Tydskrif vir Geesteswetenskappe

Insects and food security in South Africa in the light of climate change

Afgesien van die lewensverlies weens die Covid-19-pandemie gaan Suid-Afrika, soos die res van die wêreld, gebuk onder die sosioëkonomiese uitwerking daarvan, wat grootliks tot die agteruitgang van die ekonomie en werkverliese bygedra het. Dit, tesame met die toenemende uitwerking van klimaatsverandering, is van die grootste krisisse wat Suid-Afrika tans teister. Suid-Afrika gaan gebuk onder 'n abnormale reënpatroon, wat storms in sekere gebiede en droogtes in ander tot gevolg het. Hierdie omgewingskrisisse maak die ekonomies worstelende Suid-Afrikaanse samelewing nog meer kwesbaar. Van die belangrikste gevolge van klimaatsverandering en die ekonomiese agteruitgang in Suid-Afrika is kospryse wat die hoogte inskiet, terwyl oproer al hoe meer dikwels voorkom. Hierdie situasie sal nog verder agteruitgaan na gelang die gevolge van klimaatsverandering op die landbou en dus die beskikbaarheid en bekostigbaarheid van kos oor die volgende dekades vererger. Suid-Afrika se voedselsekerheid is ook in die gedrang weens die onvermoë van die regering om die Suid-Afrikaanse bevolking teen buitelandse belange in Suid-Afrika te beskerm. Die afhanklikheid van Suid-Afrika van kos uit Oos-Europa en Asië word geopenbaar wanneer mens die effek van die oorlog in Oekraïne op die beskikbaarheid van sonneblomolie en koring in Suid-Afrika sien. Vis, wat eens die goedkoopste vleisbron was, is nou vir die meeste Suid-Afrikaners onbetaalbaar duur weens die oorbenutting van visbronne deur buitelandse vissers, veral van China, wat binne ons gebiedswaters vis vang. Suid-Afrika voer ongeveer 6 miljoen hoenders per week uit die buiteland in, hoofsaaklik uit Brasilië, wat die inheemse hoender- en graanboere ekonomies bedreig en werksgeleenthede in die gedrang bring. Hierdie ongesonde situasie ondermyn plaaslike landbou en vissery en veroorsaak dat Suid-Afrika se voedsel-sekerheid deur die politieke beleid van die regering jeens ander BRICS-lande in die gedrang kom. Landbou is een van die grootste oorsake van die vernietiging van die natuur en een van die belangrikste redes vir klimaatsverandering. Boerderye is een van die hoofbronne van metaan en stikstofdioksied, wat veel erger kweekhuisgasse as koolstofdioksied is. Terselfdertyd word amper tweederdes van Suid-Afrika se water deur landbou en bosbou gebruik. Die oorbenutting van water, die vergiftiging van riviere, vleilande en grondwater met landbou-chemikalieë, die toediening van gifstowwe en die gepaardgaande vernietiging van die ekologie, insluitende dié van riviere, stuur reeds op 'n ekologiese ramp af. 'n Derde van die riviere in Suid-Afrika bereik al klaar nie meer die see nie, wat tot die ineenstorting van vleilande en riviermonding ekosisteme gelei het. Oewerbosse, wat rivierwalle stabiliseer, vrek in plekke waar boere waterpompe in of langs rivierbeddings in gebruik het. Veenlande, wat oor duisende jare vorm en water stoor en suiwer wat deur vleilande vloei, droog uit en brand weens die ooronttrekking van grondwater op plase en bosbougebiede. 'n Groot deel van die uitwerking wat die landbou op die ekologie het, kan vermy word as alternatiewe kosproduksiemetodes ondersoek word. Dit is 'n wanpersepsie dat 'n vegetariese dieet minder skade aan die ekologie doen as een wat vleis bevat. Gewasverbouing het 'n veel groter uitwerking op die natuur as wat natuurlike vleisproduksie het. Die grootste negatiewe uitwerking wat vleisproduksie op die natuur het, is metaangas, hoë watergebruik en die verbouing van graan wat as voer gebruik word. Insekte bied egter 'n alternatiewe bron van voer, wat op 'n baie goedkoper en betroubare manier tot voedselsekerheid in Suid-Afrika kan bydra en talle plaaslike werksgeleenthede kan skep. Die larwes van insekte soos die swart soldaatvlieg (Hermetia illucens) word reeds wêreldwyd, maar veral in die Verre Ooste, met groot sukses as voer vir lewende hawe gebruik. Hierdie hoëkwaliteitbron van proteïene, onversadigde vette, vitamiene, minerale en vesel kan bykans gratis met behulp van organiese afval geproduseer word. Daarbenewens kan hierdie insekte sonder gif of kunsmis en met min water in 'n relatief klein gebied, vergeleke met weiding of mielielande, geproduseer word.

The Covid-19pandemic has had a devastating socio-economic effect on the country, including the death of more than 102 000 people, many ofwhom were the breadwinners of their families. This could not have happened at a worse time, since the economy of the country was in a recession even before the pandemic. The situation is exacerbated by the highest level of unemployment in the world, widespread nepotism and corruption, the plundering of state coffers and the favouring of the business interests of ERICS partners by government officials over those of South Africans. The government's commitment to prioritising their ERICS partners' business interests over those of the South African people contributes to food insecurity in South Africa. This includes the export of coal from mines in Mpumalanga to China and India, while nothing is done to rehabilitate the region, which was once known for its agriculture. The government handed over to the Chinese company SAEME the Musina-Makhado Special Economic Zone, where four opencast mines, a 3 300 MWpower station and an iron smelting plant will be developed. This development, however, requires the government to build a dam that will harvest 60% of the annual runoff of the Limpopo River, which in turn will have a devastating effect on farmers and communities downriver in South Africa, Zimbabwe and Mozambique who irrigate their crops with water from the Limpopo River. The same kowtowing of the South African government to its ERICS partners can be seen in the reluctance with which the government responds to the plundering of our marine resources by Chinese fishing boats and abalone smugglers. The unfair competition imposed on local chicken farmers by distributers of dumped chicken, mainly from Brazil, with the approval of government, caused the closure of several South African chicken farms and the resulting loss of tens of thousands ofjobs along the supply chain. The reluctance of the government to take sides in the Russia-Ukraine war is partly linked to the fact that South Africa imports fertilizer and wheat from Russia. South Africa, a water-scarce country, is more vulnerable than many other countries to the effects of global climate change. The abnormal rain pattern, that is characterised by severe droughts in certain regions and heavy rainstorms and floods in others, has a devastating impact on the already economically struggling South African community. Abroad, attempts are made to ensure that mean temperatures do not exceed the pre-industrial level mark by more than 1,5 °C. South Africa, however, heats up twice as fast as many other countries, and has already exceeded the pre-industrial era level by more than 2 °C; it will continue to get warmer and drier, causing most of the country to become desertified by 2050. A third of South African rivers do not reach the sea anymore because of over abstraction ofwater from rivers; similarly, there is extensive abstraction of groundwater. Together farming and forestry account for 70% of water use in South Africa. This over abstraction of water, worsened by the heat and aridification resulting from climate change, led to the degradation of most wetland and estuarine ecosystems and the drying and burning of irreplaceable peatlands. These political, socioeconomic and environmental calamities create the worst possible scenario for food security in South Africa. Already one in four people in Africa suffers from food insecurity and this number will rapidly rise in the wake of global climate change, which will result in the loss of two thirds of arable land by 2025. South Africa is nearing socioeconomic collapse. This, in conjunction with continuing droughts, storms and rising temperatures associated with global climate change, will lead to food insecurity, starvation and anarchy. The effect of global climate change will make it progressively more difficult to produce enough food for the South African population. It is imperative that South Africans consider alternative methods of food production, including water use. Entomophagy is widely practiced throughout the world, but is especially prevalent in South America, the Far East and Africa, where approximately 2 billion people use 1 900 species of insects as food. The nutritional value of insects is unsurpassed and, in some respects, even more nutritious than meat. The larvae of the black soldier fly (BSF) Hermetia illucens are a source of high-quality proteins and unsaturated fats that are used worldwide as animal feed. Insects are a source of minerals such as iron, calcium, copper, zinc and magnesium and high levels of vitamin A, B2 and C. The ecological and socioeconomic benefits of using BSF larvae instead of grain as feed for fish, chickens and pigs are enormous. BSF larvae can be bred almost for free by feeding it a wide variety of organic waste, including rotten vegetables and fruit, manure and even carcases that would have ended up in rubbish dumps and would have contributed to the methane and carbon dioxide pollution emanating from such dumps. The water use of BSF is negligible, because the water in the organic waste that would have been discarded in waste dumps is sufficient to sustain them. BSF affords the subsistence and small-scale farmer the opportunity to raise chickens at a lower input cost than ever before. The conversion of feed to food in insects is far greater than that of chickens, pigs or cattle. In the case of the house cricket (Acheta domestica) the conversion rate of feed to food is twice as effective as that of chickens, four times as effective as pigs and twelve times greater than that of cattle. Compared to conventional farming, this implies that with insects far more exceptionally nutritious food can be produced in a smaller area, with little water and no poison or fertilizer whatsoever, while waste and the associated methane gas are removed from the environment at the same time. A few South African companies have already seen the potential of insects as food and feed. Even though insect farming is still in its infancy, it is already generating jobs and new socioeconomic opportunities in South Africa. Insect farming, especially BSF farming, will in the near future probably grow in popularity all over the world as an affordable, healthy, ecologically sustainable alternative food source that will, directly or indirectly, be consumed by humans. BSF afford the environmentally conscious homesteader who wants to produce livestock such as chickens, fish, or pigs in a sustainable manner an unsurpassed environmentally friendly alternative. BSF will also give the desperate, impoverished and starving population of the future an alternative free source of feed that will offer them economic prospects and food security.

Migration and spread of infectious diseases: From the origin of Homo sapiens up to the Anthropocene

Migrasie speel 'n groot rol in die verspreiding van aansteeklike siektes. Tydens migrasie word die patogene van die siektes saam met die mens gedra en só na voorheen onbesmette groepe oorgedra. Selfs so lank gelede as die Uit-Afrika-migrasie het die mens twee welbekende patogene saamgedra en na die res van die wêreld versprei. Daar kan talle redes wees vir migrasie. Dit gebeur óf beplan óf spontaan. Indien migrasie deur natuurrampe, konflik, trekarbeid, slawerny of kolonisasie veroorsaak word, mag dit nadelig vir die gesondheid van migrante wees. Dit kan ook hulle vatbaarheid vir siektes verhoog, wat die verspreiding van siektes aanhelp. Reis as 'n tipe migrasie het gemaak dat die wêreld se bevolking hoogs gekonnekteer is, en dit bevorder vinnige verspreiding van siektes oor die wêreld heen. Voorbeelde van siektes wat deur migrasie versprei is, sluit in tuberkulose, Helicobacter pylorimaagsiektes, pokke, die verworwe immuniteitsgebreksindroomvirus, die Midde-Oosterse koronavirus en koronavirus tipe 1 en 2. Tydens die Holoseen het antopogeniese impakte 'n wanbalans in ekosisteme veroorsaak wat die Antroposeen ingelui het. Tydens die Neolitikum is diere gedomestiseer en sodoende is mikro-organismes van die diere na die mens oorgedra en sommige mikro-organismes, veral virusse, het siektes in mense veroorsaak, wat soönotiese siektes genoem word. In die toekoms gaan siektebeheer al hoe meer natuurbewaring insluit. Aangesien migrasie so 'n belangrike rol in die oordrag van siektes speel, gaan dit in die toekoms verpligtend word om situasies waar siektes, wat deur migrasie versprei word, deurlopend te moniteer om rampbeheerplanne betyds te implementeer. Dit is moeilik om sulke situasies te voorsien. Twee baie goeie voorbeelde hiervan is eerstens die konflik in Oekraïne sedert Maart 2022 met die inval van Rusland, en tweedens, die grootskaalse skade aan huise en infrastruktuur wat deur die die swaar reën in April 2022 in die KwaZulu-Natal Provinsie van Suid-Afrika plaasgevind het. In beide gevalle het groot getalle mense gevlug om die konflik of ramp te ontkom, en dit het mense meer vatbaar gemaak vir die oordrag van aansteeklike siektes. Rampbeheerplanne moet veral voorsiening maak vir die beskerming van die gesondheid van migrante en plaaslike gemeenskappe om die verspreiding van siektes uit te skakel.

A typifying characteristic ofHomo sapiens is its ability to walk upright, which allowed humans to move about in grasslands, enabling them to leave the forests of central Africa and populate the rest of Africa and later the world, a success story like no other. Africa is the place of origin of Homo sapiens. The first major migration of anatomically modern humans, known as the Out-of-Africa migration, was the first of many migratory events of Homo sapiens that continue up to the current era that shaped the world and society. This article aims to describe the defining role of human migration in spreading infectious diseases from pre-history to the present. In future, infectious diseases will continue to spread through migration. However, by contrast, the spread of diseases will be exacerbated due to the opportunities provided in the Anthropocene epoch and will become progressively more challenging. Migration is a term that encompasses the simultaneous movement of large numbers or groups of people away from their original place of living and for a specific reason. The main reasons for migration are emigration/immigration, forced displacement, slavery, migrant labour, asylum seeking and refugees. In addition, war, conflict, and environmental disasters such as droughts, famine and overpopulation are other common causes of migration. Migration is usually unplanned; it happens without warning or advanced planning and is accompanied by a large-scale disruption in the socio-economic structure, health, and well-being of the migrants and/or other affected groups. Such major disruptions to individuals' normal living can weaken the immune system, leading to increased susceptibility to infectious diseases. In addition, temporary housing during migration can often also result in humanitarian disasters that increase opportunities for the transmission of infectious diseases. Migrants are also at risk of contracting new or previously-unencountered diseases prevalent in their chosen resettlement area. Conversely, migrants can carry with them microorganisms absent in the resettlement area. An example of this is the smallpox virus that was brought to South America by the Spanish colonisers. At that stage, poxvirus was absent in this continent, and the indigenous populations had no immunity to the pathogen. The transmission of the poxvirus by colonizers to indigenous populations almost destroyed the indigenous populations of the time. A form of migration that emerged more recently is travel. Travel migration is defined as the large number of unrelated individuals who travel simultaneously across the globe for work or pleasure. Travel migration has been enabled by advances in the speed by which air and train travel takes place. This results in large numbers of individuals being transported across the globe in a short period and over long distances. Travel by water, air and land resulted in the world's population being highly interconnected through the mingling of large numbers of people from geographically remote places but in a relatively short period. Travelling connects people and diseases across the globe. Examples of pathogens that spread through migration and that cause major infectious diseases include the smallpox virus, the human immuno-deficiency virus (HIV), and coronaviruses that cause Middle Eastern respiratory syndrome (MERS), coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS). Mycobacterium tuberculosis, the cause of tuberculosis, and Helicobacter pylori, which can cause gastric ulcers, are among the oldest known bacteria that infect humans and were already present in humans when the Out-of-Africa migration occurred. These two pathogens were carried with humans as they migrated and populated new areas of the world, and both have been present in large numbers of humans over millennia. These two organisms can only spread through very close contact between humans and have no host outside the body; therefore, they are great examples of how migration distributes infectious diseases across the world. Mycobacterium tuberculosis is exceptionally well-adapted to spread and cause disease among individuals with lower immunity, such as migrants. Poor housing conditions and crowding, which invariably result from migration due to humanitarian disasters, advance the transmission of pathogens such as tuberculosis. Major lifestyle changes of humans occurred from the Paleolithic to the Neolithic after the Out-of-Africa migration, which directly or indirectly benefited the transmission of diseases. During the Neolithic, animals were domesticated, and agriculture started, allowing people to settle down and establishing the first towns and cities. The domestication of animals created an opportunity for pathogens to cross from animals to humans and adapt to the new host to cause new infectious diseases in humans, called zoonosis. The Anthropocene dawned when deforestation, mining, farming, and other human activities left their mark. As a result, the Anthropocene offers unique opportunities for the emergence and spread of infectious diseases: firstly, by zoonosis or the transmission of diseases from animals to humans, and secondly, the spread of the diseases through migration. Furthermore, changes in the weather and climate can lead to environmental migration. This occurs when people need to abandon their normal place of living because of severe weather events such as droughts and ice ages. Labour migration was responsible for the spread of HIV from its place of origin in Africa. This virus initially landed in humans through inter-species cross-over from primates to humans in the 1950s from eating semi-cooked bush meat. As a result, it became established in the indigenous populations of Africa. HIV is a sexually transmitted disease amongst humans, and migratory labourers from Haiti were infected with the virus while working in the Congo, where they transmitted the virus to people in Haiti upon their return. The MERS and SARS coronaviruses became human pathogens due to bat-human species cross-over, probably due to eating bush meat. However, the rapid distribution of these two viruses to other areas of the world was enabled through travel migration and the highly connected world population. Similarly, the extremely rapid spread of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) upon its discovery in December 2019 was partly due to travel migration. In future, the negative impact of infectious diseases can be prevented by having disaster preparedness plans to protect the health and well-being of migrants and resident populations. However, events that can potentially be disastrous are difficult to pre-empt: the world was largely unprepared on how to respond to the rapid spread of SARS-CoV-2 and how to control the ensuing pandemic. Other recent examples of similar unforeseen events are the Ukraine-Russian conflict that started in March 2022, which caused many people from Ukraine to flee to other countries for safety. The second example is the heavy rain of April 2022 in the KwaZulu-Natal Province of South Africa, which caused massive destruction of houses and infrastructure, resulting in affected people being displaced. In both cases, the reasons for migration can have a detrimental impact on the health of the affected people, which renders them susceptible to disease transmission.

