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The reality is that there is a relationship between language and race as advanced and qualified by ethnolinguistics. Such a relationship points to the subjugation of the isiXhosa language (habitually situated in South Africa), among other prescripts, which was fueled by racial hierarchization that ought to be debated within the paradigm of scholarly discourses. The subjugation, distortion and erosion of the isiXhosa language were led by the colonial, apartheid governance and administration that sought to impose censorship. Therefore, this article employs post-colonial theory to argue and scholarly prove that the language and many South African indigenous languages were oppressed based on racial notions that sought to accelerate neo-liberalist and imperialist perceptions. Hypothetically speaking, the isiXhosa language still suffers from the effects of (post)colonialism carried by colonial agents who continue to mock and humiliate the language. The debates and findings underline that such claims (racial hierarchization of the language) must be validated through theoretical and practical discourses. As a result, closing remarks infuse potential recommendations open to public scrutiny regarding the problematised phenomenon and/or conundrum.

This study aims to investigate the association between non-performing loans (NPLs) and the profitability of banks in Bangladesh. The data of twenty-five listed banks for the twelve years spanning from 2010 to 2021 have been analyzed to achieve the research objective. through the use of the ordinary least square (OLS) regression model, we found that the NPL has a negative significant impact on the profitability determined by the return on asset (ROA). In addition, the study revealed that the bank size, which is represented by banks’ total assets, is also inversely related to the profitability of the sample banks used in this research. The study concludes that the stakeholders, particularly the management of the banks, as well as the regulators, should be more cautious about NPLs and should try to lessen the level of NPLs because it can bring devastating results both on the microeconomic as well as on macroeconomic metrics of a developing country like Bangladesh.  

The study looked at the role and contribution of entrepreneurship industry to foster social and economic development through small, micro, and medium-sized businesses in South Africa. The conceptual research looked at the influence of small, micro, and medium-sized businesses (SMMEs) on South African development. The study's objective was to evaluate how small, medium-sized businesses (SMMEs) are now driving economic growth and solving social issues in a setting where big businesses and governments appear to be doing very little. As a result, the study examines how SMMEs might help the nation solve persistent societal evils including poverty, inequality, and social isolation. A desktop literature review research design was adopted to collect data on the role of entrepreneurship in South Africa, policies and practices of big business and government that exacerbate social issues in communities and impede socioeconomic development, as well as the specific roles that SMMEs play in achieving socioeconomic development goals. Findings from research indicate that, among other development outcomes, SMMEs are at the vanguard of creating jobs and fostering social and political justice in the nation. Future empirical studies that account for and evaluate the importance of SMME contributions to the construction of economic, social, and political justice in the nation are advised because this work lacks the empirical support necessary to substantiate its conclusions and observations.  

Various existing studies have established the multi-faceted nature of social inequalities in South Africa. The social inequalities also segregate schools into urban and rural schools, with adequate or lack of infrastructure influencing learners' performances in various South African schools. Hence, school principals are expected to manage the available resources to attain curriculum delivery and the whole school's performance. This qualitative study explored principals' perspectives on managing uneven school resources to achieve the goals and objectives of the education system. This study adopted an interpretive paradigm to understand the voices of 20 rural school principals in semi-structured interviews. The principals were purposively selected from 20 rural schools in King Cetshwayo district in KwaZulu-Natal. The audio-recorded interviews were thematically analysed to generate themes for findings and discussion. Findings revealed that most rural schools need more adequate school resources, and the principals need more support to attain quality curriculum delivery in schools adequately. The principals also lamented the high expectations placed on their schools for the academic excellence of their learners. Thus, the contents of each subject curriculum could not be efficiently unpacked and delivered to learners. The study, therefore, recommends improvement in resource provision to rural schools. At the same time, principals should be capacitated on effectively managing available school resources to achieve desired and efficient curriculum implementation in rural schools.

This discursive study examined the use of the learning management system (LMS) Moodle in rural South African universities. Moodle, a popular online programme, can be used to deliver learning activities, as well as online learning evaluations. The authors discuss LMS usage and adoption in higher education. LMS is a global online platform used in higher education institutions in developed countries across the globe, for decades. It has improved the education system in these developed countries by providing diverse students with learning opportunities, in their comfort zones. Despite the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown, most developed nations adopted online methods, like LMS, for teaching and learning. Unfortunately, the pandemic lockdown in many developing nations, like South Africa, severely disrupted curriculum and educational activities for months. The South African Department of Higher Education and Training reviewed curriculum delivery approaches, to save academic activities due to COVID-19. Thus, it deemed online learning a higher education alternative to face-to-face curriculum instruction, during the lockdown to salvage the academic calendar, with LMS used as ideal online learning for student engagement.

