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The main aim of this study was to investigate the impact of foreign portfolio investment on economic growth in Africa.  The motivation to explore the effects of portfolio investment and growth stemmed from the fact that Africa has recorded large capital inflows since the global financial crisis. These capital flows can have positive or negative consequences. The effects of foreign portfolio investment on the African economy is an area of interest because very little has been done on the subject area. The study used quarterly panel from 1995 to 2014. The study used only five African countries; South Africa, Botswana, Kenya, Mauritius and Nigeria. These countries were chosen because they are in the top five of the African financial markets index. A GMM model was adopted to test the effects of portfolio flows on economic growth in the selected African states. Results showed that there is a weak relationship between portfolio investment and economic growth and that there is a positive relationship between INT and GDP. Results also show a positive relationship between EXCH and GDP in the long run.  A depreciation in the rand exchange rate is seen to be depressing economic growth. The study recommended that the Central Banks in African countries develop better strategies to enhance capital flows' benefits. This can be done by establishing and improving financial institutions which are still developing.

This paper is an overview of workers’ rights in Zimbabwe focusing on the abuse, exploitation of workers and the brutal attitudes displayed toward mine workers and trade unions officials by mining companies and government authorities. Zimbabwe’s mining sector plays a major role in Zimbabwe’s export economy. However, Zimbabwe’s mining sector, like many other mining sectors in the developing world, has workers’ right issues. Considerable attention has been given to the labour legislation by the government of Zimbabwe but there are still serious violations of workers’ rights in Zimbabwe. Mining firms involved in extracting the mineral wealth of the country are benefiting at the expense of workers. They are operating with little regard for the well-being of its employees. In light of this, the present study highlights and synthesizes workers’ rights issues in the Zimbabwe mining sector. The study also offers practical recommendations that could address the problems that mining workers are currently facing in Zimbabwe

This article aimed to investigate the availability and utilization of support services by undergraduate (UG) students in a nursing education institution in South Africa. The article employed a quantitative non-experimental descriptive design, using a self-administered questionnaire, to collect data from 118 participants selected through a non-probability random sampling method. The IBM SPSS software was utilized for data analysis, frequencies to illustrate the availability and utilization of student support services and Spearman’s correlation test to determine the relationship between variables. The results showed high awareness of 82.1% to 91.3% for the remedial programs, availability of lecturers for appointments, medical services, and compulsory orientation. Positive correlations were observed between service utilization, school type, place of origin, and parent employment status. The results reflected areas where student support can be improved to address this problem, from pre-enrolment to graduation. There is a need to improve awareness and utilization of the available student support programs through policy formulation and quality enhancement programs for impact and improvement.

Providing health education to patients is one of the competencies that nurses develop during training because of its critical role in managing lifestyle diseases. However, novice nurses’ ability to render health education once they are in the workplace is underreported. The study aimed to determine novice nurses' competence in giving patients health education. One hospital in the eThekwini district in KwaZulu Natal province of South Africa formed the setting of this study in which a quantitative, descriptive design was used. Hence, a questionnaire was utilized as a data-gathering tool among purposively sampled 125 nurses in supervisory roles. The data were statistically analyzed and presented in tables and figures. The results showed the respondents perceived the novice nurses as competent in planning and giving health education to patients. The novice nurses’ shortcoming was that less attention was paid to family involvement in giving health education and giving health education at the patient's level of understanding based on their educational level. The study contributes knowledge on the importance of the competence of novice nurses in giving health education as a strategy to tackle lifestyle diseases.

Using critical discourse analysis (CDA) as the methodology and decolonial theory as the theoretical framework, this study sought to critique coverage of the Covid-19 crisis in Zimbabwe between March 2020 and July 2021 in Kwayedza newspaper’s editorial comment. Twelve articles written in an African language were purposively selected to obtain a sizable sample. This study found that the newspaper effectively covered Covid-19 in an African language while focusing on its socio-economic and cultural impact on the country and offered precautions and prescriptions for dealing with the pandemic. Its major downside was that it downplayed certain key issues in the process due to its ownership by Zimpapers, which tends to support the government’s policies. This violates ethical journalism principles such as independence, truth and accuracy and is an abrogation of the media’s duty to bring accountability to public officials. This paper, therefore, recommends adherence to the values of journalism which centralize public interest over that of owners.

The South African national department of the health system is piloting the National Health Insurance (NHI). This is in preparation for the overhaul of healthcare services so that they are efficient and equitable to all citizens immaterial of their socio-economic status. This article aims to evaluate healthcare providers' perceptions of improved service delivery by the government’s health department during the first piloting phases of the NHI. The context of the study is a health district center in a rural area of KwaZulu-Natal province in South Africa. The article is interdisciplinary in that it interrogates governance issues in the health sector. A quantitative research methodology was utilized to collect data from 30 participants who were the center’s staff. The findings indicate that the significant areas of concern are lack of improvement in response rate to emergencies, ambulances, provision of resources, and specialized staff. The implication is that the government’s health department working with provincial departments, still has major healthcare reforms to address if the NHI program contributes effectively to healthcare service delivery.