Edmund Burke's traditonal conservative conception of freedom as opposed to that of modern conservatism

In hierdie artikel word daar aangevoer dat die Britse tradisioneel-konserwatiewe denker Edmund Burke (1729-1797) se vryheidsbeskouing fundamenteel verskil van die vryheids-beskouings wat moderne konserwatisme onderlê. Moderne konserwatisme word aan verskillende strome gekenmerk wat hoofsaaklik deur liberale vertrekpunte onderlê word. Dit sluit in: die libertariese stroom, wat ekonomiese vryheid beklemtoon; die neokonserwatiewe stroom, wat die universalisering van Westerse sosiale orde beklemtoon; en die klassiek-liberale stroom, wat individuele vryheid beklemtoon. Die tradisioneel-konserwatiewe vryheidsbe-skouing van Edmund Burke wyk in drie belangrike opsigte van al hierdie strome af: Eerstens beskou Burke vryheid as iets wat nie van die bevordering van die goeie losgemaak kan word nie; tweedens beskou Burke individue as wesens wat slegs werklik vry kan wees indien hulle hul verantwoordelikhede met betrekking tot hul gemeenskap nakom en sodoende daartoe bydra om hul gemeenskap vry te maak; derdens verwerp Burke politieke teorieë uitdruklik en beroep hom daarteenoor op ervaring as die enigste weg waardeur mense vrygemaak kan word. Gevolglik word vryheid, volgens Burke se ontleding, gekenmerk deur die nakoming van verantwoordelikhede, die bevordering van die goeie - nie net vir die individu nie, maar vir die breër gemeenskap - asook wedersydse respek en verdraagsaamheid tussen gemeen-skappe.

Even though Edmund Burke (1729-1797) is regularly described as the "founder of conservatism", it is argued in this article that Burke would not recognise his thinking in what is today regarded as modern conservatism. This is because modern conservatism - and the different strands that constitute it - can more aptly be described as particular strands within the broad framework of liberalism. The reason is that modern conservatism is in many ways built on liberal cornerstones, such as the pursuit of individual freedom, free markets, an appeal to political theory and a quest to universalise its way of thinking. Modern conservatism can be divided into a number of strands. It is argued that the most influential of these strands include: 1) libertarianism, which emphasises economic freedom as the primary determining factor for freedom; 2) individualist conservatism, which emphasises the individualist theories of among others John Locke and Thomas Paine; and 3) neo-conservatism, which emphasises its quest to universalise the Western conception of social order. The traditional conservatism of Edmund Burke - and his conception of freedom in particular - differs from the mainstream strands of modern conservatism in three fundamental ways. These can be summarised as: first, the pursuit of the good as the cornerstone to promote freedom; second, a view of the citizen as someone who finds meaning and fulfilment not by turning inward towards their individual selves, but by participating in the community towards the pursuit of the communal good; and third, by rejecting political theory as an approach to solving societal questions and resorting to experience instead. Burke linked experience to tradition, which he also described as the "wisdom of the ancients". Nonetheless, Burke has been described as a liberal and even as the first post-modern thinker. This can be ascribed to his criticism of the prevailing political forces of his time, his support for the Glorious Revolution of 1688 (according to which monarchical power was limited in favour of parliamentary authority) and his support for American autonomy from British rule. It is argued that Burke does notfit these ideological labels, as Burke's conception of identity and offreedom was fundamentally conservative and hardly reconcilable with the tenets of liberalism and post-modernism. Burkean thought is not characterised by an aversion to change, but rather by a pragmatic approach to political change, which favours gradual change and reform over sudden change and revolution. Therefore, he argued for change in favour of American autonomy from the British Empire. Burke argued that the Americans had developed a different culture than that of the British and that they could therefore not be governed by the British as if they had in fact been British. This, according to Burke's analysis, constituted not freedom, but rather imperialism and oppression, which could be described as the opposite of freedom. Burke clearly distinguished between his own conception of freedom (which places the emphasis on the fulfilment of responsibilities in the context of community) and individual licence (according to which freedom is regarded as a circumstance under which individuals can do whatever they please). In Burke's analysis, freedom can only be achieved by preserving what is good from the past and building upon it towards the good, which is grounded in Christianity. This, he argued, can only be done by valuing experience over theory. For this reason, he rejected the French Revolution's conception of freedom, describing it as unnatural and savage. For Burke, freedom naturally implied that citizens of the community should suppress their immoral appetites. Failing to achieve this or giving in to one's sinful desires was, in Burke's analysis, a state of slavery - not freedom. This is because the pursuit of the good naturally implies that freedom must be connected to the pursuit of virtue rather than licence. Therefore, Burke described freedom as "not solitary, unconnected, individual selfish liberty, " but as liberty "secured by the equality of restraint." It is thus concluded that in Burke's conception of freedom, he did not place the individual at the centre; nor did he define freedom along the lines of unlimited market participation; nor did he attempt to convert other cultures to his way of thinking.

The influence of lines of thought in the German university model on current university issues

Teen die einde van die 18de eeu was die universiteitsmodel van Europa grootliks geskoei op dié van die laat Middeleeue (die 15de eeu), hoewel die Franse Rewolusie en die uitvloeisel daarvan tydens die bewind van Napoleon wel 'n noemenswaardige effek op die universiteitswese gehad het. Daar het egter in die 19de eeu 'n ommekeer plaasgevind. Teen die 1850's was daar 98 universiteite in Europa, en net voor die begin van die Tweede Wereldoorlog was daar ongeveer 200 universiteite. Gesien in die lig van die Middeleeue se ryk universiteitswesegeskiedenis, was die 19de eeu 'n tyd waarin groot omwenteling met betrekking tot universiteite plaasgevind het. Die Duitse universiteitsmodel het grootliks tot die ommekeer van universiteite se groei bygedra. Die Duitse universiteitsmodel het egter nie net 'n omwenteling veroorsaak in studentegetalle nie, maar ook sommige denklyne binne die universiteitsontwikkeling oopgemaak wat vandag steeds net so relevant is binne die gesprek oor die universiteitswese. Vryheid was die onderliggende konsep van die Duitse universiteitsmodel. Tog was dit die belangrikheid wat die universiteit aan navorsing geheg het wat 'n blywende invloed op die universiteitswese gehad het. Hierdie studie verskaf filosofiese en historiese agtergrond tot huidige besprekings oor aspekte soos die universiteit-staat-verhouding, die rol van professore, eise aan studente en die fragmentering van die kurrikulum deur na die ontwikkeling van die klassieke Duitse universiteitsmodel te kyk.

By the end of the 18th century, the university model of Europe was largely that of the late Middle Ages (the 15th century), although the French Revolution and its overflow into Napoleon's reign had a significant effect on the universities of Europe. In 1789, Europe had 143 universities, but in 1815 only 83 universities remained; thus, a loss of 60 universities occurred during this time. However, in the 19th century, a turnaround took place. By the 1850s, Europe had 98 universities, and just before the start of World War II, there were approximately 200 universities. Viewed against the university's rich history from the Middle Ages, the 19th century was characterised by a time of great upheaval in universities. The German university model contributed significantly to the reversal of university growth in the 19th century. The new societal structures brought about by the French Revolution with its Enlightenment ideologies required new university models. The first model that was developed was the French university model. The French university model was a highly regulated model. The state prescribed to universities exactly which university should teach what content, as well as which function each university should fulfil. The university was in the service of the state and had to assist the state in training citizens for the performance of their task. The French university model had four aims in the sense that this model intended to: secure and maintain post-revolutionary status, bring education in line with state policy, prevent a new professional class from emerging and, lastly, establish restrictions on free thought in order to prevent the development of any ideas contrary to the stronghold of the state. This study shows that the notable reversal of the 19th-century university system came about as a result of the implementation of the German university's model. Core German intellectuals such as Johann Gottlieb Fichte, Friedrich Schleiermacher and Wilhelm von Humboldt devised a new German education system, independent from that of French oppression. These intellectuals developed numerous fruitful concepts such as Bildung, Wissenschaft, Lehrfreiheit, and Lernfreiheit. These concepts and other concepts made it possible for the new German university model to be devised and implemented. The German university model did not only have a great influence on the growth of student numbers, but it also opened up some lines of thought regarding the idea of the university, which are still relevant today. Some of the core issues still featuring on the agendas of present discussions regarding universities include the state-university relationship, where public universities are considered by some to be the property of the state. Issues regarding lecturers include, among others, the task of lecturers. The Medieval university concept of the lecturer as a master teacher is rarely found within the contemporary university - instead, teaching students is regarded as a lower order task compared to that of the lecturer's responsibility towards research. Today, lecturers 'performance is measured by their research output (within the publish or perish culture) rather than their ability to teach students. An additional issue concerns the idea that higher education is currently perceived to be a human right and that students are therefore entitled to a free education (part of the Fees Must Fall campaign). Finally, the fragmentation of the curriculum within the modern university, resulting in the loss of the ideal of a universal education, is of concern - the latter having been a characteristic that was part of the idea of the university. This paper, by revisiting the classical German university model, provides a philosophical and historical background to current discussions regarding aspects such as the university-state relationship, the role of professors, demands on students and the fragmentation of the curriculum.

