UWCScholar

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The impact of the 2022 KwaZulu-Natal floods on mangrove communities, and how they responded to the extreme event
(University of the Western Cape, 2025) Roach, Danielle Cassy
Mangroves provide a wealth of irreplaceable ecosystem services, are crucial to the livelihoods of coastal communities and the sustainable functioning of our planet. They are considered rare in South Africa as they cover less than 1 % of the total land area. These ecosystems are situated at the confluence of the land and the sea, and are thus predisposed to the harshest impacts of climate change. South Africa has one of the highest vulnerabilities to extreme events, and these are increasing in frequency and strength due to climate change. The extreme flooding event which took place between 8 to 12 April 2022 in the greater Durban and South coast region in KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) was no exception to this, with 300 mm of rain recorded in 24 hours, claiming the lives of 459 people, this was the most catastrophic event to have occurred in the history of the province. We are likely to see another event such as this, yet it is currently unknown how mangroves in South Africa would cope with this. Therefore this study aimed to determine the impact of the 2022 extreme flooding event on mangroves and its associated fauna at three estuaries (Beachwood, Durban Bay and Isipingo) in Durban, KwaZulu-Natal.
Health practices of pregnant women attending antenatal clinics in the Western Cape, South Africa: a cross-sectional survey
(Unisa Press, 2025) Noncungu, Thabani Mishack; Chipps, Jennifer; Crowley, Talitha
Background: Health practices are the decisions and actions pregnant women take to manage pregnancy and health issues, reflecting self-care behaviours that influence maternal and neonatal outcomes. Aim: To investigate the health practices of pregnant women attending antenatal clinics. Setting: Selected antenatal clinics in primary healthcare facilities in the Western Cape. Methods: A sample size of 267 pregnant women was drawn from three intentionally selected primary healthcare facilities in the Western Cape, chosen for their high antenatal attendance rates in the sub-district. The sample size was calculated using a sample size calculator, and respondents were selected using a systematic sampling method. A validated scale, Health Practices in Pregnancy Questionnaire-II, was used to collect data. Data were analysed per scale instructions using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 30 for descriptive and inferential statistics. Results: The study achieved a response rate of 248 respondents. The respondents were on average 27.4 years old (sd=7.53), with 193 (77.8%) reporting that they attended secondary school. Just over half of the respondents (n=126, 50.8%) did not know the gestational age of their current pregnancy. Respondents had low health practices scores (108.11/170 (sd=9.17) [CI=95%: 106.96-109.26, range 83.80 to 138.80]. Positive health practices were rated higher than abstaining from harmful practices. No significant predictors of health practices were found. Conclusion: Health practices should receive specific focus in health education activities. Contribution: The authors recommend that nurses at antenatal clinics should educate pregnant women about the importance of health practices as part of self-care promotion.
Tool for assessing food industry commitments and practices to address the double burden of malnutrition: a delphi study
(BioMed Central Ltd, 2026) Mchiza, Zandile; Klinger, Carmen; Okanmelu, Elochukwu Christopher
Background: Many low- and middle-income countries face a double burden of malnutrition, i.e., a co-occurrence of undernutrition with overweight, obesity, or other diet-related noncommunicable diseases. In an increasingly connected global food system, multinational and domestic food industry actors – through their commercial practices and corporate political activity – both contribute to the double burden of malnutrition and hold potential to address it. Systematic monitoring of relevant industry commitments and practices may help to hold industry accountable and foster constructive engagement. The Business Impact Assessment - Obesity and population-level nutrition (BIA-Obesity) tool has been developed to assess and benchmark food companies’ commitments and practices related to obesity and support for healthy diets at a national level. Methods: To enable the application of BIA-Obesity for countries facing a double burden of malnutrition, this study aimed to identify and select relevant best practice indicators for assessing food company commitments and practices regarding the double burden of malnutrition, with a focus on indicators not currently captured by the BIA-Obesity tool. A three-round Delphi study was conducted between April and October 2024, involving an international panel of