Review of Southern African Studies

Health-Care Waste Practices in Selected Health-Care Facilities in Maseru

M Majara

Although constituting a relatively small proportion of waste matter, the waste produced during medical treatment and routine dispensing of medical care is potentially the most infectious and environmentally hazardous. Health-Care Facilities (HCF) are, therefore, duty-bound to effectively manage the waste that they produce in order to avert environmental pollution and risks to people’s health. This paper reports on the findings of a recent study of current medical or Health- Care Waste (HCW) management practices in four purposively selected Health-Care Facilities (HCFs) in the district of Maseru, focusing on generation, segregation, treatment and disposal practices. These management practices are reported from a social science perspective, with no pretensions to expert medical or biological knowledge of the issues raised. The primary purpose of the paper is to raise public awareness and sensitivity to this serious but generally neglected environmental and public health issue. Evidence is adduced in the paper to show that the HCW management practices in the four HCFs are unhygienic and dangerously unsafe and that the HCW from these HCFs is an environmental and public health hazard. Most disturbingly, perhaps, is that Lesotho has neither a HCW management policy nor guidelines, and there are no indications that such policy will be in place in the foreseeable future.

Dood governance for quality service delivery: National University of Lesotho (NUL) under a microscope and challenges therefrom

N Makara

The purpose of this paper is to highlight occurrences of poor governance practices at the National University of Lesotho and to propose the way forward for the Institution in order to get itself out of the present quagmire. Qualitative data collection approaches have been used to get information for this study. These have included in-depth interviews with purposively selected key informants among university, staff “exit interviews” with some staff members who had recently resigned from the service of the University; content analysis of both local print and electronic media sources; the review of the relevant internal NUL documents such as policies and reports and general observations by the author during participation in deliberations over important issues at various significant policy making University committees such as Council and Senate. The major finding of this study has confirmed that the bulk of the critical operations of the Institution have not been guided by the existing policies and legal frameworks. Consequently, the various academic and related administrative service deliveries were adversely affected as earlier suspected. NUL must therefore make a deliberate effort to conduct business within the confines of the law; provide proper phased induction programmes particularly for academic and relevant administrative staff for them to understand how the university system operates and help them positively see their professional role in the whole scheme of things.

HIV/AIDS related discrimination among females aged 15-24 in Lesotho

T Makatjane

In many developing countries, stigma and discrimination together pose most significant challenges towards stemming the spread of HIV/ AIDS. Although Lesotho has one of the highest HIV/AIDS prevalence in the world, there is little or no research about how people living with HIV/AIDS or are suspected of living with HIV/ AIDS are perceived and treated. The paper utilised data from the Lesotho 2000 End Decade Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey and the 2004 Lesotho Demographic and Health Survey to address the three fold primary objective of the paper. The paper first compared attitudes of females aged 15-24 towards people who are HIV positive or are suspected of being HIV positive between 2000 and 2004. Secondly it assessed whether knowledge about transmission of and protection against HIV/AIDS has improved overtime. Lastly it examined the factors that are associated with HIV/AIDS-related discrimination. Using both descriptive and multivariate logistic regression to analyse the data, the findings of the paper indicate that HIV/AIDS-related discrimination declined by 12 percent overtime, knowledge about means of transmission of and protection against HIV/AIDS increased by 20 percent, while knowledge of means of transmission and protection against HIV/AIDS translated into reduced levels of HIV/AIDSrelated discrimination. Multivariate analysis confirmed that HIV/AIDS-related discrimination had declined between 2000 and 2004 while education was identified as one of the most important factors associated with HIV/ AIDS-related discrimination. The conclusion of the paper is that efforts to educate the public about HIV/AIDS are transforming the attitudes of the general population towards people who are HIV positive or are suspected of being HIV positive.