This paper uses politico-social capital theorisation of the relationship between public trust and democracy in order to demonstrate the interdependence of the African National Congress’ (ANC’s) declining electoral fortunes and the increasing public trust deficits in South Africa’s state, constitutional democracy and political institutions. As desktop-based research, the paper conducts literature survey to distils the relationship between public trust, as social capital, in institutions of society, and electoral performance and formation of societal leadership vacuum, within complexities of the political-economy and political culture and system such as those entrenched in South Africa under the ANC’s 28-year rule. The paper analyses statistical evidence from Afrobarometer’s 2022 survey about South Africans’ public trust in state and political institutions from 2006 to 2021, as well as national, provincial and local government election results from the Independent Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) from 1994 to 2019, to corroborate its theoretical framing. It makes three findings, thus: there is a direct relationship between the ANC’s declining electoral fortunes and the erosion of public trust in institutions of society; the ANC’s 28-years of state governance has created an ominous societal leadership vacuum, setting South Africa’s democracy on the precipice of civil strife; and, the ANC’s declining electoral fortunes will persist into the foreseeable future because public trust is hard to regain and sustain once eroded.

This study seeks to assess patient satisfaction by examining the impact of trust, service quality, and hospital Sharia compliance on patient loyalty at Sharia hospitals in Pekanbaru City, Riau Province. The study takes an Islamic perspective and aims to enhance competitiveness by focusing on the development of high-quality and dependable services. The research uses structural equation modeling, a statistical methodology that combines quantitative data and qualitative causal assumptions to assess and estimate causal links. The study employed a questionnaire to gather primary data from 342 respondents, including patients. The research findings are as follows: (1) Trust has a positive and significant impact on patient loyalty. (2) Service quality does not have a significant impact on patient loyalty. (3) Sharia compliance has a positive and significant impact on patient loyalty. (4) Trust has a positive and significant impact on patient satisfaction. (5) Service quality has a positive and significant impact on satisfaction. (6) Sharia compliance has a positive and significant impact on satisfaction. (7) Satisfaction positively and significantly mediates the effect of trust on loyalty. (8) Satisfaction positively and significantly mediates the influence of service quality on patient loyalty. (9) Satisfaction positively and significantly mediates the influence of Sharia compliance on loyalty. (10) Satisfaction has a positive and significant influence on loyalty.

The specific goal of this study is to find out how retail investors consider company ESG issues while making investment decisions, with their moral awareness (MA) serving as a moderator. The framework's foundations are the norm activation model (NAM) and the theory of planned behavior (TPB). The report is based on a questionnaire survey that was completed by 599 retail investors in Dhaka and Chattagram, Bangladesh. To examine the data and verify the theories, the PLS path modeling approach is employed. Six hypotheses are investigated using structural equation modeling; five are found to be significant and one to be non-significant. All of the hypotheses are positive. The findings of the research demonstrate that when making investment decisions, investors take a company's social, environmental, and governance issues into account. The moral awareness of investors seems to influence their investment decisions as well. By presenting empirical data on the relationship between business ESG issues and investment decisions with moderating impacts on investors' moral awareness, the paper advances the field of behavioral finance research. It implies that corporate advertising tactics may support global reporting requirements, draw impact investors, and promote moral and environmental education. To safeguard ESG concerns and promote sustainable growth of the capital market and economy, governments should enact laws, rules, and directives.

This discursive study explores the attempt to create feasible job creations for young graduates from various higher education institutions across South Africa. A systematic review of various literature sources on the phenomenon argues that entrepreneurship education can create and develop in students creative and innovative, business initiatives, risk-taking, strategic business minds, appropriate decision-making, and opportunities in diverse entrepreneurship activities, after graduation. The integration of entrepreneurship education into higher education across South African Higher Education will boost national economic development. The existing Department of Higher Education's initiative of Entrepreneurship Development into the country's Higher Education requires assessment and repositioning for effective approaches that can actualize the objectives of the initiative. The study recommends the need for universities' managements to re-strategise and connect theory with practical, in diverse significant collaborations with various private businesses, government institutions, and Non-Governmental Organisations.

MSMEs play a vital role in global economic development, as well as being the key to most businesses and important contributors to job creation and economic development. However, amidst the uncertain business and economic situation, most MSMEs have to struggle to maintain their business performance. So efforts are needed from various parties to improve business performance in MSMEs. This research aims to test and analyze the influence of financial literacy levels on business performance, with financial access and financial risk attitudes as mediating variables. Sampling in this research used a purposive sampling technique among tofu processing industry players in Kediri City. The sample was determined using the Slovin method and a sample of 400 respondents was obtained. The method used in this research uses Structural Equation Model (SEM) Partial Least Square (PLS) analysis through the SmartPLS data processing program version 3. The results of this research show that all hypotheses are accepted. Financial literacy, access to finance and financial risk attitudes have a positive and significant effect on business performance. Financial access is able to mediate the relationship between financial literacy and financial risk attitudes, and financial risk attitudes are also able to mediate the relationship between financial literacy and business performance in the Kediri City tofu processing industry.