WIReDSpace

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Communities in WIReDSpace

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Now showing 1 - 5 of 19

1. Academic Wits Research Outputs/Journal articles
This community is for all faculties and schools' research outputs/journal articles by Wits academics and researchers.
2. Academic Wits Research Outputs/Journal articles (to be edited and moved to Academic Wits Research Outputs/Journal articles)
This community hosts traditional outputs such as published and unpublished research articles, conference papers, book chapters and other research outputs authored by Wits academics and researchers. Items in this collection are also mapped to relevant collections within the Faculties/Schools/Departments communities for more specific browsing and searching.
3. Electronic Theses and Dissertations (ETDs)
This community is for all faculties and schools' electronic theses and dissertations (ETDs) by masters and doctoral students. NB: All electronic theses and dissertations to be edited and moved/uploaded here.
4. Inaugural Lectures
This community for all Wits Inaugural lectures.
5. Wits Libraries Publications
This community is for all Wits Libraries staff presentations and publications.

Recent Submissions

Microplastic exposure disparities in California communities through bottled water consumption
Andrew Gray; Samiksha Singh; Mehdi Nemati; Kurt Schwabe; Lingxiao Wang
Power, Inequality and the Limits of Climate Reform: Rethinking South Africa’s Just Transition
(University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2026) Olver Crispian
South Africa’s climate transition is a paradoxical story: a period of increasingly progressive climate policy and inclusive institution-building between 2010 and 2022 — anchored in the PCC, the Just Transition Framework and the JETP — followed by political pushback, retrenchment and the emergence of a lower-ambition equilibrium. This paper asks why an apparent consensus on a just transition has not (at least yet) consolidated into a permanent settlement, and what this reveals about the relationship between institutions, power and equity (both procedural and distributional). Drawing on Political Settlements Theory (PST), the analysis argues that for climate and just-transition reforms to endure, the distribution of costs and benefits must broadly align with prevailing configurations of power. South Africa’s early momentum was driven by underlying shifts in incentives – climate risks, falling clean energy costs, carbon pricing and concessional finance – affecting the holding power of social partners. But the deeper structure of the post-apartheid settlement, rooted in the minerals-energy complex and rent-distribution networks, remained largely intact, allowing incumbents to reassert themselves as the distributional implications of decarbonisation became clearer. Elite fragmentation, state incoherence and lack of trust resulted in just transition provisions being implemented slowly if all at all, while consensus on a just transition gave way to a more cautious, investment-centred trajectory. The paper traces this arc across four phases: the emergence of a socially negotiated climate consensus (2010 — 2018); a period of ambitious climate policy and institution building (2018 — 2022); the contestation and fragmentation that followed (2022 — 2025); and the consolidation of a lower-ambition equilibrium that reflects more closely the underlying balance of power (2025-). NB: some of these phases overlap, but they are a useful schema for explaining macro-trends. The analysis demonstrates that inclusive policy design and participatory processes alone are insufficient to drive change: implementation depends on the organisational strength of actors able to both support and contest the trajectory of change, and on state coherence and capability to implement it. Technological change, market forces, organisational power and institutional innovation can disrupt incumbent interests and engender new economic sectors and constituencies, highlighting that political settlements are definitely not static. Institutions like the PCC can expand the social foundation of the settlement by enabling emerging actors – clean tech enterprises, unions in new economic sectors, municipalities, community initiatives — to organise, voice demands and gradually increase their holding power. The Just Transition Framework (2022) sketched the architecture of a more equitable settlement; the challenge is to translate this vision into practice backed by the intent and capability to do so. The central question this leaves the reader with is, therefore, not whether a just transition is technically feasible, but what political economy conditions are required to realise it i.e. how changing economic incentives and political 5 institutions can be harnessed to build constituencies capable of shifting the political settlement toward one that is genuinely inclusive, developmental and aligned with a low-carbon climate-resilient future.
Changes in quality of life over time through the lens of young people aged 1824 in 2016 in Gauteng Province of South Africa
(PUBLIC LIBRARY SCIENCE) E Marinda; Yashena Naidoo; M Magampa; Abongile Pindo; Mercy Ngungu; E et al
Factors associated with paediatric medulloblastoma- a descriptive study of patients with medulloblastoma treated in Johannesburg (2015-2022)
(University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2025) Mazibuko, Lucas Thapelo; Naidu, G.
