9 research outputs found
Recent Developments in the Artificial Intelligence of Things (AIoT) in Assistive Technology: A Systematic Literature Review (2020–2025)
No full textThis systematic literature review explores the application of Artificial Intelligence of Things (AIoT) in Assistive Technology designed to support individuals with disabilities. Out of an initial 267 articles, 38 studies were selected based on inclusion criteria and quality assessment. The review identifies the dominant machine learning models used in AIoT-based assistive technology solutions. Most research focuses on visual impairments, revealing a significant gap in addressing cognitive, psychological, and degenerative disabilities. Various IoT devices such as wearables, sensors, exoskeletons, and smart wheelchairs are employed to provide adaptive, real-time, and personalized assistance. Key methodological limitations include reliance on simulated data, small sample sizes, and lack of field validation. Technical challenges such as device interoperability and accessibility also hinder implementation. These findings highlight the need for more inclusive research involving direct participation of end-users to develop effective, accessible, and scalable AIoT-based assistive technologies that enhance the quality of life for people with disabilities
Book Review: Inclusive Development in Africa: Transformation of Global Relations
No full textBook Title: Inclusive Development in Africa: Transformation of Global RelationsBook Author: Vusi Gumede (Ed.)2018. AISA & CODESRIA, 321 pp. AISA ISBN: 978-0-7983-0520-4. CODESRIA ISBN: 978-2-86978-756-8
The Corrupt Parallel Universe that Defines Our Constitutional Order
No full textThe author focuses on an incident in which public prosecutor, Vusi Pikoli, stated that he had been offered his position back by the ANC on condition that he wouldn’t pursue charges against President Jacob Zuma as stated in his book, My Second Initiation. Van Onselen expands on the idea of corruption in South Africa through this incident
Book Review: Reflections On Goldberg’s Variations on Africanist Themes
No full textBook Title: Reflections On Goldberg’s Variations on Africanist ThemesBook Author: Kwesi Kwaa Prah2017. Cape Town: Centre for Advanced Studies of African Society. ISBN: 978-1-920294-20-5
Political Economy of Post-apartheid South Africa
No full textThe book, made up of three parts, covers a wide spectrum of political economy issues on post-apartheid South Africa. Although the text is mainly descriptive, to explain various areas of the political economy of post-apartheid South Africa, the first and the last parts provide illuminating insights on the kind of society that is emerging during the twenty-one years of democracy in the country. The book discusses important aspects of the political history of apartheid South Africa and the evolution of post-apartheid society, including an important recap of the history of southern Africa before colonialism. The text is a comprehensive description of numerous political economy phenomena since South Africa gained its political independence and covers some important themes that have not been discussed in detail in other publications on post-apartheid South Africa. The book also updates earlier work of the author on policy and law making, land and agriculture, education and training as well as on poverty and inequality in post-apartheid South Africa thereby providing a wide-ranging overview of the socio-economic development approaches followed by the successive post-apartheid administrations. Interestingly, three chapters focus on various aspects of the post-apartheid South African economy: economic policies, economic empowerment and industrial development. Through the lens of the notion of democratic developmental state and taking apartheid colonialism as a point of departure, the book suggests that, so far, post-apartheid South Africa has mixed socio-economic progress. The authors extensive experience in the South African government ensures that the book has policy relevance while it is also theoretically sound. The text is useful for anyone who wants to understand the totality of the policies and legislation as well as the political economy interventions pursued since 1994 by the South African Government
Troubling gender norms: Reflections of two male early childhood teacher educators
No full textBackground: Early childhood education (ECE) in South Africa and globally continues to present low numbers of male teachers. However, studies have highlighted the importance of having men in children’s lives in the schooling context. However, getting men into the early years comes with various challenges, including those that relate to men choosing teaching as a career and, in particular, negotiating the gendered norms. Therefore, it is important to understand the reflections of men in the early years of teaching.
Objectives: This self-reflective paper reflects on the authors experiences as young men becoming early childhood teacher educators in two South African higher education institutions.
Method: This qualitative study employed self-reflexive methodologies and narratives to show how the author have negotiated the normative constructions of gender in ECE.
Results: The authors found that even though institutions of higher education are vehicles for transformation, there are historical and contextual gendered norms that perpetuate inequalities. They also found that the inequalities may contribute to the recruitment, retainment and resignation of men in ECE teaching.
Conclusion: The paper suggests the need for conversations on transforming gender relations among staff and students within ECE disciplines.