This study sought to analyse the role of the South African Qualifications Authority in curbing the misrepresentation of qualifications. Academic degrees are highly valued throughout the globe because they are seen as a dependable and trusted proxy for the bearers' knowledge, abilities and skills. In the same vein, the higher education system in South Africa makes every effort to generate well-qualified graduates who are capable of assisting in the leadership of the country's socio-economic growth. Recent reports in the media, on the other hand, create the impression that this initiative is being hampered by the widespread use of counterfeit, phoney and other illegitimate credentials. Consequently, the reputation of the South African Qualifications Authority (SAQA) is in grave danger as a result of the increasing prevalence of dishonestly misrepresented qualifications in both the public and private sectors. The education system is also at risk of losing its credibility as a result of actions involving deception, which is a subject that has to be addressed at the highest levels possible. Notably, the public service in South Africa is making significant progress towards the goal of ensuring that individuals who misrepresent their qualifications are barred from ever working in the public sector again. In this regard, SAQA plays an important role by offering verification services to individuals who are interested in applying for jobs in the public sector. Thus, this study contributes to the literature on credentialism and qualifications from the developing world with specific reference to South Africa.

The purpose of this article was to apply the job demands-resources (JD–R) theory in a public university as a lens to ascertain the extent of measures undertaken by academic supervisors to provide physical environment resources that support administrative employees and enhance their performance of the demanding duties they constantly perform. Supervisors’ understanding of their role in catering to the physical environment needs of administrative employees has been ignored in previous studies conducted in the university sector. The research design was qualitative since data collection relied on semi-structured interviews with six academic heads of departments who supervised office administrative employees in a public university context. The participants’ responses indicated a high understanding of the importance of providing resources such as updated equipment and eliminating any physical environmental factors that could enhance office employees’ performance in their demanding administrative duties. The challenges expressed were mainly with the budget that proved to constrain them.  This finding on supervisors is significant as it addresses a research gap in which the focus on physical environment factors has mainly been on employees’ perceptions and experiences in the business sector with less interest in the public sector and developing countries. The success of an organization requires a caring leadership that strives to provide enabling workplace physical environment resources that meet the work demands of employees.

[Retracted Paper] Conversations on green human resource management (GHRM) are relatively new in the canon of human resource discourse. Existing studies have been focused on industrial and service industries of the private sector leaving a research gap in the public sector establishment, especially at the municipality level of governance. This study aims to address this gap by interrogating the perception and understanding of green behaviour and the evaluation of green behaviour performance. A total of 12 unit managers and employees of the human resource management department of the eThekwini municipality were purposively recruited based on existing knowledge of the green behaviour concept. The semi-structured interview approach was used in eliciting qualitative data. The NVivo (v.12) qualitative software was employed for the identification of themes and the content qualitative analytical tool was employed to make sense of the various themes. The findings show a range of perceptions and understanding of green behavior including change in management behaviour towards environmental sustainability goals, moving towards a paperless environment, re-engineering and automation of work process and safeguarding the environment through pro-environmental behaviours. The evaluation of employees’ green behaviour performance can be achieved through regular introspection and monitoring of the operations of green environmental activities, the integration of green behaviour targets with key performance indicators (KPI) and the benefits of green behaviour to the organisation. The study echoes the need for robust managerial support and massive organizational awareness of the importance of green behaviours for a sustainable work environment.

This study examined the various leadership styles used at marine services companies in Sub-Saharan Africa. A quantitative structured closed-ended questionnaire was used to gather data from its sample respondent. The target population was 215 employees. However, every second element was selected systematically to produce a sample size of 107. The findings of this study showed that the overwhelming majority of respondents agreed that their managers practice transactional leadership styles. On the other hand, most respondents disagreed that their managers practice laissez-faire and transformational leadership styles. Based on the findings, the company's management should teach and train staff to perform their responsibilities efficiently. Furthermore, the management of the marines services company is advised to be proactive, assist staff, build connections, give resources, and avoid a laissez-faire leadership approach.

Remarking on the importance of managing the existential conflict between work and family responsibilities, emphasis on female academics in a COVID-19 era in Nigeria has received diminutive research attention. The study seeks to address this research gap by interrogating women's views of work-life conflict narrative in a COVID-19 era. The exploratory research design was employed to expand the limit of the research gap and a total of 19 female academics were y recruited for interviews. The NVivo (v.12) qualitative software was employed to identify themes from the data and content analysis used to make sense of the various themes. The paper shows evidence of cultural bias in the recruitment and placement of female academics with social constraints hindering female academic capacity development. The long hours of teaching and consultation depict an indicator of work-life conflict with consequences on family support and emotional care for family and dependents. The need to acquire higher education qualifications on the part of females is also established as a pointer for the provocation of work-life conflict during the COVID-19 pandemic. The significance of lockdown constitutes major constraints for parenting mothers in the areas of combining home front responsibilities with work activities such as teaching, supervision, and the requirement of building a competitive career and research portfolio. The study concludes for a more robust measure in ensuring practical and realistic work-life conflict management strategies are introduced by managers of the University in order to aid the conflict between work and family responsibilities for female academics.