This article presents research findings based on the meaning of indigenous circumcision to Xhosa men in South Africa. In South Africa, male circumcision is a rite of passage from adolescence to adulthood. The country has experienced serious problems associated with the practice of this rite ranging from dehydration to death in the traditional “bush” circumcision schools. A qualitative, endogenous research design that is explorative, descriptive, and contextual was undertaken using individual interviews, focus group interviews, and community meetings discussing this ritual. A total of 25 men were interviewed. Only one question was posed throughout the research process: “How do you experience having a son who is undergoing the circumcision rite?” The study revealed cultural circumcision as a “sacred religious practice” with five themes, namely (a) readiness of Xhosa families to engage in the circumcision ritual, (b) the act of circumcision and preparation for manhood, (c) the importance of symbolic purity during the circumcision ritual, (d) celebrating acquired manhood, and (5) aspects of manhood and the rejection of clinical care. Secondary to this are health promotion recommendations made for individuals involved in this ritual.

Male circumcision is practiced in South Africa among the Xhosa people as a rite of passage from boyhood to manhood. The manhood status achieved after the ritual accords men power and authority in the community over women and uncircumcised men. Therefore, uninitiated men experience great pressures to get circumcised. We describe the experience of newly initiated Xhosa men in East London, South Africa. Interpretive phenomenology was used as the inquiry of choice. Data were collected through focus group discussions in which 14 men participated. The theme of marginalization of uninitiated Xhosa males emerged with two categories: (a) rejection, and (b) lack of respect. The participants revealed that uninitiated men are rejected by the community, their own families, friends, and women. We frame the discussion around the concept of stigma. Acknowledging that uninitiated males are stigmatized can help mitigate stigma, and in turn, the incidence of medical complications from botched circumcisions.

This paper reviews briefly the relationship between the South African government and higher education. This relationship, which has shaped the landscape of higher education, is looked at on the premise that public institutions depend to a large extent on government for funding and other resources, and as such there has been constant influence and interference in higher education affairs. Whereas under colonial rule, the relationship mimicked that of the Scottish and British universities, the postcolonial relationships had their own characteristics, emulating government policies under apartheid and confirming therefore the establishment of two‐tier university systems. Like most African countries, South Africa is currently faced with an immense task to bring together economic, social and political stability. This requires proactive national policies to develop particular skills and therefore a focused intervention and delivery within and through the institutions of higher education.

This paper examines the trend in corporate response to the social responsible investing index (SRI) of the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE). The motif of the paper is to discover how and if SRI drives corporates towards public declaration of their social responsible investments. The approach is archival with a descriptive and quantitative analysis of data drawn from the Johannesburg Stock Exchange. Descriptively, we charted a trend of the rate at which the JSE firms join the JSE SRI Index, and our findings indicate an upward trend from 2004 to 2013. Quantitatively, we examined the likely difference in corporate climate disclosure before and after the introduction of the Code for Responsible Investing in South Africa (CRISA). Our findings – using a T-Test of difference in means, indicate a significant difference in means, which apparently show that the CRISA may have added further impetus to corporate climate disclosure. In 2013, the JSE SRI deepened its stringency in measuring corporate responsible claims by assessing only the publicly available responsible information of corporations for inclusion in its SRI index. We thus evaluate possible difference in climate disclosure before and within the year of the new stringent criteria of measurement. Our second T-Test of difference in means also shows a significant difference in means, which signal that corporations exerted extra efforts in making the extent of their climate responsibility publicly available. We conclude that the JSE SRI, coupled with the CRISA motivates firms to improve on their public disclosure. We also conclude that the carbon disclosure project (CDP) is adding pragmatic momentum on the activities of JSE firms to strive towards their improvement in climate performance. Thus voluntary codes and indexes, in the absence of binding regulations, could spur corporate social and environmental initiative in a developing country.

Central to the current South African economic debates are the issues of equity, black empowerment and the promotion of small business activities. The promotion of small business activities is felt relevant as they are assumed to be addressing most of the country’s unemployment problem and those mentioned above while contributing largely to the GDP. Assumed problems facing this industry include the unavailability of support systems. This quantitative research explored through telephonic interviews, the perceptions of 60 Johannesburg small business operators of their small business support systems. The findings revealed access to information to be the perceived most important support system and business partnerships and subcontracting the least accessible.