Urmilla Bob

The seductive discourse of development: the Cape Town 2004 Olympic bid.

Research on how the decision to bid for the Olympics is made, the resources and processes involved in the bidding process and how a country responds to a failed bid is important. These aspects are embedded in a range of political and economic processes from the local to the global level. The Olympic Games is the ultimate mega-event. This article uses the case study of the Cape Town 2004 Olympic Bid (CTOB) to examine the above aspects, highlighting the global dimensions of bidding for major events. The CTOB illustrates that contemporary sport associations and structures are strongly influenced by emergent global forces such as global capital and dominance by certain regions. This often results in countries being disadvantaged from one of two sides. Either they cannot afford to participate in the bidding process or they cannot lobby sufficiently to influence the international sport associations.

Towards redefining the concept of legacy in relation to sport mega-events: Insights from the 2010 FIFA World Cup

Increasingly, governments from both the developed and developing world look to hosting sport mega-events as a way to stimulate development. There is much debate over what the legacies of sport mega-events are, how to stimulate positive legacies and how they should be studied. Drawing on a growing body of scholarship on legacy best and worst practice, this article discusses the economic, physical, infrastructural, social, political and environmental consequences of sport mega-events, using insights from South Africas hosting of the 2010 FIFA World Cup. It examines pertinent debates, highlights prominent approaches to assessing legacy impacts, notes the lack of consensus on the meaning of ‘legacy’, and suggests steps towards a clear definition of the concept. These include the need to consider event impacts in relation to the context in which they occur, and to integrate triple bottom-line principles systematically into mega-event planning, design and evaluation.

The Eluding Link: Toward Developing a National Sport Tourism Strategy in South Africa Beyond 2010

Abstract This article provides an overview of sport tourism generally and investigates the sport tourism policy in the South African context. The discussion draws upon South Africas unique context and international experiences to provide guidelines for the development of a national sport tourism strategy. In particular, the opportunities presented by the hosting of the 2010 FIFA World Cup are underscored. The need to consider the full extent of sport tourism products is emphasised and it is argued that the current focus on events as one sub-segment of sport tourism, and especially mega-events, limits the capacity for South Africa to capitalise on the potential benefits of sport tourism. The article concludes by summarising the critical issues that need to be considered when developing a national sport tourism strategy framework. The development of such a framework should be an integral part and key legacy outcome of planning for 2010.

Forest health and vitality: the detection and monitoring of Pinus patula trees infected by Sirex noctilio using digital multispectral imagery

The Eurasian woodwasp, Sirex noctilio, causes considerable tree mortality in commercial pine plantations in southern KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Broad-scale visual assessments of infestation provided by forest managers are currently used to measure forest health and vitality. The effectiveness of visual assessments is questionable because they are qualitative, subjective and dependent on the skill of the surveyor. Remote sensing technology provides a synoptic view of the canopy and thus offers an alternative to the conventional methods of monitoring forest health and vitality. In this study, high resolution (0.5 × 0.5m) digital multispectral imagery (DMSI) was acquired over commercial Pinus patula trees of varying age classes, which had been ground assessed and ranked on an individual tree crown basis using a severity scale. The severity scale was based on a hierarchy of decline symptoms that are visibly apparent on the infested tree and are represented in this study as the green, red and grey stages. A series of ratio- and linear-based vegetation indices were then calculated and compared to the different crown condition classes as determined by severity scale. Of the vegetation indices derived from the high-resolution DMSI, significant differences between the pre-visual (healthy and green stages) and visual (red and grey stages) crown condition classes were obtained. Canonical variate analysis further revealed that greater discriminatory power between the different crown condition classes is obtained when using the normalised difference vegetation index (NDVI). Overall the study demonstrated the potential benefit of using high-resolution DMSI to discriminate between healthy trees and trees that were in the visual stage of infestation.

Determining the optimal spatial resolution of Remotely sensed data for the detection of Sirex noctilio infestations in pine plantations IN KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa

ABSTRACT Sirex noctilio is causing considerable mortality in commercial pine plantations in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. The ability to remotely detect variable (for example, low, medium and high) S. noctilio infestation levels remains crucial for monitoring of the actual spread of the disease and for the effective deployment of suppression activities. Although high resolution image data can detect and monitor S.noctilio infestations there are no guidelines to the appropriate spatial resolutions that are suitable for detection and monitoring purposes. This study examines the use of minimum variance to analyze S. noctilio infestations in an effort to determine an optimal spatial resolution of remotely sensed data for forest health monitoring purposes. High resolution (0.5 m) image data was collected using a four band airborne sensor and infestation levels were derived using the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) and Gaussian maximum likelihood classifier. It was determined that the appropriate spatial resolution for the detection and monitoring of S.noctilio infestations as estimated by the minimum variance of sub samples narrowly differed based on the level of localized infestations present in the study area. Pixel sizes larger than 2.3 m will not provide adequate information for high infestation levels, while using pixel sizes smaller than the 1.75 m for detecting low to medium infestation levels will yield inappropriate results. The results of this study establish the necessary spatial resolution guidelines needed for the operational detection and monitoring of S.noctilio.