Poverty alleviation from the perspective of street vendors in Lesoth

PT Tanga

The aim of this paper was to examine from the perspective of street vendors how they are fighting poverty and the extent of winning this endemic cankerworm. The findings of this paper are informed by a study carried in 2007 on poverty and street vendors in Lesotho. Questionnaires and focus group discussions were used as data collection instruments for the study. The findings show that many street vendors perceived poverty as the satisfaction of basic household needs and some see it as the level of household income. Furthermore, the findings reveal that below half of the respondents prior to joining street vending were meeting their basic needs. After involving in this activity, more than half indicated that they were satisfied with children’s educational needs and household food. Similarly, they reported that their life expectations were met and their current life status has improved, notwithstanding the small amount of income they make daily. The paper concludes that street vending is not a panacea for poverty as some vendors indicated signs of dissatisfaction. However, many had improved their lives and households from street vending. Nonetheless, street vending has its own setbacks, resulting from government intervention policy and other circumstances.

Factors associated with risky sexual behaviour among adolescents in Lesotho.

T.J Makatjane

Since 1993 HIV prevalence in Lesotho has increased 5 fold making Lesotho the third highest HIV infected country in the world. The government of Lesotho has not only declared HIV pandemic a crisis, but several efforts have been made to curb the spread of the disease that include encouraging Basotho to know their status as well as requesting government departments to use 2 percent of their budget allocations towards mitigation against the disease. The latest HIV prevalence figures from the 2004 Lesotho Demographic and Health Survey suggest that more still needs to be done in order to reverse the spread of the disease. Using the 2002 Lesotho Core Welfare Indicator Questionnaire Survey (CWIQ) data the paper examined variables associated with risky sexual behaviour among Basotho adolescents. The results of the paper suggest that HIV programmes targeting girls should be different from those targeting boys. Results further indicate that HIV programmes might have to be district specific.

Electoral management bodies as institutions of good governance: Focus on Lesotho Independent Electoral Commission

FJ Likoti

Good Governance is an intrinsic part of democracy. A country to be democratic (it) must hold regular participative elections. Similarly, for good governance to be sustainable, the system must be open, accountable and participative. Participation in election on its own is a process of good governance. The paper argues that the role of Electoral Management Bodies (EMBs) or Independent Election Commissions (IECs) as institutions of good governance is to facilitate the above processes and ensure that elections are free and fair because this is essential for good governance to prosper. While Lesotho IEC appears to have faired relatively well as far as good governance is consent, the institution like other EMBs is still faced with some challenges which the IEC must address head on.

Proficiency in English as a second official language (ESOL) in Lesotho: a survey on views of examiners and moderators

T.G Khati

The purpose of this article was to survey the views of external examiners and moderators regarding written English at the National University of Lesotho (NUL), Lesotho College of Education (LCE/NTCC) and other education institutions in the country. This has been motivated by the general concern that the standard of English in Lesotho is very low. The paper first presents a background to English as the international and global language and the second official language as well as the medium of instruction in Lesotho. It further discusses the meaning of proficiency in English and the rationale for teaching and learning English as well as using English as the medium of education. The authors then specifically present examples of poor performance in English at the NUL, LCE (NTTC), COSC, LJC and primary schools as seen through the eyes of examiners, moderators and researchers. Most importantly, the article proposes ways and means of how written English can be improved in Lesotho’s educational institutions. First, there has to be a drastic change of attitudes towards English. It should be considered positively as a global language that is here to stay. Secondly, all that whose responsibility is to teach English and through English should always strive to create communicative atmospheres for the students of English. Thirdly, the educational institutions should introduce and use consistently the concept and practice of language and learning across the curriculum (LLAC). That is, every teacher should be conscious of the position of English in the education system and, therefore, make every effort to help improve English. Finally, the article proposes that another strategy to improve performance in English writing skill is to establish a close cooperation and liaison between and among departments of English at the NUL, LCE, and Language and Social Education Department in the Faculty of Education at NUL. The article concludes by indicating that these are the challenges that face every English language teacher and teacher educator specifically and the entire teaching profession generally.