Language as world disclosure: A critical-appreciative interpretation

Die fokus van hierdie bydrae is die kwessie van taal as wêreldontsluiting. Sentrale vrae in dié opsig is: Wat is die rol van taal in die samelewing? Is taal bloot 'n instrument wat die mens na goeddunke kan gebruik of is daar meer op die spel? Hoe moet daar oor taal gedink word in kontemporêre samelewings en veral demokrasieë? Om hierdie vrae te beantwoord, val die bydrae in drie afdelings uiteen. In afdeling 1 word Heidegger se opvatting van taal by wyse van 'n onderskeid tussen wêreldontsluiting 1 en wêreldontsluiting 2 geïnterpreteer. In dié opsig speel Heidegger se Kehre in die 1930's 'n belangrike rol. Afdeling 1 eindig met drie punte van kritiek wat teen Heidegger se begrip van wêreldontsluiting - en veral wêreldontsluiting 2 - geopper kan word. In afdeling 2 word Habermas se reaksie op Heidegger, naamlik sy kommunikatief-rasionele opvatting van geldigheidsaansprake, krities gerekonstrueer. Dit gaan hier veral oor sy kritiek op Heidegger se taalopvatting, as wêreldontsluiting 2, na sy Kehre in die 1930s. Hierdie afdeling word eweneens met drie punte van kritiek op Habermas se taalopvatting afgesluit. In die laaste afdeling (3) word daar tussen die onderskeie posisies van Heidegger en Habermas bemiddel, maar ook daarby verbybeweeg. Die punt hier is dat dit nie nodig is om wêreldontsluiting en geldigheidsaansprake in wedersyds eksklusiewe terme, soos beide Heidegger en Habermas neig, te maak nie. Uiteindelik eindig die bydrae met 'n bespreking van die politieke en estetiese implikasies van die voorafgaande bespreking - ook met verwysing na die komplekse aard van multikulturele demokrasieë.

The issue of language as world disclosure forms the core of this contribution. In this process the following questions are asked: What is the role of language in society? Is language simply a tool that mankind can use at will or is there more at stake? How should language be thought of in contemporary societies and democracies? To answer these questions, Heidegger's conception of language as world disclosure will be considered. Section 1 starts with an attempt to understand his view of language by making a distinction between world disclosure 1 and world disclosure 2. World disclosure 1 is about the disclosure of an already interpreted, symbolically structured world - the world within which we always already find ourselves. It is a world that we form in order to question reality, and the categories according to which we usually see it - a position that Heidegger outlines in Being and Time. After Heidegger's so-called Kehre in the 1930s, so it is argued, Heidegger moves to a version ofworld disclosure 2 where the subject's contribution to truth and knowledge is limited, while the role of Being is highlighted. In addition, the traditional assignment of truth to propositional statements in normal language usage also becomes less prevalent. World disclosure 2 thus refers as much to finding and disclosing existing horizons of meaning as to disclose previously hidden dimensions of meaning. This section on Heidegger's position on language as world disclosure is concluded by raising three points of criticism - especially with world disclosure 2 in mind. These points of criticism include an aestheticisation of reality, the propositional nature of language, and the regard or disregard of the role of the public sphere. Section 2 focuses on Habermas's response to Heidegger via his communicative-rational conception of validity claims. It is particularly about how he interprets Heidegger's concept of world disclosure 2 after his Kehre in the 1930s. As an alternative, Habermas is of the opinion that within a holistically structured world of meaning one can still use its conditions to speak and act relatively autonomously and reflexively. The ability of people to raise and challenge validity claims is the beginning of learning processes that can retroactively change previous worldviews. In his alternative, Habermas argues that philosophy and literary criticism are closely related to the universality of the sciences. Like other specialised languages, such as science, law, morality, economics, and political science, they make use of clarifying metaphors only if they satisfy the purposes of problem solving. In all these cases, the literary dimensions of language use are secondary to the different forms of argumentation. At the end of section 2, points of criticism are also raised on Habermas's position. It includes Habermas's narrowing down of Heidegger's position to world disclosure 2, the concept of universalisation, and the role of world disclosure for semantic innovation. In the last section (3), the respective positions of Heidegger and Habermas are mediated, but a move beyond them is also suggested. The point here is that there is no need to frame world disclosure and communicative reason (via validity claims) in mutually exclusive terms, as both Heidegger and Habermas tend to do. The contribution ends with a discussion of the political and aesthetic implications of the preceding discussion - also with reference to the complex nature of multicultural democracies.

On the limits of language

'n Taal moet aanhou groei en vertak en daarom het dit 'n sterk stam en diep wortels nodig. 'n Taal se moontlikhede word deur 'n aantal interne werkinge sowel as eksterne invloede bepaal. Twee spanningsvelde van taal, naamlik die grammatika tekne, oftewel die grammatikale as sodanig, en wat Dante die vulgare eloquentia noem, die eiesoortige van elke afsonderlike taal, sal beskryf en dan met mekaar in gesprek gebring word. Leidrade vir 'n gesonde verhouding tussen hierdie twee aspekte sal by antieke sowel as moderne denkers gesoek word. 'n Gesonde verhouding tussen hierdie aspekte sal voorts enersyds 'n veredeling van die eie, en andersyds 'n geabstraheerde begrip van menslike uitdrukkingsvermoë kan teenwerk. Die eie taal moet derhalwe in verhouding tot die geskiedenis as erfgenaam maar ook as unieke gespreksgenoot gelees word, met erkenning van leengoed en gedeelde gevoel, maar steeds vol selfvertroue in sy eie seggenskrag.

A language that seeks to grow and branch out needs to keep itself rooted. The possibilities of a language are co-determined by external and internal factors. The balance between the grammatical as such, or the grammatica tecne, as it was called in earlier times, alongside the local dialect, or the vulgare eloquentia, as Dante called it, will be explored. It will be argued that rootedness and branching are concurrent forces pulling in different directions, both contributing to the growth of the language in substantial measure. On the one hand entrance into what is historical is informed by current topics; and, on the other, what is current forms part of an unfolding of history. The relation between language studies and politics once again has become an issue featuring in the discussions regarding the indigenous status of Afrikaans. If a language were to be considered as authentic solely on account of its indigenous status, it would be difficult to forward an argument for English being authentically "English", given the fact that most of the vocabulary is borrowed from Frisian and Latin, and very little from Celtic. The real issue to be considered rather, is what purposes the speakers have in mind for the language, mere day-to-day communication or a distinguished literature? Should the latter be the preferred option, it follows that one will have to incorporate the development of the history of writing and study the fruits that were borne along with it. Dutch underwent similar developments during the so-called "Golden Age", developments from which Afrikaans has also been able to benefit to a certain extent. Grammar is not merely an objective science that examines and describes languages from a distance, but it is also historically embedded. Learning not only the rules and the scientific side of grammar, but also studying some of the languages that innovated these developments benefits any language, it binds a language into history. In his Poetics, Aristotle compares the different kinds ofwords to parts of a body but goes beyond that to speak about the physiological effects that certain kinds of metre have. We form sounds as much as sounds form us. Poetry specifically has two purposes for Aristotle - on the one hand it exposes the reader or listener to me tapeinen or the unusual, which comprises of strange words or techniques; while on the other, it familiarises the reader with safe, the norms and words of the language with which people are familiar. Without a good balance between these dimensions, poetry will remain either decadent or too mundane. Ifwe accept the unfamiliar to be a key for unlocking meaning in our own language, it again raises the question of the relation between languages. Han interprets Heidegger's notion of the bridge in the latter's essay Building, Dwelling, Thinking to mean that both the domain of exchange and the divine horizon on the other side of the bridge are to remain intact. In the case of Afrikaans, Van Wyk Louw can therefore speak of the fundamental indebtedness of Afrikaans to Dutch, as a source from which it cannot separate itself, especially in the context of education, while simultaneously having been formed in South Africa, thus being a bridge language between the continents. However great we judge our indebtedness to the development of grammar and the languages through which the history of literature was formed, we cannot neglect the particularity of our own language, and its ability to articulate what is universal in a unique manner, adding to the richness of the whole. In other words, the grammatical can become a hindrance in the development of language when a norm or a language dominates others to the extent that no more bridges can be extended. This was the case with Latin in the Middle Ages, and one might add with English today. Dante's essay Vulgare eloquentia laid the basis for a new appreciation for the local language and its ability to extend itself to universal heights, which Dante accomplished with his great Divine Comedy. Louw emphasises the importance of translation as a means whereby the speakers can extend their horizons to a world of meaning previously unknown to them. Translation does not necessarily mean that the speakers are motivated not to learn other languages, translation is itself not possible without building a bridge between languages, between the dwelling spaces of languages. The bridge allows one to dwell inside the limits of a world previously unknown. To manage this complex relation of the localities within a language, as well as the languages with one another, institutions are needed. But the mere existence of an institution does not automatically lead to literature. Humboldt calls for "spirited" writers, poets and philosophers to add new meaning and nuance to a language. This implies the study of these fields within institutions. If this does not happen, languages will to a great extent fall victim to the "hastiness" of the "newspaper men" as Louw calls the media. The hastiness relegates words to immediate meaning leaving little room for interpretation. The frequency of the word is therefore no yardstick for the health of a language. The limit represents the possibility of understanding, of making concrete, while at the same time acknowledging itself as limit, as being in need of extending itself beyond itself to another modus of expression.

