Learning-by-exporting in South Africa: The influence of global value chain (GVC) participation and technological capability*

Using the South African Revenue Service and National Treasury firm-level panel data for 2009–2017, this paper investigates how trade related to the global value chain (GVC) affects the performance of manufacturing firms in South Africa. The paper uses extant classifications of internationally traded products to identify different categories...

Compact Housing for Incremental Growth: The K206 RDP Project in Alexandra, Johannesburg

The South African Reconstruction and Development Programme (RDP) was initiated to provide subsidised housing for low‐income families. However, the programme faced challenges in establishing adequate technical guidelines and standards, resulting in subpar housing quality. This article discusses the multifaceted nature of subsidised housing design...

Water renewal and stratification modelling in small estuaries

Water renewal and flushing in small, intermittently open or closed estuaries is receiving increasing attention particularly in light of the climate change induced alterations in run-off, wave and sediment transport conditions along coasts. The challenges of predicting the stratification-circulation state and the balance between tidal or...

Disease and design in twentieth-century South Africa: exploring the consequences of the 1918–19 Spanish Flu pandemic through contributions of émigré Dutch architects

During the most of the twentieth century, design and construction (architecture) in South Africa closely followed western trends. A recent publication Common Ground: Dutch-South African Architectural Exchanges 1902-1961 highlights conclusions on research into the legacy of émigré Dutch built environment professional in the built environment of...

Two Pioneering Female Architects in South Africa: Gertruida Brinkman and Eleanor Ferguson

This paper continues on from a recently completed research project on shared built heritage of South Africa and the Netherlands from 1902–61, mainly created by Dutch–born architects. It focuses on two pioneering female architects in South Africa, Gertruida Brinkman (1906–77, née Siemerink) and Eleanor Ferguson (also Stakesby–Lewis; 1900–82),...

Identifying optimal clustering structures for residential energy consumption patterns using competency questions

Traditional cluster analysis metrics rank clustering structures in terms of compactness and distinctness of clusters. However, in real world applications this is usually insufficient for selecting the optimal clustering structure. Domain experts and visual analysis are often relied on during evaluation, which results in a selection process...

The housing careers of black middle-class residents in a South African metropolitan area

Under apartheid, black African households could not own land or homes in most major urban centres in South Africa. This limited residential mobility and locked many households into state rental accommodation in townships. Homeownership for all South Africans was restored in the mid-1980 s and the Group Areas Act was repealed in 1991.<br/...

Bilateral collaboration in built heritage material research and resource maintenance supportive to smart and sustainable cities

Built heritage contains value on many scales. On the most basic level it represents the investment of building materials following a constructional logic. As the use of once-predominant materials goes out of fashion due to changing technological regimes and architectural styles, knowledge about them is lost. Yet retaining and maintaining their...

Exploration of Deaf People’s Health Information Sources and Techniques for Information Delivery in Cape Town: A Qualitative Study for the Design and Development of a Mobile Health App

Background: Many cultural and linguistic Deaf people in South Africa face disparity when accessing health information because of social and language barriers. The number of certified South African Sign Language interpreters (SASLIs) is also insufficient to meet the demand of the Deaf population in the country. Our research team, in collaboration...

Hydro-morphological modelling of small, wave-dominated estuaries

Small, intermittently open or closed estuaries are characteristic of the coasts of South Africa, Australia, California, Mexico and many other areas of the world. However, modelling attention has tended to focus on big estuaries that drain large catchments and serve a wide diversity of interests e.g. agriculture, urban settlement, recreation,...

Can Western European Home Ownership Products bridge the South African Housing Gap?

Subsidised housing often creates a segmented housing market, with some home owners falling into a gap between the subsidised and non-subsidised types. This gap particularly affects middle-income buyers, whose income may be too high to qualify for subsidy but too low to buy a non-subsidised house. Western Europe has policies and affordable...

A novel approach to estimate direct and indirect water withdrawals from satellite measurements: A case study from the Incomati basin

The Incomati basin encompasses parts of South Africa, Swaziland and Mozambique, and is a water stressed basin. Equitable allocation of water is crucial to sustain livelihoods and agro-ecosystems, and to sustain international agreements. As compliance monitoring of water distribution by flow meters is laborious, expensive and only partially...

Using System Dynamics to Explore the Water Supply and Demand Dilemmas of a Small South African Municipality

This paper explores the challenges faced by small municipalities in providing water services in a developing-world context of increasing urban demand. The paper uses a case study of the Sundays River Valley Municipality (SRVM) in South Africa. The municipality faces multiple dilemmas in reconciling its available water supply with growing demand...

The question of inclusion and representation in rural South Africa: Challenging the concept of water user associations as a vehicle for transformation

The promotion of local governance and the transfer of water management responsibilities to Water User Associations (WUAs) have been central in water reform processes throughout the world, including in the reforms that took place in post-apartheid South Africa. This paper reflects on the notions of inclusion and representation as put forward by...

Are open building principles relevant in the South African housing sector? CSIR investigations and analysis of housing case studies for sustainable building transformation

The CSIR Housing Research Group in collaboration with a number of partners has been investigating the concepts of sustainable building transformation in the South African housing sector. These studies have relied heavily on a number of theories, including Habraken’s Supports, Open Building levels as well as concepts of material/component re-use....

The N2 gateway project in Cape Town: Relocation or forced removal?

The Practice of Transboundary Decision Making on the Incomati River: Elucidating Underlying Factors and their Implications for Institutional Design

The Incomati River Basin is shared by Mozambique, South Africa, and Swaziland. In August 2002, the groundbreaking “Tripartite Interim Agreement on Water Sharing of the Maputo and Incomati Rivers” (the IncoMaputo agreement) was signed. Following reports that the use, availability, and adequacy of information posed problems for future decision...

Emergency Towing Vessel, concepts for a new century of emergency towing