experts. Results: From 52 invited experts, 30 contributed to our expert panel (response rate 58%). Based on a systematic review, 16 best practice indicators addressing the double burden of malnutrition were proposed. Consensus (i.e., group agreement of 75% or higher) for inclusion was reached for 8 indicators covering the production, distribution and marketing of (i) breastmilk substitutes and (ii) complementary foods, (iii) breastfeeding support and (iv) parental leave for employees, (v) food fortification, (vi) use of traditional foods, (vii) use of discounts and donations, and (viii) healthy diets at work. One additional indicator on corporate strategy was included as an overarching indicator. Conclusions: Food industry action may complement other efforts to address the double burden of malnutrition, such as public policies and investments. Tools like the extended BIA-Obesity framework can be used for a systematic monitoring of relevant industry commitments and practices and may help to disseminate and establish favourable industry practices as part of broader efforts to address the double burden of malnutrition in low- and middle-income countries. Clinical trial number: Not applicable
The use of telehealth as a strategy to provide occupational therapy services in South Africa
(SAGE Publications Ltd, 2026) Soeker, Mogammad Shaheed; Amod, Aqeelah; Cuttings, Erin; Fakier, Zahrah; Maas, Michelle; Stassen, Mika; Truter, Tatum
Background: During COVID-19, healthcare professionals had to adapt their service delivery models to prevent virus transmissions using telehealth as a new service delivery model. Although many health professionals support telehealth, there is a void in the literature that focus on the use of telehealth in occupational therapy. Objective: This study aims to explore the experiences of occupational therapists in the public and private sectors regarding the use of telehealth in OT practice in South Africa. Method: Ten participants (occupational therapists who use telehealth as part of their interventions) participated in the study. The majority of the participants were 35 years of age, they were females and had 3.5 months of telehealth experience. The researchers made use of semi-structured interviews and used the process of thematic analysis to give rise to four themes. Results: Four themes surfaced which represent the experiences and perspectives of the occupational therapists utilising telehealth including the barriers and facilitators: The themes that became evident throughout the thematic analysis comprised (1) Enablers to the use of telehealth; (2) Barriers to telehealth in occupational therapy practice; (3) The use of education and research in strengthening telehealth as a strategy; (4) Strategies to enhance the use of telehealth in occupational therapy practice. Conclusion: The participants addressed the misconception that occupational therapists should not utilise telehealth due to the type of therapy provided, by elaborating on the influence of therapist adaptability and creativity on the integration of telehealth into their practice. Although telehealth minimises geographical barriers and costs associated with travelling, most participants had difficulty conducting assessments and navigating online platforms effectively from a therapist and client perspective.
fftvis: a non-uniform fast fourier transform based interferometric visibility simulator
(Oxford University Press, 2025) Kittiwisit, Piyanat; Cox, Tyler A.; Murray, Steven G.
The detection and characterization of the 21cm signal from the Epoch of Reionization (EoR) demands extraordinary precision in radio interferometric observations and analysis. For modern low-frequency arrays, achieving the dynamic range necessary to detect this signal requires simulation frameworks to validate analysis techniques and characterize systematic effects. However, the computational expense of direct visibility calculations grows rapidly with sky model complexity and array size, posing a potential bottleneck for scalable forward modelling. In this paper, we present fftvis, a high-performance visibility simulator built on the Flatiron Non-Uniform Fast-Fourier Transform (finufft) algorithm. We show that fftvis matches the well-validated matvis simulator to near numerical precision while delivering substantial runtime reductions, up to two orders of magnitude for dense, many-element arrays. We provide a detailed description of the fftvis algorithm and benchmark its computational performance, memory footprint, and numerical accuracy against matvis, including a validation study against analytic solutions for diffuse sky models. We further assess the utility of fftvis in validating 21cm analysis pipelines through a study of the dynamic range in simulated delay and fringe-rate spectra. Our results establish fftvis as a fast, precise, and scalable simulation tool for 21cm cosmology experiments, enabling end-to-end validation of analysis pipelines