The United Nations (UN) emphasizes the necessity of reducing the social and material losses imposed by water disasters, with an emphasis on protecting the most vulnerable social groups to achieve sustainable development goals (SDGs). Several objectives outlined under the SDGs including Goals 1, 11, and 13 concentrate on minimizing vulnerability to disasters and boosting resilience to extreme occurrences. Flooding is an increasingly challenging problem facing cities today, with consequences mostly felt in marginalized communities. Residents of informal settlements are particularly susceptible to the effects of flooding given that they are compelled to live in the most unsafe locations, such as floodplains. This study reviews the current status of flooding research from empirical perspectives globally and in South Africa through systematic literature and bibliometric analysis of 249 peer-reviewed articles on flooding, with a focus on informal settlements. We detect groups of keywords and major research themes. Our analysis shows that studies on flood modeling in informal settlements are inadequate. We synthesized the research to present a body of knowledge on floods in informal settlements. Future research prospects are identified in areas of upgrading housing and infrastructures, policies, integrating indigenous knowledge, and local participation.

The continuing crisis caused by the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak has raised significant challenges for the higher education community globally. In South Africa, the government-forced lockdown measures and social distancing containment policy changed working arrangements across sectors and organisations. As a result, academics were forced to work from home (WFH), a task for which they were hardly prepared. Several researchers have engaged the WFH situation of academics to understand the relationship between WFH and productivity. As far as we know, very few studies have tried to describe academics’ WFH experiences in relation to the challenges, including determining possible ways of improving their satisfaction with working from home. We examine in this article the experiences of academics working from home across selected universities in South Africa. Using a qualitative approach and applying Atlas.ti for data analysis, our findings show that working from home in academia is a daunting task requiring extensive organisational, personal, and social adjustments. The population comprised all academics irrespective of any demographic or personality characteristic within the management faculty of the participating universities to secure the anonymity of the respondents. Five themes—inability to adapt, lack of a home office, loneliness and isolation, inability to balance family and work, and improving satisfaction with work from home—were identified as significant variables from the participants’ responses. Our analysis suggests that organisations need to customise approaches to engage with the experiences of academics who work from home during COVID-19 and to develop fit-for-purpose support for these academics. The study contributes to the growing research exploring the relationship between COVID-19 lockdown and work in higher education.

HTS Teologiese Studies/Theological Studies is an acclaimed journal with broad coverage that promotes multidisciplinary, religious, and biblical aspects of studies in the international theological arena. The journal’s publication criteria are based on high ethical standards and the rigor of the methodology and conclusions reported.

HTS Teologiese Studies/Theological Studies is an acclaimed journal with broad coverage that promotes multidisciplinary, religious, and biblical aspects of studies in the international theological arena. The journal’s publication criteria are based on high ethical standards and the rigor of the methodology and conclusions reported.

South Africa continues to grapple with one of the world's highest rates of gender-based violence (GBV). The #TotalShutdown marches marked a pivotal moment as women rallied against GBV, echoing the resounding call of "enough is enough" nationwide, and emphasising the urgency for collective action and robust leadership. In response to this call, and with KwaZulu-Natal being the leading province in the country in relation to GBV and other reported sexual offences, the provincial government under the Department of Social Development (DSD) held a men’s colloquium in 2021 to listen to the voices of the men, who are often regarded as “perpetrators” of GBV, through a dialogue session. The DSD held these dialogues in all 11 districts of Kwa-Zulu Natal, with the aim of affording men in the province an opportunity to speak about their perspectives on what they considered as causes of GBV in the province. A total of 548 men from the 11 districts attended the dialogue session. Data from the dialogue was extracted for this paper. The paper adopts an exploratory qualitative approach, utilising data collected from the dialogues to delve into men's perceptions regarding the root causes of GBV in KwaZulu-Natal. The paper examines whether a correlation exists between government gender-specific economic empowerment initiatives and male resentment or anger towards women in the region. The study reveals that the exclusion of men in the execution of women empowerment programmes in the province, leaves men feeling disenfranchised, demonised and demoralised. While the findings are confined to the KwaZulu-Natal province and thus not generalisable, they offer valuable insights that can guide efforts to enhance the inclusivity of gender-related programmes, ultimately aiding in the ongoing battle against GBV.