Sport mega-events and their legacies: The 2010 FIFA World Cup

The FIFA World Cup, one of the most important mega-events on the world sports calendar, stands out not only for its commercial importance but also for the volume of sponsorship, branding, marketing and merchandising it attracts. From an official perspective, this was an opportunity ‘to speed up development and growth in the country so that it leaves behind a proud legacy that will benefit generations of South Africans to come’ (RSA, 2010). The 2010 Local Organising Committee aimed ‘to strengthen the African and South African image, promote new partnerships with the world . . . [and] drive our collective determination to be significant global players in all fields of human endeavour’ (SAFA, 2007). The Cup was to leave a wider legacy for Africa, inter alia countering Afro-pessimism and encouraging investment in the continent.

Perception and trends of associated health risks with seasonal climate variation in Oke-Ogun region, Nigeria

This paper investigates the perceived and observed trends of associated health risks with seasonal climate variability and identifies types of and preference for adaptation strategies that are available at households and community levels in Oke-Ogun region, Nigeria. The study made use of household survey and rapid appraisal through focus group discussion and key informant interviews. For a short term climate-health impacts analysis, cases of notable diseases were correlated with monthly mean temperature and rainfall for the period 2006 and 2008. The findings show similar trends in relation to local perception on climate-health risks and observed cases of some notable diseases during seasonal changes. Diarrhea, measles and malaria were prevalent during dry season, while flu cases increased at the onset of harmattan and monsoon of rainy season. Available adaptation strategies are autonomous, mostly in the form of treatment measures such as consultation with medical officers in hospitals (17.5%), self-medication (34%) and use of traditional therapy such as herbs (48.5%). Traditional therapy is mostly preferred and approved based on long-term experience of the study population.

A sport and sociocultural legacy beyond 2010: A case study of the Football Foundation of South Africa

This study investigated the sport development and social legacy of the 2010 FIFA World Cup. It assessed the impact of an event-themed legacy project on Gansbaai, a non-host, small-town community in the Western Cape, South Africa. The Football Foundation of South Africa (FFSA) was established to capitalise on the increased excitement about football as a result of the 2010 mega-event, aiming to leave a sport and social development legacy in a region that might not otherwise directly benefit. The FFSA embarked on a project to accelerate social change and community integration in a racially divided community through sport. The short-term results indicate that the community has experienced an increased level of intangible legacies, such as youth development, social integration and community pride. The FFSA is leaving a sport and social legacy for the community beyond 2010. It will be necessary to monitor the impacts on a more long-term basis.

Land cover and land use mapping of the iSimangaliso Wetland Park, South Africa: comparison of oblique and orthogonal random forest algorithms

Abstract. In recent years, the popularity of tree-based ensemble methods for land cover classification has increased significantly. Using WorldView-2 image data, we evaluate the potential of the oblique random forest algorithm (oRF) to classify a highly heterogeneous protected area. In contrast to the random forest (RF) algorithm, the oRF algorithm builds multivariate trees by learning the optimal split using a supervised model. The oRF binary algorithm is adapted to a multiclass land cover and land use application using both the “one-against-one” and “one-against-all” combination approaches. Results show that the oRF algorithms are capable of achieving high classification accuracies (>80%). However, there was no statistical difference in classification accuracies obtained by the oRF algorithms and the more popular RF algorithm. For all the algorithms, user accuracies (UAs) and producer accuracies (PAs) >80% were recorded for most of the classes. Both the RF and oRF algorithms poorly classified the indigenous forest class as indicated by the low UAs and PAs. Finally, the results from this study advocate and support the utility of the oRF algorithm for land cover and land use mapping of protected areas using WorldView-2 image data.

Women and Technology in South Africa A Case of Four Communities in Kwazulu-Natal

Abstract This research contributes to a greater understanding of the linkages among women’s roles, responsibilities, and the use of and access to technologies in marginalized rural communities in KwaZulu-Natal. How poor rural women conceptualize technologies, and the ways in which they use their knowledge and skills to develop, modify and adapt the techniques and technical processes are examined. Numerous studies have focused on rural women and their livelihood-sustaining activities, and these have revealed that women are the main consumers of small-scale technologies. In this study, a critical concern raised is whether women’s knowledge of and experience with technology are adequately incorporated into development debates and initiatives at the local level, especially in an environment where the decision makers tend to be men. This study examined the relationships among rural women, technology use and technology development, taking into consideration existing indigenous knowledge. Research was undertaken in four marginalized communities in KwaZulu-Natal: Adams Mission, Platt Estate, KwaXimba and Makomoreng. In data collection, the emphasis was on gender sensitivity and the ability to capture the complexities of rural women’s activities. The study reveals that notions of technology use and access tend to be highly gendered and at the same time differentiated among women.