Contribution: The gendered inequalities experienced by male teacher educators demonstrate a need to revisit career development approaches for teacher education in South Africa
Essays on the determinants and impact of remittances in South Africa
No full textPh.D. (Economics)Abstract: This thesis comprises three empirical essays analysing the determinants and impact of remittances in South Africa. Except for the first and the last chapters, which set out the general introduction and conclusion, each of the three essays is self-contained and can be considered as a standalone piece of work. Two datasets are used to analyse the determinants and impact of remittances in South Africa. They are the National Income Dynamics Survey (NIDS), and unique matched data from a ‘customised household survey’ collected by the author in Hlokozi village in Southern KwaZulu-Natal and in more urban localities where connected migrants were working. The first essay (Chapter 3) investigates the factors that can be shown to influence the likelihood and scale of internal remittances for migrant and non-migrant households in South Africa – it being understood that financial transfers may be received by households from individuals that households do not regard as members. It finds that these determinants consist of certain features of the receiving households, but also of some characteristics of the migrants who remit. More specifically, empirical investigation using approaches deriving from the double-hurdle regression model, the Heckman selection model and the control function model reveals that the probability and level of remittances are largely determined by common factors. Examples include certain characteristics of the household head (his or her age, race, education level and whether employed or not); what the income of the household is and in what type of area it is located; whether the migrant is male or female; how much the migrant earns; and how the money is sent back (self-delivery or other channel). However, certain determinants are not shared in the full sense: the probability of remitting appears to vary in the same direction as the size of the household and the household wealth, but the size of remittances seems to vary in the opposite direction to that in which these two determinants vary. The second essay (Chapter 4) investigates whether remittances are causally linked to the reduction of poverty in South Africa. A fixed-effects vector decomposition estimator (FEVD), which allows for the estimation of the coefficient of the time-invariant variables and accounts for unobserved heterogeneity, is employed to estimate the poverty-reducing effects of remittances. Given the strong potential for endogeneity of the remittance variable, especially reverse causation (an increase in poverty might be associated with an increase in migration and..
Contributions to the ethnobotany of the Southern Ndebele
No full textDissertation (MSc (Environmental Ecology))--University of Pretoria, 2011.Plants have never been formally recorded in the Southern Ndebele language (isiNdebele). A
need to investigate this aspect has resulted in the present study, which has been undertaken to
identify and record the ethnobotanical (biocultural) significance of selected plants in
Southern Ndebele, one of the 11 official languages of South Africa. The Southern Ndebele
have a long history dating back to the early 1600s when the group first split from the original
Zulu kingdom and entered the interior of South Africa. Even with such a long history, no
comprehensive list of plant names in Southern Ndebele has been compiled to date. However,
such a list has been recorded for the Northern Ndebele of Zimbabwe, also a Nguni language.
The Southern Ndebele of South Africa and the Northern Ndebele of Zimbabwe (also known
as the 'Matabele') are distantly related, each group, however, maintaining its own culture and
other practices. For purposes of this study yet another language, Northern Ndebele of South
Africa, is considered as distinct from Northern Ndebele of Zimbabwe. The Northern Ndebele
of South Africa consist of the Gegana group that went further north and settled around
Potgietersrus (now Mokopane), Zebediela, Mashashane and other areas in the vicinity of
Polokwane (formerly Pietersburg). Their language (known as Sumayela or siNdebele by some
scholars) is currently not recognised as a provincial or national language. Speakers of
Northern Ndebele are therefore probably often counted as speakers of Northern Sotho
(Sepedi), one of the 11 official languages of South Africa and spoken predominantly in
Limpopo Province. Although the two Ndebele language groups of South Africa are geographically close to one another, plant names in Northern Ndebele of South Africa have
not been considered in the present study.
The term Southern Ndebele is used mainly to refer to all people who speak the similarly
named language. Although the majority of this cultural group reside in the former
KwaNdebele homeland, much of the region now forms part of Mpumalanga Province. Even
though the study was conducted in a particular area of Mpumalanga, speakers of Southern
Ndebele are not necessarily confined to Mpumalanga, but are widespread across South
Africa.
A qualitative survey was undertaken by conducting a number of one-on-one and group
interviews with knowledgeable elders and professionals who know and understand the
Southern Ndebele tradition and culture. Their views, experiences and perceptions about the
plants used by the Southern Ndebele were recorded (supplied on a DVD accompanying this
report). Voucher specimens of the plants were collected and deposited in the H. G. W .J.
Schweickerdt Herbarium [PRU], Department of Plant Science, University of Pretoria.
The multiple uses of the plants identified as well as the associated cultural beliefs and
traditional conservation measures as practised by the Southern Ndebele, were recorded. The
recording and listing of plants in Southern N debele could go a long way to ensure better
communication, enhanced teaching and improved conservation practices. The study focused
mainly on woody plants, most of which are native to South Africa, as well as on a few alien
species useful to the Southern Ndebele. A list of shrubs and some herbaceous indigenous
healing plants is also included in this report.
Names of more than 100 plant species and infraspecific taxa are presented alphabetically
according to scientific name. Also supplied are the family name, the Southern Ndebele name,
and the locality and number of the relevant voucher specimen. As a Southern Ndebele by
birth, the author has included his personal insight and knowledge of some of the plant names
as well as some cultural background information as part of the introduction to the Southern
Ndebele. A list of all Southern Ndebele terms/words and plant names used in the study is
supplied to clarify and explain their meaning.Plant ScienceMSc (Environmental Ecology)UnrestrictedFaculty of Natural and Agricultural Science
The role of Umkhonto we Sizwe (MK) in the national liberation struggle in South Africa with reference to the rural far northern Transvaal, 1976-1990
No full textIncludes bibliographical references (leaves 250-275)
