offered to many patients. There is therefore a good chance that many oral health professionals (dentists, dental therapists, oral hygienists, dental specialists) will encounter such patients in their private or public dental clinics. Barrak and colleagues (2023)1 have highlighted the mismatch between the knowledge and skill requirement of the general dental practitioner (GDP) in managing such patients and the training provided at undergraduate (UG) and general postgraduate (PG) levels. Studies in the UK among dental schools there and in Ireland have shown that most schools provided lecture-based information with no clinical trainingat undergraduate level on implant dentistry. This, despite the fact that most implants were in fact placed by dentists who had little training in their undergraduate training
Drug-induced gingival enlargement – Oral implications for prescribing physicians
Get PDFA male patient presented with a main complaint of persistent growth of the upper and lower gingiva that bled easily and resulted in an inability of maintaining proper oral hygiene. He reports that the growth of the gingiva started approximately three years prior to consultation in our clinic and is asymptomatic. His medical history revealed that he suffers from epilepsy and was being treated with a daily anticonvulsant, namely Phenytoin (100mg). Full-mouth non-surgical periodontal therapy was performed and supplemented with an adjunctive chlorhexidine mouth rinse as a chemical plaque control mechanism. Part of the systemic phaseof management of the patient, involved requesting the medical physician change the current epilepsy medication to Epilim®, which was benefi cial in contributing to the resolution of gingival enlargement. Signifi cant reduction in gingival infl ammation and enlargement were achieved with the non-surgical treatment.Corrective surgery therapy was performed to treat those areas of DIGE that had not resolved
The Effect of the Recapitalisation and Development Programme on Agricultural Production of Land Reform Beneficiaries in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa
No full textAccess to land is a key part of socio-economic development in South Africa. It can be used as a way of rectifying the injustices of the past and lessening the severity of poverty among beneficiaries. To address the issue of land reform, the Recapitalisation and Development Programme (RECAP) was introduced in 2009. The main objectives of this programme are to increase production, guarantee food security, create employment opportunities within the agricultural sector, and graduate small farmers into commercial farmers. This study aimed to analyse the impact of RECAP on land reform projects, focusing on agricultural production in the Eastern Cape. Both primary and secondary data were used in the study, collected through farm/project visits. The results indicated that the programme has made progress towards improving agricultural production on land reform projects since its inception of RECAP. Through RECAP intervention, land reform beneficiaries gained technical skills
An Analysis of the Role of African Values, Traditions and Morals in the Interpretation of Children's Rights
No full textBoth the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights (ACHPR) and the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child (ACRWC) expressly provide for African values, traditions and morals. This inclusion is a unique characteristic that illustrates the regionality of these two instruments. The question of how "African values" should be understood and interpreted, however, remains somewhat unclear with the possibility of challenges arising in its interpretation and application. The article considers how African values are incorporated into the ACHPR and the ACRWC to provide an understanding of African values. The article subsequently engages in an analysis of the significance of the incorporation of African values for the interpretation of children's rights by considering both criticism and praise which have been levelled against the inclusion of African values in the ACRWC and ACHPR. This analysis will ultimately aid in determining the contribution of African values to the interpretation and possible realisation of children's rights