Currents and counter-currents in the question of the language of learning and teaching: An international and a South African perspective

Die doel van hierdie artikel is om 'n oorsig en ontleding te bied van die internasionale diskoers oor, en die ervaring rakende die onderwystaalmedium, en dan dié oorsig en ontleding te gebruik ter beligting van die Suid-Afrikaanse vraagstuk ten opsigte van onderwystaalmedium. Gedurende die eerste twee millennia van die bestaan van "die" skool as onderrig-leerinstansie, was die oorheersende taal van die politieke magsgebied waarin 'n betrokke skool geleë was vanselfsprekend ook die onderrig- en leertaal van die skool. Die kerkhervorming en veral die ontstaan van nasionale state in Wes-Europa in die negentiende eeu het 'n wending hierin meegebring deurdat hierdie gebeure die beginsel van die moedertaal as voertaal / onderrig-medium in die onderwys bevorder het. In die Globale Suide, ná die staatkundige mondigwording van voormalige kolonies en die gepaardgaande bemagtiging van die betrokke moeder- en nasionale tale, is die inheemse tale egter selde as onderrig- en leertale erken en ontwikkel. Engels het boonop, as internasionale lingua franca, die afgelope halfeeu regoor die aardbol as onderrig- en leertaal in die onderwys vastrapplek begin kry. In weerwil van hierdie verwikkelinge bestaan daar 'n massa bewyse en argumente ten gunste van moedertaal-mediumonderwys. Die eerste deel van die artikel gee 'n oorsig van hierdie bewysmateriaal en argumente. In die tweede deel word hierdie materiaal benut om die onderwystaalmediumvraagstuk in die Suid-Afrikaanse onderwys te belig. Die historiese verloop van sake in Suid-Afrika het uitgeloop op die oorheersing van Engels as voertaal in die onderwys. Hierdie toedrag van sake het gelei tot stremming in die ontwikkeling en bemagtiging van die verskillende inheemse tale as onderwysvoertale. Afrikaans, indien 'n mens dit sou beskou as een van die inheemse tale ('n taal wat op Afrikabodem ontstaan en ontwikkel het), het benewens die globale en historiese-nasionale kragte ten gunste van Engels wat in die eerste deel van die artikel beskryf is, ook te doen met histories-politieke druk (as die "onderdrukkerstaal"). In die eerste deel van die artikel het dit geblyk dat daar sterk argumente, gesteun deur empiriese bewyse, bestaan ten gunste van die bemagtiging van moedertale as voertale in onderwys, en dus téén die huidige oorheersende posisie van Engels as onderwystaalmedium. Nie net geld dieselfde argumente vir die situasie in Suid-Afrika nie maar daar is ook 'n aantal faktore wat die wenslikheid van moedertaalmediumonderwys hier te lande des te meer noodsaaklik maak. Enkele aanbevelings word in hierdie verband aangebied.

The aim of this article is twofold. It is firstly to map the international discourse and experience regarding the issue of language of learning and teaching in education. Secondly, the article focuses on the South African question regarding the issue of language of learning and teaching in educational institutions, by employing the international framework constructed in the first section for purposes of illumination, interpretation, and assessment. The language medium in education remains a contentious issue in education, also in the South African context. The comparative method that was used for doing the mapping, namely, to examine and draw potentially valuable insights and perspectives from comparable international situations, is widely used for illuminating societal issues, also in education. Schools were instituted for the first time around 3 000 BC in Mesopotamia and Egypt. During the first millennia in the history of these institutions, the dominant language of the political jurisdiction or entity in which the school was located was employed as the language of learning and teaching in schools. This was due to the political objectives of education and schooling as well as the social origins of the learners who attended the schools. Schools originated autochthonously in only a few places; most school systems in the world today can trace their roots back to the early mediaeval European prototype which was subsequently exported to the extra-European world by means of missionary activities and imperial (colonial) endeavours. It is important to keep this development in mind for an understanding of the subsequent course that the language of learning and teaching in schools followed. A departure from the mediaeval practice to use Latin as the language of learning and teaching in schools coincided with the Reformation in Western Europe in the sixteenth century, in particular the formation of nation-states in that part of the world since the beginning of the nineteenth century. The leaders of the Reformation promoted the use of the vernacular for reading and understanding the Bible, and for this reason agitated for the home language to become the language of teaching and learning in the schools. This ideal was never fully realised, however; even in Western Europe the dominant language of each nation was used as the language of teaching and learning. The notion of developing the vernacular as language of learning and teaching did not form part of the imperialist project of instituting schools in the colonies from the fifteenth century in the Americas and Asia, and from the nineteenth century in Sub-Saharan Africa. Instead, the official language of the colonial power in question was used as the language of learning and teaching in colonial schools. The empowerment of the vernacular to become the official language of the country, a hallmark of the formation of nation-states and of national education systems in the Global North, received at best scant attention or lip service when the nations of the Global South, especially in Africa (notably in Sub-Saharan Africa) and South Asia gained independence during the 1960s. The situation has since been exacerbated by the rise of English as international lingua franca in the past half century. The impact of this development can be detected in the education systems of the world, including those of the Global North: English has become a de facto universal second or third language in teaching and learning at most levels. English is also increasingly supplanting respectively French and Portuguese as languages of teaching and learning in institutions of education in francophone and lusophone Africa. This, as mentioned, is a direct result of the vernacular not having been developed and empowered to become the language of teaching and learning. The hegemonic position of English is also reinforced by widespread support for this language as medium of teaching and learning among parents. Parents are convinced that mastery of English will be advantageous for their children in the higher education context and later in the international commercial world. A plethora of scholarly investigations seem to indicate that the vernacular should be favoured as the language of learning and teaching in institutions of education. Their findings revolve around respect for human rights, including the right to use the home, mother or first language as medium of teaching and learning; the role of language of teaching and learning in ensuring that the vernacular maintains and even improves its status and currency in society; educational considerations, including the role that the mother language plays in cognitive development and the learning of the first language, the learning of a second language, and subsequently, the learning of English; also the issue of equality and equity in education, and the role and impact of the language of learning and teaching in the maintenance and production of human and social capital. In the second part of the article, the South African situation regarding the issue of language of teaching and learning is described, analysed, interpreted and assessed against the internationalframework outlined in the first part. The analysis and discussion presented reveal that the international considerations are valid for the issue of language of learning and teaching in South Africa as well. They also show that several contextual-ecological features of the South African pedagogical landscape cause the promotion of the vernacular as medium of teaching and learning to be of even greater urgency. These features include the poor output (achievement) levels of, and the concomitant high levels of attrition in the South African education system, the persistent unacceptably high unemployment rate, the high levels of social inequality, and the national priority of making education accessible to all. Recommendations are made as to how the development of the various vernaculars could be developed to become efficient media of teaching and learning. Two of the strategies that could be considered are to promote the use of the vernacular in teacher education, and to use some of the international aid that is being poured into the African continent for the purpose of developing the various vernaculars to grow into effective education media.

Afrikaans students' use of emojis

In 'n era waar sosiale media soos WhatsApp toenemend as leerplatform gebruik word en studente se aanlyn kommunikasie gekenmerk word deur die toenemende gebruik van emoji's, is dit nodig om die rol van emoji's in die kommunikasie wat tydens aanlyn leer plaasvind, te ondersoek. Die doel van hierdie navorsing is om vas te stel hoe studente se keuse van emoji's deur konteks beïnvloed word; hoe hulle aanlyn kommunikasie in informele en formele kontekste deur die gebruik van emoji's beïnvloed word; en watter rol emoji's speel in die skep van 'n sosiale teenwoordigheid tydens aanlyn leer. Die bevindings dui daarop dat konteks inderdaad 'n invloed uitoefen en tot welke mate emoji's meer in informele interaksies gebruik word en minder in meer formele aanlyn leer kontekste. Emoji's beïnvloed aanlyn kommunikasie op verskillende maniere: dit maak dit meer pret; meer interaktief; bevorder korrekte interpretasie en sosiale teenwoordigheid. In studente se interaksie met medestudente en tutors help dit veral om 'n gemaklike atmosfeer te skep wat leer kan bevorder. Studente is egter huiwerig en onseker oor die gebruik van emoji's tydens interaksies met dosente. Hoewel sommige die moontlike waarde daarvan kan insien, beskou ander dit as onvanpas.

