Effects of COVID-19 Lockdown Restrictions among Community Members of Vhembe District in Limpopo Province

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

Title: Effects of COVID-19 Lockdown Restrictions Among Community Members of Vhembe District in Limpopo Province

 This study is interesting in that the study underscores the importance of equity, diversity, and inclusion in upholding the rights of marginalized population within the South African context.

 However, the following issues should be resolved before the consideration of publication.

 Major issue:

3.2.

The findings are hard to read and understand. I guess 3. Results part should be re-organized and re-written; otherwise, it’s is hard to grasp the meaning of the findings.

 Minor issues:

2.3. Sampling: Is this a convenience sampling or non-probability sampling? Normally a convenience sampling is a non-probability sampling method. I guess it’s not usual to use the term, a non-probability sampling technique.

 2.4. Data Collection

When was the data collection conducted?

How long was the focus group discussion each? And on average?  

The main questions and main themes of the focus group interview should be provided. If possible, it would be desirable to provide the semi-structure interview questions in the paper.

  There are stylistic errors (e.g., spacing, fragments, etc.) throughout the paper. Please check and revise them accordingly. Here are some examples of the errors. Since those are samples, all the other errors should be revised accordingly throughout the paper.

 Abstract

This study assessed the effects of Covid-19 lockdown restrictions among community members of Thulamela Municipality, Vhembe District, in Limpopo Province. South Africa.

 Two themes based on the study objectives identified, eight sub-themes emerged.

 Page 3: The study was done in the selected villages of Vhembe district of Limpopo Province which were Nweli,Malavuwe, Mbahe, Tshamavhudzi, Siambe and Hamuraga.

 Thulamela municipality has an estimated population of about 402 779 people, with 46, 7% being male and 53% female.

 Thank you.

Author Response

Please see the attachment

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Reviewer 2 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

The consequences of the lockdown in the region affected were presented clearly and well. The findings are basically relevant for the scientific debate. However, the "Introduction and Background" chapter is very long and more recent publications after 2021 were not included. This part should be shortened, but more interpretative work should be included in the data analysis. It would be helpful to relate the results to social science theories/approaches that deal with the public sphere and public space. This applies in particular to the "Discussion" and "Conclusion" chapters. In these two chapters, reference should not be made to specific publications for the first time. The content here should be derived from what has been presented so far.

In the chapter "Themes and subthemes", the author first mentions two main themes, then three in the next sentence.

Chapter "Characteristics of Participants": The text states that 62 per cent were not bread winners. In Table 2, the figure is closer to 63 per cent.

The following passage is used identically in the chapters "Data Management and Analysis" and "Ethical Considerations": „Ethical clearance was sought from the University of Venda Research ethics committee (REC). Permission to conduct the study was obtained from the selected village's traditional authorities. The researchers explained the purpose, informed consent, confidentiality and anonymity, principle of autonomy, potential risks, and benefits that the particiption is voluntary, and that informed consent was signed by all participants (Polit & Beck, 2018)“

In the "Trustworthiness" chapter, transferability is dealt with in two almost identical passages.

Comments on the Quality of English Language

Linguistic aspects and editorial comments: Some explanations are rather keyword-like and should be formulated. Please pay attention to punctuation. Please also harmonise the spelling of terms (e.g. "covid 19" vs. COVID-19").

Author Response

Please see the attached

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Round 2

Reviewer 1 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

Most of the requested revisions were incorporated in the revised manuscript. However, it seems that the revised manuscript has not been sufficiently improved to warrant publication in Social Sciences. Thus, before publication, the following issues should be resolved to warrant publication.

 

 

About the major issue, the revision of the results part does not seem to change much except for simply modifying the numbering. This part should be re-structured before publication.

 

 

In the revised manuscript, most of the stylistic errors mentioned earlier (e.g., wrong word spacing, inappropriate use of commas and periods etc.) were not fixed yet. These issues must be resolved before publication.

 

See below

 

This study assessed the effects of Covid-19 lockdown restrictions among community members of Thulamela Municipality, Vhembe District, in Limpopo Province. South Africa.

 

Two themes based on the study objectives identified, eight sub-themes emerged.

 

Page 3: The study was done in the selected villages of Vhembe district of Limpopo Province which were Nweli,Malavuwe, Mbahe, Tshamavhudzi, Siambe and Hamuraga.

 

Thulamela municipality has an estimated population of about 402 779 people, with 46,7% being male and 53% female.

 

If the above issues can be incorporated well enough in the revised version of the manuscript major, I recommend publication of the manuscript.

Author Response

1. Wording, font size, style and spacing were addressed including properly use of commas and full stops throughout the document
2. Results are restructured and corrected
3. Corrections made are highlighted in yellow in the document/Manuscript

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Reviewer 2 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

The authors have responded to almost all suggestions/comments and have also made relevant revisions. The reference to Burns & Groove in section 2.1 and in the bibliography should be corrected.

Comments on the Quality of English Language

In the newly inserted parts, care should be taken to ensure that the sentences are complete, the spaces are set correctly, etc.

Author Response

1. Intext referencing: Burns and Groove (2019) was corrected and highlighted in yellow on the manuscript, and also corrected in the reference list

2. In the newly inserted part, care was ensured that sentences are completed throughout the document 

 

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf