This study delves into the role of pig farming in advancing Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 8—Decent work and economic growth in Buffalo City, Eastern Cape. The absence of meaningful employment opportunities and genuine economic progress has remained a significant economic obstacle in South Africa for an extended period. Through a mixed-method approach, the study examines the transformative impact of pig farming as an economic avenue in achieving SDG 8. Through interviews and questionnaires with employed individuals engaged in pig farming in Buffalo City, the study further examines pig farming’s vital role as a source of decent work and economic growth. The study reveals inadequate government support and empowerment for pig farming in Buffalo City despite pig farming’s resilience and potential in mitigating socio-economic vulnerabilities and supporting community’s livelihoods. To enhance pig farming initiatives, this study recommends government’s prioritization of an enabling environment and empowerment measures for the thriving of pig farming in Buffalo City. By facilitating supportive policies and infrastructures, the government can empower locals in Buffalo City to leverage pig farming’s potential in achieving SDG 8.

Using a qualitative research methodology and exploratory approach to collect data, this study assessed the effects of dependency syndrome within Africa’s international relations and its repercussions for achieving sustainable development. The collected data were analysed using document and content analysis techniques. The study revealed that dependency syndrome within Africa’s international relations has led to aid dependency, political violence, and poverty. It has promoted laziness and an inferiority complex that affects the working conditions of Africans. Further, it has promoted corruption and affected the rule of law for good governance; yet, sustainable development cannot occur without it. Moreover, dependency syndrome has inhibited innovation and led to the destruction of the local industries that are key to achieving sustainable development. The results of the study found that dependency syndrome has prevented the development of a robust transport network system that could promote African trade relations, which would lead to sustainable development. The results also posited that chronic poverty and underdevelopment in Africa are perpetuated by the dependency syndrome within Africa’s international relations. The study recommended that Africa needs to overcome dependency syndrome and reform her international relations with external world. This would require establishing a continental sovereignty that enables the continent to have one common foreign policy within its planning diplomacy endeavours.

Rural sub-Saharan Africa faces limited medical access, healthcare worker shortages, and inadequate health information systems. Mobile health (mHealth) technologies offer potential solutions but remain underdeveloped in these settings. This review aims to explore the sociocultural context of mHealth adoption in rural sub-Saharan Africa to support sustainable implementation. A comprehensive Enhancing Transparency in Reporting the Synthesis of Qualitative Research (ENTREQ) search was conducted in databases like PubMed, MEDLINE, and African Journals Online, covering peer-reviewed literature from 2010 to 2024. Qualitative studies of mHealth interventions were included, with quality assessed via the Critical Appraisal Skills Program (CASP) checklist and data synthesized using a meta-ethnographic approach. Out of 892 studies, 38 met the inclusion criteria. Key findings include sociocultural factors like community trust influencing technology acceptance, local implementation strategies, user empowerment in health decisions, and innovative solutions for infrastructure issues. Challenges include privacy concerns, increased healthcare worker workload, and intervention sustainability. While mHealth can reduce healthcare barriers, success depends on sociocultural alignment and adaptability. Future interventions should prioritize community co-design, privacy protection, and sustainable, infrastructure-aware models.

Using time series data covering the years 1980 to 2020, this study examines the effects of government spending, population growth, and economic expansion on unemployment in the context of South Africa. The study’s variables include government spending, population growth, and economic growth as independent factors, and unemployment as the dependent variable. To ascertain the study’s outcomes, basic descriptive statistics, the Vector Error Correction Model (VECM), the Johansen Cointegration Procedures, the Augmented Dicky-Fuller Test (ADF), and diagnostic tests were used. Since all the variables are stationary at the first difference, the ADF results show that there isn’t a unit root issue. According to the Johansen cointegration estimation, there is a long-term relationship amongst the variables. Hence the choice of VECM to estimate the outcomes. Our results suggests that a rise in government spending will result in a rise in South Africa’s unemployment rate. The findings also suggest that there is a negative correlation between unemployment and population growth. This implies that as the overall population grows, unemployment will decline. Additionally, the findings suggest that unemployment and economic growth in South Africa are positively correlated. This contradicts a number of economic theories, including Keynesian and Okuns Law, which hold that unemployment and economic growth are inversely correlated.

This paper assesses South Africa’s massive infrastructure drive to revive growth and increase employment. After years of stagnant growth, this is now facing a deep economic crisis, exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. This drive also comes after years of weak infrastructure investment, widening the infrastructure deficit. The plan outlines a R1 trillion investment drive, primarily from the private sector through the Infrastructure Fund over the next 10 years (Government of South Africa, 2020). This paper argues that while infrastructure development in South Africa is much-needed, the emphasis on de-risking for private sector buy-in overshadows the key role the state must play in leading on structurally transforming the economy.

The challenge of developing cadastral infrastructure in Africa is inextricably linked to the global issues of sustainable development. Indeed, in light of the constraints inherent to conventional cadastral systems, alternative systems developed through land regulation programmes (LRPs) are compelled to align with the tenets of sustainable development. A discursive study, conducted through a semisystematic literature review, enabled the selection of 53 documents on cadastral systems deployed in multiple countries across the African continent. A number of systems were identified and grouped into four categories: urban, rural, participatory and hybrid cadastral systems. These systems are developed on the basis of standards and sociotechnical approaches, including the LADM, STDM, and FFP, as well as innovative technologies such as blockchain. However, their sustainability is limited by the fact that they are not multipurpose cadastral systems. Consequently, there is an urgent need for studies to develop a global framework that will produce truly significant and sustainable results for all sections of society.