North-West University

Forecasting South Africa’s Consumer Price Index Using Seasonal ARIMA, LSTM, Support Vector Regression, and Gradient Boosting Models

Accurate forecasting of the Consumer Price Index (CPI) is essential for effective monetary policy, inflation targeting, and macroeconomic planning. This study evaluates the forecasting performance of a traditional statistical model, Seasonal Autoregressive Integrated Moving Avera...

Beyond Rhythm: Peacebuilding Themes in Selected Hausa Music

This study examines peacebuilding themes in Hausa music to highlight their contributions to the restoration of peace in northern parts of Nigeria. The study analyses two purposively selected examples of Hausa music that contain peacebuilding messages and were produced by differen...

How heritage experiential quality, heritage experiential value, heritage destination authenticity and escapism motivation enhance tourist behavioural intention towards World heritage tourism sites

This study examined how escapism motivation mediates the nexus between heritage experiential quality and tourist behavioural intention. The study further examined the effect of heritage destination authenticity on heritage experiential quality. Data were conveniently collected fr...

Synoptic and regional-scale meteorological controls of stratus altitude in the Namib Desert

Abstract. In the Namib Desert, fog is an essential water source and occurs when and where advected marine stratus clouds intersect with the land surface. However, the meteorological controls of the cloud base height are still insufficiently understood. This study aims to develop...

An Attribute-Based Blockchain Reputation Architecture for Counterparty Risk Assessment in Pseudonymous Transactions

Counterparty risk in pseudonymous cryptocurrency transactions is difficult to manage using mechanisms that depend on stable legal identities, trusted intermediaries, reversible payments, or effective post-transaction dispute resolution. This conceptual paper proposes Riskonami, a...

Nutrient legacies from elephant megacarcasses create coldspots of biodiversity and hotspots of ecosystem processes

Terrestrial megafauna (animals >1,000 kg) have substantial impacts on ecosystems while alive; yet, we know little about the impacts of these ecosystem engineers after they die. Like whale carcasses in the ocean, terrestrial megacarcasses may leave ecological legacies via the nutr...

Patterns of Anthelmintic Resistance in Gastrointestinal Nematodes of Small Ruminants: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Anthelmintic resistance (AHR) in gastrointestinal nematodes (GINs) threatens sustainable parasite control in small ruminants worldwide. This study estimated the global prevalence of AHR and its associated factors through a PRISMA-compliant systematic review, meta-analysis, and me...

Acute mental stress-induced adrenergic reactivity profiles predict distinct cardiometabolic risk trajectories over three years: the SABPA study

OBJECTIVES: We previously characterised acute mental stress-induced alpha (α)- and beta (β)-adrenergic-haemodynamic reactivity profiles cross-sectionally and related them to unique cardiometabolic risk outcomes. Whether these profiles predict future cardiometabolic risk remains u...

Evaluation of Radionuclide Concentrations and Radiological Health Risks in Groundwater of the Groot-Aub Aquifer System, Namibia

Primordial radionuclides (226Ra, 232Th, and 40K) occur naturally in varying concentrations within environmental media. Anthropogenic activities that disturb the Earth’s crust, such as drilling and mining, have the potential to alter the concentrations of these radionuclides in en...

Persuasive strategies and ideological framing in Cyril Ramaphosa’s 2026 State of the Nation Address: a critical discourse analysis

This study examines persuasive strategies and ideological framing in the 2026 State of the Nation Address (SONA) delivered by President Cyril Ramaphosa. The study adopted a descriptive qualitative research design and was grounded in Teun A. van Dijk’s socio-cognitive and ideologi...

Not All Credentials Are Equal: A Within-Subjects Comparison of Student Responses to Google Analytics And Hubspot Certifications in Marketing Education

Micro-credentials have become standard components of marketing curricula, yet educators typically select credentialing platforms based on employer recognition alone, without evidence about how students experience different platforms. This study provides, to our knowledge, the fir...

Cognitive impairment and danger to humanity, or personal assistant and learning tool? Exploring attitudes towards ChatGPT and their predictors

This study examines the factors shaping attitudes towards ChatGPT inclusive of personality traits, ideological orientations, AI literacy, gender, and cultural context. In Study 1 ( N total = 500; N valid = 472 Serbia), positive perceptions of ChatGPT as a learning tool and person...

Evidence of lower back pain, lumbosacral, sacroiliac joint, and pelvic asymmetries relevant to the posterior triangle effect: A systematic review protocol

Introduction Low back pain (LBP) is the leading cause of disability worldwide, with approximately 90% of cases classified as non-specific low back pain (NSLBP) due to the absence of an identifiable underlying pathology. Despite extensive research to date, the biomechanical mechan...

Awareness knowledge and attitudes toward sexually transmitted infections among undergraduate health sciences students at Olabisi Onabanjo University Nigeria

Sexually transmitted infections (STIs) remain a major public health challenge among young adults, particularly university students exposed to sexual health misinformation, stigma, and risky behaviours. Despite increased awareness campaigns, comprehensive knowledge and preventive...

Regional energy integration in the Southern African Development Community

The challenges faced by SADC members to generate electricity has affected socio-economic growth, sustainable development, and industrialisation throughout the region. Currently the region places a heavily reliance on coal for most of its energy generation, which runs contrary to...

Discovering impolite constructions in an under-investigated language

Abstract This article describes a methodology for discovering potentially impolite language constructions in an under-resourced language, with the aim to develop a comprehensive digital database of such constructions. After a brief definitional discussion of (Afrikaans) impolite...

A reflexive thematic analysis of how South African men make sense of suicidal distress and recovery

Men consistently account for the majority of suicide deaths globally, and South African men are no exception, however the cultural and personal meanings these men attach to their own suicidal experiences remain underexplored. This qualitative study, informed by phenomenological s...

A Country Fails with 35.5% – Academic Freedom and the Law in South Africa: International Compliance, Comparative Trends

Abstract This Article measures to what extent academic freedom as construed in terms of international human rights law, specifically UNESCO’s Recommendation concerning the Status of Higher-Education Teaching Personnel of 1997, is protected in South African law. It determines the...

Institutional spatial and mobility constraints limiting bus rapid transit progression in Harare Zimbabwe

Abstract Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) has been widely promoted as an instrument of urban transport modernisation, yet the translation of internationally circulating BRT models into local transport systems remains uneven. This paper examines why the proposed BRT initiative in Harare, Z...

Breaking the Silence: Faith Communities, Infertility Stigma and Masculine Identity Among African Men

Although infertility is a serious reproductive health issue that affects both individuals and couples, prior studies have mostly examined the experiences of women, frequently ignoring the psychological and spiritual difficulties that men face. In many African contexts, fatherhood...