Everyday five billion emojis are used on Facebook Messenger, one out of every five Twitter messages contains an emoji and half of all Instagram comments have an emoji (Emojipedia. org, 2022). The use of emojis in online text messages has become increasingly prevalent in not only informal online interactions between family and friends, but also in formal contexts such as WhatsApp messages used in online learning. Over the last decade the use of WhatsApp has evolved from being used for informal interactions to being used as a platform for online learning and teaching in schools and universities. As a learning platform it has proved effective for using text messages to exchange information and knowledge and discuss lesson content. In this article a group of undergraduate Afrikaans students ' use of emojis in three different contexts (interactions with friends and family, peers, and tutors; and lecturers) is examined to ascertain how the differentiation in context influences their use of emojis, how the use of emojis influences their online communication and how social presence in online learning is influenced using emojis. To this end, a mixed-method approach in the form of a case study was used. Students ' experiences of and attitudes towards the use of emojis were measured quantitatively and qualitatively using an electronic questionnaire that consisted of twenty-two questions. The questionnaire allowed for two sets of data to be gathered: quantitative data about the use of ten different emojis in three different contexts and qualitative data about student's motivations for their use. The findings are interpreted against the backdrop of existing research and within the framework of the Social Presence Theory (Short, Williams & Christie, 1976). In the modern-day context this theory acknowledges that computer mediated communication (CMC) has a lower social presence than face-to-face communication due to the absence of non-verbal cues. Furthermore, it states that different types of CMC have different degrees of social presence because of their varying capacities to convey socio-emotional information. What follows is a summary of the most important findings. Students ' use of emojis is influenced by context. More emojis are used in WhatsApp messages to friends and family, fewer in messages to peers and tutors and the least in messages to lecturers. There is also a differentiation in the type of emojis used in these interactions: face emojis tend to be used more in informal contexts whilst hand emojis are used more in formal learning contexts. Findings further indicate that because emojis save time and are fun to use they impact on student's online communication in different ways. The use of emojis not only enhances the correct interpretation of messages but also creates social presence. However, in cases where emojis are interpreted differently it may lead to misunderstandings therefore hampering successful communication. In communication between students, their peers and tutors the use of emojis results in the creation of a comfortable atmosphere and social presence conducive to learning. Fewer, if any, emojis are used in interactions between students and lecturers. When used it is mostly restricted to the use of the less emotive thumbs-up and praying hands emojis. Although students are not comfortable using emojis in their WhatsApp messages to lecturers (they regard online learning as a formal context and deem the use of emojis in this context as inappropriate) most respondents (41%) are undecided as to whether or not emojis have a role to play in enhancing online communication between students and lecturers during online learning. Students in favour of using emojis in this context, although in the minority, indicated that emojis might - just like in their interactions with peers and tutors - also help in this context to create a relaxed atmosphere and social presence conducive to learning. More research on this aspect of emoji use is necessary.

Restandardisation by means of school textbooks in order to legitimise Cape Afrikaans

In die diskoers oor die herstandaardisering van Afrikaans word gereeld melding gemaak van die negatiewe gevolge van 'n hegemoniese standaardvariëteit in die Afrikaansklaskamer en van hoe die skoolstelsel destyds onderrigmateriaal soos handboeke gebruik het om die opvatting te beskerm dat Standaardafrikaans die enigste legitieme taalvorm is. Ondanks gereelde oproepe tot veranderinge aan die taalvorm van Standaardafrikaans en die taalfunksies van variëteite soos Kaapse Afrikaans, word skool- en handboeke as bron vir taallegitimering in die huidige diskoers oor herstandaardisering oorwegend onderbenut. Hierdie konseptuele artikel stel ondersoek in na die wyse waarop insluiting van Kaapse Afrikaans in handboeke dié variëteit kan legitimeer en Afrikaans kan demokratiseer. Eerstens word Odendaal (2012:125-126) se teoretiese uiteensetting van die begrip herstandaardisering bespreek. Vanuit haar definisie word tot die gevolgtrekking gekom dat herstandaardisering 'n sosiale regstelling kan wees met die doel om Afrikaans te demokratiseer deur variëteite soos Kaapse Afrikaans as 'n voedingsbron vir die standaardvariëteit te gebruik. Die demokratisering van Afrikaans behels dat die stigmas wat aan variëteite gekoppel is, afgebreek word deur die variëteite in gesaghebbende gebruiksdomeine, soos die onderwys-stelsel, in werking te stel. Sodoende word die prestige van die variëteite verhoog en word hulle as legitieme taalvorme gevestig. Hierna word aangevoer dat handboeke diskursiewe kwaliteite besit wat produktiewe moontlikhede bied om die herstandaardisering van Afrikaans te bevorder deur Kaapse Afrikaans as 'n legitieme taalvorm te vestig. Odendaal (2012:462) se herstandaardiseringsraamwerk is as teoretiese vertrekpunt gebruik om aan te toon hoe handboeke in die betrokke fases die legitimering van Kaapse Afrikaans en uiteindelik die herstandaardisering van Afrikaans kan bevorder.

The discourse on the restandardisation of Afrikaans often raises the issue of the negative consequences of a hegemonic standard variety in the Afrikaans classroom and how the school system has been using teaching materials such as textbooks to protect the point of view that the standard language is the only legitimate language. Various educators, researchers, linguists, artists, and language activists have spoken out about how Standard Afrikaans (Standaardafrikaans) alienates learners who are speakers of Cape Afrikaans and how drastic changes to the language form of Standard Afrikaans and language functions ofvarieties such as Cape Afrikaans are needed so that Afrikaans can serve the entire Afrikaans-speaking community. Yet the school context and textbooks are predominantly underutilised as a source of language legitimation in the course of the current discussion on restandardisation. Bearing in mind Haugen's (1987:637) view that changes to the language form should be implemented by educational institutions, this conceptual article investigates how the inclusion of Cape Afrikaans in textbooks can legitimise this variety and ultimately advance the restandardisation of Afrikaans. First, Odendaal's (2012:125-126) theoretical exposition of the concept of "restandardisation" is discussed. From her definition, the conclusion is made that restandardisation could be a social restitution aimed at democratising Afrikaans by using varieties such as Cape Afrikaans as a source to expand the standard variety. The democratisation of Afrikaans entails that varieties like Cape Afrikaans must be destigmatised by introducing it in authoritative spaces such as the education system. In this way, the prestige of the varieties is increased, and it is established as a legitimate form of Afrikaans. It is argued that textbooks possess discursive qualities that offer productive possibilities to promote the restandardisation of Afrikaans by establishing Cape Afrikaans as a legitimate language form. These discursive qualities of textbooks are explored, as well as how textbooks as linguistic resources bring about legitimation. Textbooks act as a form of discourse because they are presented in a specific language variety and take the form of a series of thematic and ideologically structured communications that circulate between a specific community of communicators. As the production of textbooks is controlled by the dominant groups and institutions (the publishing industry and/or state approval committees), textbooks tend to reflect the ideologies of the dominant group. A textbook therefore functions on the one hand as an instrument that contains knowledge considered legitimate by political authorities and on the other hand it forms part of socialisation processes. One of the primary functions of a discourse (here: in the form of textbooks) is to influence the experiences of the participants in the discursive practice (here: learners who work from the textbook). By using a specific language or language variety in textbooks, textbook users are socialised to regard such a specific language or language variety as the legitimate language, because the legitimate knowledge - as set out in the school curriculum - is presented in that particular language or language variety. Similar to discourse, textbooks are thus not only modelled on social values and traditions, but they also possess the ability to shape social beliefs and values. Fairclough (1995:131) argues that discursive practices - such as compiling and using textbooks - act in socially reproductive and socially transformative ways. Depending on the socio-political circumstances, textbooks have the ability to perpetuate existing social beliefs, or they can transform existing beliefs by exposing users to new knowledge and insights. Furthermore, textbooks also comply with Van Leeuwen 's (2007:92) exposition of linguistic resources that bring about legitimation. Textbooks are linguistic resources 1) that are used by persons with institutional authority (educators) 2) during institutionalised social interaction (the teaching-learning process) 3) while containing official and approved knowledge that reflects the values and beliefs of society 4) and at the same time possessing the ability to influence users' scholastic success. This article explores how textbooks can be used as resources to legitimatise Cape Afrikaans. Drawing on Odendaal's (2012:462) restandardisation framework as a theoretical point of departure, this article illustrates how textbooks in the relevant phases can promote the legitimation of Cape Afrikaans and, ultimately, the restandardisation of Afrikaans.

School-based movement development programmes and motor performance of Grade 1 learners: The NW-CHILD Study

Navorsing toon dat skoolbeginners gereeld onvoldoende motoriese behendigheid toon. Die doel van die studie was om die effek van twee skoolgebaseerde bewegingsontwikkelingpro-gramme, gebaseer op verskillende intervensiebenaderings, op die motoriese behendigheid van Graad 1-leerders in die Noordwes-Provinsie van Suid-Afrika te bepaal. Die substudie het deel uitgemaak van 'n longitudinale studie wat met Graad 1-leerders in die Noordwes-Provinsie van Suid-Afrika begin is (NW-CHILD Studie). Twee skole is vanuit een van die vier skooldistrikte in die studie op 'n beskikbaarheidsbasis vanuit die totale steekproef van 20 skole in een dorpsgebied geselekteer om aan die studie deel te neem. Die skole het aan die intervensie vir 21 weke deelgeneem, en het bestaan uit 75 leerders (Skool 1=40 en Skool 2=35), met 'n gemiddelde ouderdom van 6.66 jaar (+ 0.24 sa). Die Bruininks-Oseretsky Test of Motor Proficiency-2 verkorte weergawe is gebruik om motoriese behendigheid te bepaal. Die bewegingsontwikkelingsprogram van Skool 1 het berus op 'n proses-georiënteerde benadering, terwyl Skool 2 'n program gevolg het wat op 'n produk-georiënteerde benadering berus het. Beide bewegingsontwikkelingsprogramme het bygedra tot betekenisvolle verbetering, maar in verskillende motoriese behendigheid subkomponente, wat toegeskryf word aan die benaderings wat in dié programme gevolg is. Die inhoud sowel as die wyse van aanbieding (proses- en taakgeoriënteerd) is beide belangrik om in ag te neem in bewegingsont-wikkelingsprogramme om optimale resultate te verseker Dit is ook belangrik dat spesialiste in die veld van motoriese ontwikkeling sodanige programme moet aanbied om ook leerders met onvoldoende motoriese behendigheid te ondersteun.

