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The pursuit of decent work in precarious contexts : motorbike delivery riders' psychological experiences
Baldry, Kim; Koekemoer, Eileen; Olckers, Chantal (Sage, 2026)
Digital platforms have reshaped labour markets worldwide, increasing gig work opportunities, particularly for motorbike delivery riders in South Africa, a country grappling with high unemployment. However, these self-employed workers often face a lack of job security, benefits, and protections due to informality, weak labour laws, and deep socioeconomic inequality, highlighting the contrast with the International Labour Organisation’s decent work principles. This research explores the work experiences of platform-based motorbike delivery riders in South Africa, aiming to improve our understanding of platform-based work and decent work experiences in the gig economy. Within a constructivist paradigm, this study adopted a qualitative descriptive design to investigate the experiences of motorbike delivery riders in Gauteng, South Africa, with ten participants each undergoing two interviews. The data were analysed through hybrid thematic analysis. Findings reveal that precarious gig conditions and structural inequalities influence rider’s experiences of decent work, which can be categorised into three interconnected decent work themes: (1) safety and healthcare, (2) income security, and (3) work–life balance. This research underscores the need for context-sensitive applications of the psychology of working theory, acknowledging the complex interplay of economic constraints, access to decent work, and the fulfilment of psychological needs in the gig economy.
The regulatory, normative and cultural-cognitive dimensions of the returnee opportunity and returnee liability : how institutional migration creates the two sides of the same coin
Mreji, Pamela Adhiambo; Chrysostome, Elie Virgile; Barnard, Helena (Elsevier, 2026-08)
Why do some scholars emphasize the benefits realized by returnee entrepreneurs, whereas others highlight the returnee liability? By analyzing interviews with twenty Kenyan returnee entrepreneurs, we make three contributions to scholarship on returnee entrepreneurship. First, we reconcile two well-developed but separate and almost-contradictory bodies of the extant literature by showing that the returnee opportunity / returnee liability is a duality that all returnee entrepreneurs can expect and must manage, even if their ventures are successful. Returnees might see opportunities in the institutional differences between their home and host countries, but to realize those opportunities as entrepreneurial ventures, they must navigate their homeland’s de-familiarized regulatory, normative and cultural-cognitive macro-level institutional pillars. We show how returnee entrepreneurs navigate these macro-institutions as individuals, leading to our second contribution: Where people are mobile across borders, macro-institutions affect not only organizational processes, but also individuals directly. The theory of individual institutional migration suggests institutional migrants seek to regain personal control vis-à-vis a new institutional domain either by transposing knowledge from the previous institutional environment, or by internalizing the new institutional rules. Our third contribution is to advance that theory by suggesting that returnee entrepreneurs strategically seek to do both: Where they recognize opportunities in the new institutional environment (i.e. returnee opportunity), they transpose knowledge by starting innovative new ventures, but at the same time, the different macro-institutional environment imposes a burden (i.e. returnee liability) that they need to manage to gain acceptance of their ventures. HIGHLIGHTS • Returnee entrepreneurs are institutional migrants. • They carry the rules from one institutional environment to another. • They navigate macro institutions as individuals. • This results in a duality – both returnee opportunities and a returnee liability. • The duality functions across regulatory, normative and cultural-cognitive pillars.