Background: Medulloblastoma is the most common malignant neoplasm of the central nervous system in children. This pathology originates from the cerebellum and predominantly impacts children aged 3 to 8 years. Notwithstanding the progress made in therapeutic approaches, medulloblastoma persists as a considerable contributor to both morbidity and mortality in children. Objectives: This study aimed to describe the epidemiology, clinical presentation, stage, histopathology, treatment, complications and outcome of medulloblastoma in children who were treated at Chris Hani Baragwanath Academic Hospital (CHBAH) and Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Academic Hospital (CMJAH) from 2015 to 2022. Method: This retrospective cohort study examines all patients diagnosed with medulloblastoma from January 2015 to December 2022. The data utilised in this analysis were gathered from clinical and radiological records and histopathology reports from the National Health Laboratory Services (NHLS). Results: A total of twenty-seven patients were diagnosed with medulloblastoma; however, only twenty patients met the study's inclusion criteria. Two patient files were missing, and five contained incomplete information. The cohort consisted of more girls than boys, with a ratio of 1.2:1. Ninety-five per cent of the children were Black, while 5% were of Indian descent. Symptoms were present for an average of four weeks before presentation. The most common presenting signs and symptoms were gait abnormalities (80%), headaches (60%), and nausea and vomiting (60%). Histopathological analysis revealed that 55% of cases were unspecified medulloblastoma, 35% were desmoplastic/nodular, and 10% were classified as classic medulloblastoma. All the patients in our cohort had debulking surgery. Sixty-five per cent of patients completed both chemotherapy and radiotherapy; 20% were referred to palliative care post-surgery, and 15% succumbed to complications such as pneumonia, surgical-site infections, and recurrent urinary tract infections. Among those who died, two of the three patients were three years old or younger, all showing advanced stages of the disease upon presentation. iii Conclusion: In the cohort of patients who died, all had presented with advanced disease and residual tumours larger than 1.5 cm². This study highlights that several factors, including the size of post-operative residual tumours, the timing of diagnosis, and the completion of treatment, influence the outcomes for medulloblastoma. Early detection, complete surgical resection, and the successful execution of adjuvant therapy are vital components in enhancing patient survival rates. There is a need for future prospective studies with larger sample sizes to deepen our understanding of prognostic factors and to optimise treatment strategies in this context.
Traditional medicine use in two public South African hospitals: Prevalence and interactive antimicrobial studies for combinations with conventional antimicrobials
(University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2025) Booth, Zelna
Traditional medicines are entrenched in the cultural heritage of many South Africans. Integrative medicine involves the harmonised use of traditional medicine and conventional healthcare. The diverse availability of traditional medicinal plants and accessibility to many commercial muthi markets in South Africa lends itself to a noteworthy, alternate source of healthcare. A three-phase study was thus designed to explore integrative medicine in South Africa. Phase 1 of this study aimed to document existing literature on antimicrobial synergism or antagonism between natural products and conventional antimicrobials in a systematic framework to provide a valuable resource highlighting antimicrobial synergism or to draw attention to harmful interactions to be avoided in clinical practice (antagonism). Phase 2 of this study aimed at investigating the prevalence of use of traditional medicine, amongst patients at two large public hospitals in South Africa, namely Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Academic Hospital (CMJAH) in Johannesburg (JHB) and King Edward Hospital VIII (KEH) in KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) and further discern the extent of concurrent use with conventional medicines. Phase 3 aimed to determine the in vitro interactive antimicrobial and toxicity profiles of conventional antimicrobials in combination with traditional, medicinal plants most prevalently used for infectious diseases, purchased from two major muthi markets in South Africa (Faraday market in JHB and Warwick market in KZN). Phase 1 of the study involved a systematic review of the literature, according to PRISMA methodology, with the inclusion of all interactions of synergy and antagonism documented within the past 20 years. In phase 2 of the study, a descriptive, self-administered, quantitative survey, consisting of demographic; and traditional medicine use was undertaken. Data analysis included quantitative frequencies and percentages. Ethical clearance (M190534) was obtained for the study. For phase 3, plant material was collected from the muthi markets, botanically identified and thereafter minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) assays were conducted. Antimicrobial interactions were assessed by calculating the fractional inhibitory concentration (ΣFIC). Interactive toxicity profiles of the synergistic combinations were evaluated using the brine shrimp lethality assay (BSLA).