Research shows that school beginners often show insufficient motor proficiency. When children in South Africa reach school going age, in the year they turn seven, they are expected to have already mastered the most fundamental movement skills which include object-control and locomotor skills. However, the diversity of the composition of the South African population poses several challenges to the perceptual-motor development of school beginners. Insufficient stimulation of perceptual-motor development and fundamental motor skills during the preschool years, contributes to Grade 1 learners often already experiencing movement backlogs when they start the formal school phase. Physical Education, which was a compulsory school subject in the past, played an important role in the development of movement skills of especially young children. In this respect, the school environment offered the opportunity to provide children with the early building-blocks of lifelong participation in movement, as children spend a large part of their young life at school. However, the exclusion of Physical Education in schools, results in children being only minimally or not at all exposed to movement. In South Africa, until 2011, about 25% of the total time spent in all the learning areas in the Foundation Phase (Gr.1 - Gr.3) was spent on life skills. Only 33% of this 25% was allocated to physical development and movement. Although Physical Education has since 2012, been returned to the National School Curriculum in South Africa, many processes must be put into place to restore it back to its full potential. This includes adequate resources and trained physical education teachers, especially in schools where school starters are already experiencing backlogs in their perceptual-motor development due to socio-economic factors. An adequate perceptual-motor skill foundation appears to have a significant effect on the quality of children's lives, and possibly on their intellectual productivity and school success later in life, and therefore participation in movement development programs for the school beginner is essential. This study aimed to determine the effect of two school-based movement development programs, based on different intervention approaches, on the motor performance of Grade 1 learners in the North-West province of South Africa. The study is a sub study within a longitudinal study that started with Grade 1 learners in the North-West province of South Africa (NW-CHILD Study). Two schools were selected to participate in this sub study from one of four school districts and from one town, based on availability, from the total sample of 20 schools in the study. The schools participated in a 21-week intervention and included 75 learners (School 1 = 40 and School 2 = 35), with a mean age of 6.66 years (+ 0.24 SD). Motor performance was measured using the Bruininks-Oseretsky Test of Motor Proficiency-2 short version. The movement development program of school 1 was based on a process-oriented approach, while school 2 followed a program that was based on a product-oriented approach. Both movement development programs contributed to significant improvement, although in different motor performance sub-components, which could be attributed to the approaches followed in these programs. The process-oriented program contributed to a greater degree of motor proficiency improvement than the task-oriented program, which could be ascribed to the underlying processes of motor performance that were addressed in this intervention approach, which again contributed to improved bilateral integration. Such improvement of motor proficiency can be attributed to the composition of the programs and the knowledge of the specialists who presented the programs. Attention to the content and the approach of delivery (process and task oriented) are important to be taken into consideration when compiling movement development programs to optimize the results. It is also imperative that such programs are offered by specialists in the field of motor development, to be able to fully support learners who also display inadequate motor proficiency.

A perspective on Orania's OSC Co-operative Bank Limited

Banke, as mobiliseerders van spaargeld, speel 'n belangrike rol in die kanalisering van beleggings, maar ook in die verbetering van die lewenstandaard van die bevolking of gemeenskappe waarbinne hulle funksioneer. Die omskakeling van besparings na beleggings stimuleer die beleggingsvermenigvuldiger, wat weer toon dat 'n toename in investeringsbesteding die totale ekonomie ondersteun. 'n Analise van die leningsbedrywighede van banke wys dat hierdie instellings beide likiditeits- en solvensieprobleme in die gesig staar. Om hierdie risiko's te vermy, is dit belangrik dat banke die korrekte rentekoers hef wat die risiko verbonde aan die lening en die koste van kapitaal om die lening te befonds, weerspieël. Hierdie artikel ontleed spesifiek die rol wat koöperatiewe banke en koöperatiewe finansiële instellings in die Suid-Afrikaanse ekonomie vervul, deur te fokus op Orania se OSK Koöperatiewe Bank Beperk (OSK), die grootste koöperatiewe bank in Suid-Afrika. Die navorsing bestudeer die ontstaan en ontwikkeling van die OSK se uitleenaktiwiteite om belegging aan te moedig in die omgewing wat deur die bank bedien word. Die gevolgtrekking is onder meer dat die instelling 'n beduidende positiewe invloed op Orania se ekonomiese ontwikkeling gehad het. Die aanbeveling uit hierdie navorsing is dat die OSK as voorbeeld vir ander koöperatiewe banke en koöperatiewe finansiële instellings kan dien, om soortgelyke praktyke in werking te stel en sodoende die direkte omgewing waarbinne hulle werksaam is, te ondersteun.

In the mobilisation of savings, banks play an important role in channelling investments, but also in improving the standard of living of the population or communities served by these institutions. The channelling of savings to investment stimulates the investment multiplier, which shows the total impact on the economy as a result of increased investment. An analysis of the lending activities of banks shows that these institutions face both liquidity and solvency risks. To avoid these risks, it is important for banks to lend funds to borrowers at appropriate rates that correctly reflect the riskiness of lending activities. Against this background, this article draws specific attention to the role that co-operative banks and co-operative financial institutions play in the South African economy, by focusing on Orania's OSC Co-operative Bank Limited (OSC), the largest co-operative bank in South Africa. The paper considers the origin and expansion of the OSC's lending practices and its role in encouraging investment in the community served by the bank. The main research finding is that the OSC has had a significant positive influence on Orania's economic development. The recommendation from this research is that the OSC can serve as an example for other co-operative banks and co-operative financial institutions to implement similar practices in order to support the communities in which they operate.

Are offenders entitled to a right to rehabilitation or rather to a rehabilitation-driven environment?

Hierdie bydrae ondersoek die veronderstelling dat oortreders in Suid-Afrika 'n afdwingbare reg het om van die Departement Korrektiewe Dienste te verwag om hul te hervorm. Kundiges soos Omar (2011), wie se uitgangspunt verteenwoordigend van die sogenaamde tradisionele invalshoek is, word onderlê deur 'n gedagtegang dat misdaad hom vertoon as 'n enkelvoudige kwelpunt aangesien ons gemeenskap wesenlik gesond is ('n benadering tot misdaad wat bekendstaan as funksionalisme). My kritiese invalshoek is dat die verontagsaming van die ongenaakbare en onherbergsame omstandighede wat vrygelate gevangenes in die gesig staar, beteken dat hul heeltemal verkeerd beoordeel word. Ek skets 'n vlugtige oorsig van die literatuur gewy aan beide die funksionalistiese en konflikbenaderings tot misdaad wat oor die afgelope vyftig jaar vergader is. Kortliks betoog hierdie benaderings dat afdwingbaarheid van sodanige reg in 'n hardestigmatiserend-beskamingskultuur soos in Suid-Afrika te vinde is, niks minder as 'n sinnelose oefening is nie. My eie teoretiese raamwerk lê êrens tussen wisselwerking- en 'n konflikbenadering tot misdaad. Dit word verder onderlê deur 'n kritiese ontplooiing van die polities-besielde etiketteringspraktyk en postkolonialistiese teorie toegepas op die maat-skaplike jag op hierdie geringgeskattes. Dit is die rede waarom konflikbemiddeling (grondliggende menslike behoeftes) so 'n doeltreffende teoretiese lens is. Daar word tot die slotsom gekom dat 'n oortreder se sogenaamde reg tot hervorming binne die omvang van ons hardestigmatiserend-beskamingskultuur 'n leë, niksseggende gebaar is tensy daar eerder die regte omstandighede geskep word ten gunste van 'n integrerend-beskamingskultuur. Vanuit die gesigspunt van vrygelate gevangenes is dit transformerende, eerder as regstellende, geregtigheid wat dringend benodig word.