Extracts of selected South African medicinal plants mitigate virulence factors in multidrug-resistant strains of Klebsiella pneumoniae
Adeosun, Idowu Jesulayomi; Baloyi, Itumeleng Tsebang; Cosa, Sekelwa (Wiley, 2023-10)
The emergence of multidrug-resistant (MDR) Klebsiella pneumoniae remains a global health threat due to its alarming rates of becoming resistant to antibiotics. Therefore, identifying plant-based treatment options to target this pathogen’s virulence factors is a priority. This study examined the antivirulence activities of twelve plant extracts obtained from three South African medicinal plants (Lippia javanica, Carpobrotus dimidiatus, and Helichrysum populifolium) against carbapenem-resistant (CBR) and extended-spectrum beta-lactamase (ESBL) positive K. pneumoniae strains. The plant extracts (ethyl acetate, dichloromethane, methanol, and water) were validated for their inhibitory activities against bacterial growth and virulence factors such as biofilm formation, exopolysaccharide (EPS) production, curli expression, and hypermucoviscosity. The potent extract on K. pneumoniae biofilm was observed with a scanning electron microscope (SEM), while exopolysaccharide topography and surface parameters were observed using atomic force microscopy (AFM). Chemical profiling of the potent extract in vitro was analysed using liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS). Results revealed a noteworthy minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) value for the C. dimidiatus dichloromethane extract at 0.78 mg/mL on CBR- K. pneumoniae. L. javanica (ethyl acetate) showed the highest cell attachment inhibition (67.25%) for CBR- K. pneumoniae. SEM correlated the in-vitro findings, evidenced by a significant alteration of the biofilm architecture. The highest EPS reduction of 34.18% was also noted for L. javanica (ethyl acetate) and correlated by noticeable changes observed using AFM. L. javanica (ethyl acetate) further reduced hypermucoviscosity to the least length mucoid string (1 mm-2 mm) at 1.00 mg/mL on both strains. C. dimidiatus (aqueous) showed biofilm inhibition of 45.91% for the ESBL-positive K. pneumoniae and inhibited curli expression at 0.50 mg/mL in both K. pneumoniae strains as observed for H. populifolium (aqueous) extract. Chemical profiling of L. javanica (ethyl acetate), C. dimidiatus (aqueous), and H. populifolium (aqueous) identified diterpene (10.29%), hydroxy-dimethoxyflavone (10.24%), and 4,5-dicaffeoylquinic acid (13.41%), respectively, as dominant compounds. Overall, the ethyl acetate extract of L. javanica revealed potent antivirulence properties against the studied MDR K. pneumoniae strains. Hence, it is a promising medicinal plant that can be investigated further to develop alternative therapy for managing K. pneumoniae-associated infections.
The disposal of placenta among indigenous groups globally : an integrative literature review
Moeti, Cecilia; Mulaudzi, Fhumulani Mavis; Rasweswe, Molatelo Melitah (Wiley, 2023-10)
INTRODUCTION : The placenta, or afterbirth, plays a vital role in supplying nutrients and oxygen via the umbilical cord. Western medicine sees the placenta as a medical waste and discards it after delivery. Meanwhile, indigenous groups observe rituals or ceremonies prior to their disposal since it bears sacred importance. AIM : The aim of the literature review is to review the current literature on indigenous methods of disposing placenta. METHODS : Through the EBSCOhost search engine, the authors had access to the following databases: CINAHL; MEDLINE; E-Journals; Health Sources: Nursing/Academic Edition; Scopus; and African Journals Online. A manual search of the grey literature through Google Scholar and Google Search engines, as well as citation searching using reference lists, was also used. The following keyword searches came up: placental disposal, placental waste, placental release, indigenous placental disposal, traditional placental disposal, cultural placenta, and placental rituals. The authors followed the inclusion criteria of qualitative, quantitative, or mixed research articles or reports from experts and different organisations published between 2013 and 2022 in English. FINDINGS : The following three themes with subthemes emerged in the context of this review paper: (1) placental consumption (increases milk production, prevents postpartum depression, and prevents postpartum bleeding); (2) placental burial (burial site determines the child’s fate, protection of the child, and fertility); and 3). artifacts (memorabilia). CONCLUSION : Indigenous placental disposal methods have a significant value to Indigenous women globally. The rituals performed have a special meaning attached to them. It is important for Western medicine to respect and support indigenous placental disposal methods and ensure safe handling from the healthcare facilities to their homes.
Variations of labour aristocracy and union trajectories across South Asia
Shakya, Mallika (Springer, 2023-06)
This book is a consolidation of Jonathan Parry’s longstanding argument about the importance of looking at variations of lived experience among blue-collar workers. His ethnographic engagement with industrial labour in the postcolonial steel town of Bhilai in central India humanizes class alongside caste and culture while urging readers to consider eclecticism as the lens through which to study working class lives. Parry’s Bhilai ethnography is enriched by the comparisons he draws with sister undertakings in Orissa and West Bengal, using which he proposes that a diverse range of social life is inextricably interwoven within the so-called working class, thereby generating a distinct cycle of social coercion and political exploitation that goes beyond the bifurcation of class.