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Exploring industry's contribution to the labour-intensive construction of low order rural community access roads
(2020) Jairam, Santosh; Allopi, Dhiren
The Government of South Africa supports labour-intensive work methodologies as a means of alleviating unemployment in South Africa. In 2004 the Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP) was formed to promote labour-intensive work methods due to the high unemployment situation. The EPWP is a nationwide programme using public funds to encourage employment by using labour-intensive work methodologies with the intention of reducing national poverty. The programme covers four sectors. The four sectors are environment and culture, infrastructure, social and non-state. The largest component is infrastructure; roads being part of the infrastructure component provides the highest potential for employment creation. Both international and local experience has revealed that by having trained supervisory staff and a proper employment framework, labour-intensive work methods can be successfully used for projects such as roads, sidewalks, storm water drains, trenches, buildings, sanitation and water. The national government, based on this experience and due to high levels of unemployment, has encouraged the use of these type of infrastructure projects as a way of contributing to the alleviation of unemployment. “Only twelve per cent of the road sector budget is used for labour-intensive projects” (Public Works 2012b: 1). This implies that there have been no drastic changes in the extent to which labour-intensive work methodologies have been used in the road works programme. This study focused on exploring parastatals’, consultants’ and contractors’ contribution to the labour-intensive construction of low order rural community access roads in the Outer West region of eThekwini’s Municipality, KwaZulu-Natal, in accordance with the EPWP Guidelines. The population consisted of 101 individuals from the contracting, consulting and parastatal fields of employment who had worked on EPWP related labour-intensive road projects in this region. All 101 individuals were chosen as the sample size A qualitative and quantitative approach was used in this research to gather data on the contribution made by the civil engineering industry to the promotion of labourintensive road construction methods. This approach allowed for an understanding of the motivation and the experiences of consultants, contractors and parastatals regarding the design and construction management choices they have made. Data was collected via a questionnaire containing open-ended questions and rating scales from 87 civil engineering staff that were employed by parastatals, contractors and consultants who were involved in designing, constructing and managing labourintensive construction of low order rural community access roads in the Outer West region of eThekwini Municipality. In addition, interviews were conducted with same 87 civil engineering staff that were involved in designing, constructing and managing these labour-intensive road construction projects during the period from 2015 to 2019. Data collected overwhelmingly suggested that very little practically is being done to promote labour-intensive construction of low order community access roads. The nature of engagement that does occur is largely through the filling in of basic reporting forms and providing basic small scale informal training and work to labour. No standard specification document is in place to enforce labour-intensive construction of rural community access roads. The documents that are in place merely serve as guidelines and administrative data collection tools rather than helping to promote labour-intensive road construction.
The perception of veterinarians towards chiropractic and the chiropractic treatment of animals in South Africa
(2011) Taverner, Charles Bryce; Matkovich, Grant; Korporaal, Charmaine Maria
Introduction: The chiropractic treatment of animals has been integrated into the veterinary health care systems of various countries outside of South Africa. While South Africa has seen the integration of the chiropractic treatment of humans into its health care system, the chiropractic treatment of animals has been slow to develop in this country. This is evident in the lack of a professional association or education system concerning the chiropractic treatment of animals in South Africa. Veterinarians represent the primary contact for animals to receive chiropractic care through referral in South Africa. It is therefore important to ascertain the knowledge and perception that veterinarians have towards chiropractic and the chiropractic treatment of animals as their views and participation could influence the future integration of chiropractic into the veterinary health care system of South Africa. Primary Objective: To determine the perception of veterinarians towards chiropractic and the chiropractic treatment of animals in South Africa. Methods: A questionnaire was set up on an Internet based website. An electronic mail (e-mail) was then sent to all the South African veterinarians with a functional e-mail address registered with the South African Veterinary Council (SAVC), requesting participation in this research. This amounted to 1841 veterinarians. The veterinarians who met the inclusion criteria were then able to access and complete the questionnaire electronically. Results: A response rate of 13.8% was achieved. The respondents were predominantly white (87.1%) with an average age of 41.5 years and a nearly even split between male and female. The veterinary respondents expressed a poor level of confidence relating to their knowledge of chiropractic and its application to the health care of animals. The objective knowledge scores for chiropractic and the chiropractic treatment of animals were 65% and 63%, respectively, giving a reasonably high overall knowledge score of 64%. It was found that the knowledge scores were stronger in the respondents who had iii personally utilized a chiropractor as well as being stronger regarding human chiropractic and overall chiropractic knowledge in those who had referred an animal to a chiropractor. The average score for perceptions of the respondents was relatively low (48%), but positive correlations were found between the knowledge and perceptions of the respondents regarding chiropractic and \ or the chiropractic treatment of animals. It was found that the majority of the veterinarian respondents (79.9%) felt that chiropractors should only be allowed to practice on animals in South Africa under referral from a veterinarian. The majority of respondents (62.4%) further believed that the chiropractic treatment of animals should be governed by the South African Veterinary Council (SAVC) and 57.7 % of the respondents indicated that they would be in favour of the chiropractic treatment of animals being affiliated to the South African Veterinary Association (SAVA). It was determined that 84.4% of the respondents were in support of the formation of a course concerning the chiropractic treatment of animals in South Africa, with 49.1% further stating they would be interested in attending such a course. The majority of respondents indicated that they believed both veterinarians and chiropractors should administer (77.2%) and be able to attend (75.1%) such a course. Conclusion: This study has established a knowledge base that will facilitate greater understanding of the perceptions that South African veterinarians have towards chiropractic and the chiropractic treatment of animals as well as the part they perceive chiropractic to play in the South African veterinary health care system. The various outcomes should be noted when considering the future education of South African veterinarians regarding chiropractic, as well as the development of the chiropractic treatment of animals in South Africa.