perpetuate structural violence, 2) the bigoted selection of particular neighbourhoods for policing and 3) processing through the criminal justice system, 4) a stigmatising shaming culture (such as in South Africa) that marginalises vulnerable groups (notably ex-offenders) to function as a "source" (not a "cause") of crime, and 5) the political distortion of our understanding of crime to serve the interests of the rich and powerful. As far as the functionalist approach to crime is concerned, the danger of this rationale is that it not only underestimates the significance of structural oppressions, but also neglects how, as Martinson (2001[1974]) observes, criminality is symptomatic of the fundamentally unjust nature of our society. Yet the most serious objection to Omar's (2011) traditional position is that rehabilitation might not even be possible in stigmatising shaming cultures, such as that found in South Africa. To assist this analysis, a brief overview of the literature on interactionist and conflict approaches covering the past fifty years, is considered. Four approaches functionalist, interactionist, conflict and control) inform our understanding of deviance and crime. Functionalist theories argue that society is essentially healthy, and that crime (or other deviant behaviour) is the result of the breakdown of existing moral values and institutions, while interactionists emphasise how crime is "a socially constructed phenomenon". However, the traditional approach that underpins almost all rehabilitation and reintegration initiatives is functionalism. My own theoretical framework lies somewhere between an interactionist and conflict approach to crime. I am primarily concerned with the politically charged labelling perspective, as well as post-colonial thinking on the societal predation of the marginalised (including ex-offenders). The interactionist approach, on the one hand, investigates how marginalisation and stigmatisation are socially constructed. In fact, Giddens and Sutton (2017) argue that the nature of "labelling" has perhaps been the most fruitful insight of this movement. Merton (1948), one of the leading academics on the labelling perspective, suggests the term "self-fulfilling prophecy" in his exploration of the everyday dynamics of labelling, and defines the former as "a false definition of the situation evoking a new behavior which makes the originally false conception come true". Yet conflict criminologists contend, on the other hand, that the class conflict inherent in capitalist societies inevitably results in crime. No one, however, claims that a transition to a socialist state would magically result in the total disappearance of "crime". Acknowledging the negative impact of stigma on ex-offenders in South Africa, Muntingh (2005) argues that "[t]he reality is ... that ex-prisoners continue to suffer from social and economic exclusion - a reflection of society's belief that those who have offended or been imprisoned cannot be part of 'good' society again". Although written almost twenty years ago, this is as true today as it was then. In fact, the presence of the prison-industrial complex in South Africa over the past two decades accelerated the recycling of ex-offenders for profit rather than embracing their sustainable resettlement and rehabilitation. Stigmatising shaming cultures (typically individualistic societies, such as the US, UK and South Africa), on the other hand, encourage subtler lingering shame and rejection of offenders, and therefore generate higher rates of recidivism. Additionally, Braithwaite (1989) contends that the penal practices of many stigmatising shaming cultures in the West practised the "uncoupling of shame and punishment". According to Galtung (1996), one of the foremost theorists in Peace Studies, denial ofcertain groups access to basic human needs is a natural precursor to conflict, being itself a form of cultural violence, legitimised by stigma. Therefore, labelling and re-offending go hand-in-hand. Conflict Management's emphasis on the recognition of basic human needs to "provent" (Burton, 1997) conflict and forestall recidivism can clearly be seen here. In the case of South African ex-offenders, the effects of stigma on their prospects after release are serious hurdles to reintegration. This is the reason, among others, why conflict management is such a powerful theoretical lens with which to understand recidivism within the context of a stigmatising shaming culture. It is concluded that enforcing an offender's right to rehabilitation in our harsh stigmatising shaming culture is an ineffectual, pointless measure unless the right conditions are created in favour of a pro-rehabilitation and integrative (rather than stigmatising) shaming culture. From the perspective of ex-offenders, transformative, not restorative, justice is what is called for.

A critical evaluation of the contribution of (Prof.) WS Prinsloo to the study of the Old Testament

Vanjaar sal dit 25 jaar wees sedert die ontydige dood van prof. WS Prinsloo. Dit sou dus die moeite loon om ná 25 jaar bestek op te neem van sy bydrae tot die wetenskap van die Ou Testament en die vraag te vra na sy nalatenskap en hoe dit geëvalueer moet word. Metodologies gesproke gee die artikel 'n kort oorsig oor die lewe van Prinsloo. Vervolgens word hy geplaas binne die historiese konteks van die stand van die Ou Testamentiese wetenskap. Prinsloo gee in sy navorsing veral aandag aan die psalms en gevolglik word veral gefokus op die kenmerke van sy ondersoek na die psalms. Drie monografieë wat sy eksegese van 'n aantal psalms weergee en sy publikasies wat handel oor die metodiek van eksegese word gebruik as verwysingsraamwerk vir die beoordeling van sy werk. Laastens word daar tot enkele gevolgtrekkings gekom.

This year marks 25 years since the untimely passing away of Prof. Willem Sterrenberg Prinsloo, the well-known Old Testament scholar and former dean of the Faculty of Theology at the University of Pretoria. It is thus an appropriate time to take stock of the legacy he had left behind and to endeavour a critical evaluation of his work. There is little doubt that Prinsloo exercised a tremendous influence on at least a generation of theological students who studied the Old Testament as part of their theological training. He also played an important part in a crucial stage in the academic study of the Old Testament in South Africa, especially during the last twenty years of the twentieth century. The problem addressed in this contribution is to provide the reader with a critical assessment of the contribution of Prinsloo to the study of the Old Testament. How Prinsloo's contribution to the study of the Old Testament may be evaluated is the central question asked in this article. The method followed in achieving this goal is to start by giving a brief overview of Prinsloo's career as a student and pastor in a local congregation before commencing an academic career as a staff member in the Department of Old Testament at the University of Pretoria. Secondly, a brief overview is given of the historical environment of Old Testament studies that coincided with Prinsloo's academic career. Prinsloo focused mainly on the psalms and consequently this investigation will especially concern itself with his publications on the psalms. However, his views on exegesis and the exegetical method he proposed will also be consulted. Lastly, a few conclusions are drawn in order to attempt an assessment of his contribution to Old Testament studies. The last three decades of the twentieth century were characterised by a close scrutiny of exegetical method. Whereas historical-critical methods focused on the development texts had undergone in the course of time, emphasis was now placed on texts in their so-called final form, irrespective of how these texts may have changed over time. Terms such as structural analysis, discourse analysis, text-immanent exegesis, diachronic or synchronic exegesis and surface structure vis-à-vis deep structure became part of the technical vocabulary scholars were using in the discussions regarding the topic of the exegesis of the Old Testament. It is within this context that Prinsloo developed his peculiar form of text-immanent exegesis. Although he acknowledges the value and achievements of historical-critical exegesis, he is quick to point out the fallacies and weaknesses of this method of exegesis. The main point of his criticism against historical-critical approaches to the Old Testament is that a study of the supposed changes to which texts had been subjected in the course of time resulted in a fragmentation of the text. The major advantage of text-immanent exegesis is the emphasis on the text in its final form. An important characteristic of Prinsloo's text-immanent exegesis is to apply a rigid sequence of exegetical steps. These steps start with the proper demarcation of a text, followed by text-critical considerations. The third step is an important one, which involves subjecting the text to a structural analysis. A basic point of departure in exegesis is that meaningful communication can only happen when language is used in a structured way. An analysis to determine the structure of a demarcated text is thus ofvital importance to arrive at the meaning of a text. The next step consists of an enquiry into the literary genre (or Gattung as it is called in scholarly circles) and the "situation in life" (Sitz im Leben) of the text. An analysis of possible traditional material (creation, ancestors, Exodus, Sinai, wilderness, the land, Zion and David) constitutes the next step. The text is then subjected to a redactional scrutiny to determine whether additions had been added to the text. Given the fact that the text in its final form is the point of departure in Prinsloo's exegetical approach, it follows that possible additions (as in the penultimate step above) would receive scant attention. With all the information thus gathered from the investigation, the theological meaning of the text may next be formulated. The meticulous reading of and focus on a demarcated text may be regarded as the most important legacy of Prinsloo's work. At the same time, this focus on a single text has a disadvantage as well. Texts cannot be studied by themselves in isolation of other texts surrounding them. This is also true of Prinsloo's focus on the individual psalm. Individual psalms also form groups of psalms and this aspect is neglected in his approach. A second point of criticism is the strict methodology at the core of his structured enquiry that had to be followed in the proposed exegesis. Method is important, but a rigid methodology where even the sequence of exegetical steps may not be changed, cannot be maintained any longer. Rather than a rigid focus on method, exegetes nowadays prefer to use the term "approach" to describe their exegetical method. A devaluation of the historical dimension of Old Testament texts is another point of criticism that may be raised against Prinsloo's text-immanent exegesis. Although Prinsloo is aware of the importance of the historical dimension of Old Testament texts, in practice hardly any evidence of attention to historical aspects may be discerned when scrutinising the manner in which an exegesis of a psalm is carried out by him. By contrast, Old Testament scholars nowadays agree that text and historical reality cannot be separated and that the historical dimension of an ancient text, such as the Old Testament, plays a vital and indispensable part in any endeavour to understand the text. Prinsloo displays a strange dualistic view on historical-critical methods of exegesis. On the one hand, he is highly appreciative of the achievements of historical-critical approaches to the Old Testament, while, on the other, he is simultaneously highly critical of historical-critical exegesis. His main accusations are that historical-critical exegesis is positivistic, evolutionistic and atomistic. Text-immanent exegetical approaches themselves are, however, not free from positivism -Prinsloo's emphasis on objectivity being a case in point. In addition, Prinsloo'spolemic style is another point of criticism that may be raised. He does not shy away from entering into a critical debate with colleagues and he is known for his highly critical remarks on the untenable results of historical-critical exegesis. The question can be asked whether this highly critical attitude to historical-critical exegesis is appropriate in scholarly debate. Furthermore, it may also be asked why only historical-critical methods are targeted, while other exegetical methods are also practised. Despite these critical remarks, Prinsloo will be honoured for having established a particular way of approaching a text, thereby ensuring a meticulous focus on the final text of the Old Testament.